Purchasing Your Own Sacrament Certificates

[Rawb]

Would it be odd to purchase a Baptism certificate (or Confirmation certificate, or First Communion certificate) and to take it to the church to be signed by your priest? If that church will have your Sacremantal Record?

Here’s the deal. My sister offered to have my Baptism certificate framed for my birthday. My baptism certificate, however, is from a Protestant Church and looks more like a brochure. So she offered to do my Confirmation Certficate. Well, that one doesn’t look much better (though it is from a Catholic Church).

We found these:

halo-works.com/category/sacramental_certificates/

And I was wondering if I could get these and have them made up to be my ‘official’ certificates. Could I just put in the information? There’s nothing official on the certificates is there? A stamp? A signature?

 

[puzzleannie]

the certificate of reception of a sacrament is an official document issued by the parish where the sacrament was celebrated, by the pastor, signed by him, and imprinted with the official embossed seal. it is not a DIY project.

there is no reason you cannot however create a nice memento suitable for framing, perhaps adding a photo to the document, on your home computer. children often as part of their communion preparation, “make” such a memento of their baptism as part of discussion of the meaning of that sacrament.

 

[Rawb]

there is no reason you cannot however create a nice memento suitable for framing, perhaps adding a photo to the document, on your home computer. children often as part of their communion preparation, “make” such a memento of their baptism as part of discussion of the meaning of that sacrament.

Maybe that’s what these are supposed to be then? I don’t think there’s even a place on them for a signature of the officiating priest, which did strike me as funny.

Thanks for your response!

 

[Joe_Kelley]

The certificates given out by the parish at the time of the sacrament are unofficial. They are a symbol, a momento, for framing. If you need an official proof of the sacrament, you have to get an official copy of your baptismal record. All sacraments will be recorded on the back of that.

 

[Phemie]

The certificates given out by the parish at the time of the sacrament are unofficial. They are a symbol, a momento, for framing. If you need an official proof of the sacrament, you have to get an official copy of your baptismal record. All sacraments will be recorded on the back of that.

That depends on the parish. We usually give out an official certificate to each family. I got none for my first two kids until I needed them when they were preparing for their first Communion. The youngest was baptized in another parish and I was given both a fancy & a regular certificate. Since they both had the signature & the seal they were official documents.

 

[puzzleannie]

The certificates given out by the parish at the time of the sacrament are unofficial. They are a symbol, a momento, for framing. If you need an official proof of the sacrament, you have to get an official copy of your baptismal record. All sacraments will be recorded on the back of that.

the certificates issued here are official because they contain the identical information that will be entered in the permanent record, are signed by the pastor, and have the seal. yes, some parishes issue pages which are merely mementos, but here we do was the particular law of the diocese requires. in any case, when you prepare for confirmation or marriage you will be required to ask your baptismal parish to provide you a recent (within 6 months) certificate showing all sacraments received.