Baptism question for those with non-Catholic family

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It’s funny, I’ve always heard of it as the full wedding mass which sort of implies you can have half a mass which when you think about you can’t

I’ve never actually been to a wedding mass, I think because like mine I’ve only seen mixed denominational marriages. I would have gone for a mass if there had been more Catholic guests.
 
ConfusedLucy said:
It’s funny, I’ve always heard of it as the full wedding mass which sort of implies you can have half a mass which when you think about you can’t

I’ve never actually been to a wedding mass, I think because like mine I’ve only seen mixed denominational marriages. I would have gone for a mass if there had been more Catholic guests.
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I think people use the term because Mass has two liturgies, the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist, plus the Introductory Rites and the Closing Rites. That would be the “full Catholic Mass”.

Then you can have a service with introductory and closing Rites and the Liturgy of the Word. When you’ve been around as long as I have and have had that type of Liturgy on Sundays at times when priests have not been available to celebrate Mass you’ll discover that, sadly, some people don’t see a difference between the two. In fact, I’ve heard parishioners express a preference for the Liturgy of the Word instead of Mass, something that always made me want to cry.
 
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Well bless my soul. I guess St. Barnabas Catholic Church and school were kidnapped by a bunch of Godparents. I was told my Aunt and her boyfriend were my Godparents. When having babies in Ft.Campbell, Ky, FRANKFURT GERMANY, FT. DEVENS, MASS, and Ft.BRAGG, NC, these alien priests asked me who would be the Godparents. So strange. 12 yrs of Catholic school. 3 years of Catholic Nursing school and every person I knew would share who their Godparents were going to be. I’m so privileged to be raised and surrounded by ppl w this Godparent phenomena. Curious!
Also, I was told that we, Catholics always read our Bibles. Well, none of my Catholic family members owned Bibles. After Vat II, at West Catholic Girls HS in PHILLY, we started having a Bible reading ceremony in the auditorium. We were instructed to read our BIBLES every day for 15 min. But, some of our Catholics, live in a different society that has always read the Bible. Im glad for them. In school, nuns told us Bible stories. In Church, there were the Biblical readings and gospels read. But, my Catholic Church hadn’t wanted us to read the Bible b/c it could confuse us. The Church had it all worked out and would teach us. GROAN!
I don’t know why we have different stories. My Methodist Dad was the sole male(Godparent at my nieces Baptism. Her 2 older teenage sisters were the Godmothers. They didn’t say Marty, you will be Godmother and Liz, you are to be a witness. Beats me. I’m not senile yet
Forgive my snarky tone. The Bible issue had aggressive responders stating boldly, the church always wanted us to read the BIBLE. Your response is telling me I’m wrong b/c my church doesn’t use the GODPARENT terms. It’s been 14yrs since I last was involved w a Baptism. It was all the same.
Maybe geographically, there are different cultures.
I don’t know for sure, but the movie called,”THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE” stated her speaking in Aramaic and Latin, were languages she studied in school. Maybe in Canada. Until THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST, I never heard Aramaic. I studied Latin. I could read and write Latin. But, liberally, speaking and conversing in Latin, it didn’t happen.
So, maybe Aramaic is taught in Canadian schools?
Beats me.
In Christ’s Love
Tweedlealice
 
Blessings,
Here in Fayetteville, NC@ St.Pats, we have Baptisms during mass. As many as 5 babies. Visitors came in from out of town.
A Nuptial mass is for weddings. It’s lovely. The couple kneel on kneelers in the sanctuary. They pray responses during the mass. There is a moment where the bride prays before the Blessed Mother statue for help to be a good wife and mother. The AveMaria is sung. We all go to communion . Then they are introduced as man and wife. Then, off we go.
In Christ’s Love
Tweedlealice
 
I’ve only ever been to Sunday masses and liturgy of the word weddings and baptisms. All the parishes I have been at do baptisms on Sunday afternoons, I think anyone could go though and it’s sometimes multiple families, depends on how many kids there are.

I think when I was little private family baptisms were more normal (we had a baptism last year and my family were pretty surprised it was a shared ceremony) and people had lapsed relatives as Godparents so obviously parishes were either less fussy or more trusting.
 
tweedlealice said:
Blessings,

A Nuptial mass is for weddings. . There is a moment where the bride prays before the Blessed Mother statue for help to be a good wife and mother. The AveMaria is sung. In Christ’s Love
Tweedlealice
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This sounds a sweet custom. I have never seen it in the UK, and it is not in the ‘Planning your wedding’ books we use… I wonder which nationality introduced it to the US?
 
When my first two were baptized, in the parish where I grew up, it was immediately after Mass. At our daughter’s Baptism she was the only baby. When our son was baptized he was one of five, IIRC.

Our third child was baptized at the chapel on the military base where we were posted. That was on a Sunday afternoon and we were the only family.

At my present parish 90% of baptisms take place during Mass and there have been as many as 5 at one time. Parents are offered the option of immersion or pouring. A small percentage opt for immersion.
 
I’m guessing parishes usually go with what seems to work best ceremony wise but the variations in who can be Godparent is more surprising.
 
I don’t think it’s so much “who CAN be a godparent”. I think often it’s that Father assumes that the parents know that the godparents are supposed to be Catholic so he fails to ask that specific question. Sometimes he may decide it’s not worth arguing about (no godfather and 2 godmothers, when the Church, herself, says at most one of each) as long as one is valid.

And sometimes, things are so egregious that you wonder “what was he thinking?!?!?” For example, baptizing an adult in an invalid marriage who has received no preparation and who has threatened to take her two kids and herself to the Anglican church for Baptism if the priest doesn’t do what she asks.
 
I think they just used to ask for a baptism certificate, the letter from their parish seems to be a more recent thing.
 
West Catholic Girls’? In Philly?

My aunt went there! Way before you did, though - in the early 1950s. What a small world this is. My dad went to St Thomas More for high school.

Back to the discussion. Not trying to hijack. 💕💕
 
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ConfusedLucy said:
We are expecting our first child and I’m struggling with what to do for Baptism. With a lot of sadness I have accepted we will have to have Godparents picked out for us
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You need to be more sociable, get to know your fellow Catholics. I can understand you don’t have many Catholic relatives, but no reason not to have Catholic friends and neighbors.
 
It was a great time. It’s so sad, that our church, in order to economize, had to have families pay full tuition.What happened to nuns? Less nuns=lead example and advertising the Holy life. Of course, more lay teachers, make higher costs to pay higher salaries. Our teens in USA are a large harvest to win for Christ. Yet, we don’t have enough HS, in which to teach them. America is a wasteland of unbelief. Teen sex, alcohol, drugs, abortions, Wiccan religion, growing Atheism. The list can go on. Thank you, Madeline Murray O’Haire.
Thirty(?) Years we prayed for the conversion of Russia. If we prayed for evangelization of the globe, certain religions would take issue.
Where to begin? How about our teens!
Lord, guide us in Your wisdom. Change our hearts to unite us, one w You. Forgive us our sins. Have mercy on us, our God. In Jesus name.
Amen.
 
I don’t think any of my neighbours are Catholics. Now I am visibly pregnant I am finding more people talk to me after mass but I have only been here just under 2 years and parishes aren’t an easy place to make friends.
 
See I don’t get how you have not made friends in that time, I’m been at mine for around the same amount of time and I talk to loads of people, yes 90% of them are over 70 but I’m not looking for people my age I’m just looking for people I can talk to and be friendly with. I stay after Mass and know most of the others there that also do, we only have one daily Mass that I can attend which is a Tuesday evening so I go there and while there’s people there I’m not that familiar with I still say hi to them all.
 
I’m just awful at approaching people, even as a small child I was awful at it. I think I’ve always depended on other people making the first move and been lucky in the past. I’d been to after mass tea and coffee in the past and literally had no one talk to me and then had to work up the mental energy to go again.
 
Someone I’d say hi to or speak to after Mass is not someone I would consider close enough to ask to be a godparent.
 
Agreed. I would work on building a relationship with whoever is chosen as best you can.

I know that I would want my children’s godparents to be good Catholic role models who they have a relationship with and it seems you want the same.
 
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