Our Son Is a Pagan Baby No Longer!

Any day is a fitting day for a baby to be baptized, but some days seem even more fitting than others.

Case in point: yesterday - Trinity Sunday. On this day, our firstborn son, Jose, received this first of the sacraments of initiation. He was baptized at St. John Cantius Parish in Chicago, where we have been parishioners since last year.

Father Dennis Kolinski, SSJC, one of associate pastors, celebrated the rite beautifully. Jocelyn and I, along with the rest of our family, were particularly impressed with how Father Dennis explained the history and significance behind each of the various parts of the baptismal rite, and how he impressed upon us the seriousness of the duty we were undertaking by having our son baptized.

Toward the conclusion of the rite -- after the baptism itself -- the minister beseeches God to bless in a particular way first the mother, and then the father, in their efforts to bring up their child in accordance with the Church's teachings. Prior to praying the father's blessing, Father Dennis reminded all those present -- and most of all, me -- that "we live in a world that hates Christ and the Church", and whether a child remains loyal to the Faith depends to a great extent on his father's example.

Well said, Father. Well said.

Prior to the baptism, we also attended the Tridentine Mass at St. John's, which is celebrated, per Ecclesia Dei, with the approval of the local ordinary, Francis Cardinal George.

I've only attended a handful of Tridentine Masses in my lifetime, and although I have exactly no sympathy for those insist on the abolition of the Novus Ordo, I am definitely a fan of the Tridentine Mass.

Yesterday's Mass was one of the most beautiful Masses I can ever recall attending. (No doubt, this was due in large part to the music: Father Scott Haynes, SSJC -- the recently ordained priest with whom we had made arrangements for Joe's baptism -- directed the choir at yesterday's Mass. This is entirely fitting, since he is the one who composed the music for it!)

All in all, it was a great day. Enjoy this partial photographic record thereof:









(Also in this last picture are our three daughters -- from left to right, Lucia, Cecilia, and Teresa -- and Joe's godparents, Annie and Robert Casselman and their daughter, Hannah.)