Thoroughly enjoying a Baptism



One of the functions I most enjoy as a parish priest is baptising babies. On Sunday, it was the turn of Caspar Emmanuel, second son of Matthew and Benna Schellhorn. Matthew is the Latin Mass Society Representative for Southwark North and we were blessed with a visit from Joseph Shaw, the Chairman of the Latin Mass Society and his family. (Joseph also has his own blog which is well worth reading.)

I wrote previously about Baptism in the Usus Antiquior and it is the form I usually use, though normally I do most of the prayers in English, with the exorcisms and the form in Latin. Yesterday it was Latin all the way through, which I enjoyed. We also had the blessing of the mother, Benna, after childbirth, and a prayer of consecration of Caspar to Our Blessed Lady.

Grace is not a substance and therefore I know this is a theologically inept expression, but here I am, holding a new little saint filled to bursting with sanctifying grace :-)


More photos...
Flickr Set: Matthew Schellhorn
Flickr Set: Joseph Shaw

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