Nuns in baptisim

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Anthony35

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Hello, This is the first time posting on this forum.

I have had a nagging question that has been with me for years.

My mother told me about 8 years ago that I was held by nuns during my baptisim and that this was quite rare. My mother and father were present for the baptisim but the nuns offered to do the ceremony as my mother has polio and would have had a hard time holding me.

Is there any significance to having nuns hold you with your parents present or is it just simply nuns being good people and recognizing a woman in need of assistance?
 
No, I don’t think there is any special significance to who is holding you. They were probably just being helpful.

Just praise God and be grateful that you are baptized, an official child of God!
 
I think it’s a cultural thing. I know that my parents made a big deal about who held us at our baptisms since my mom, like most moms of her generation, was not at the baptism (since we were baptized on the first Sunday after they came home from the hospital with us and women couldn’t go out for 6 weeks). There was even a designation in our region for the woman who carried you to your baptism. It would have been quite an honour to have a nun as a ‘porteuse’, but it really had no significance in the Church.
 
I got to hold my godson when he was baptized, and it was the most amazing moment (especially knowing I would probably never had children of my own). He got more wet from my tears than from the font! What a wonderful honor to be held by holy women during your baptism. Do you have photos?

~Liza
 
Anthony35 said:
Is there any significance to having nuns hold you with your parents present or is it just simply nuns being good people and recognizing a woman in need of assistance?
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in the old rite for baptism godparents usually held the child while the priest poured the water. now commonly the parent holds the child. I think in your case it was probably just as you surmise, helping your mother with something that could have been awkward for her, well intentioned, not necessarily part of the rite just a kind gesture. actually I have seen some baptisms where the priest or deacon holds the child, and he always does this for immersion.
 
lizaanne said:
I got to hold my godson when he was baptized, and it was the most amazing moment (especially knowing I would probably never had children of my own). He got more wet from my tears than from the font! What a wonderful honor to be held by holy women during your baptism. Do you have photos?

~Liza
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Yes I do have photos. I will try and scan them soon and post. They are old but they are well taken. I also still have my candle and rosary. The rosary is from the basillica in Mexico city and is pewter with rose buds as the beads. They are both something I cherish greatly.
 
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