Diana and I have just returned from the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress, which is a four-day event sponsored by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles but actually held at the Anaheim Convention Center, right next to Disneyland. The RE Congress regularly attracts upwards of 40,000 people from all over the world. The participants represent multiple […]
For the first five centuries that the church existed, the norm for initiation was baptism of adults. Infants were probably also baptized, but the New Testament never explicitly mentions that they were. By the second century, there is more firm evidence of the baptism of infants and children, but it is not the norm. Some
Why is the norm of adult initiation so important?
This is a guest post provided by Joseph Mangone, a pastoral liturgist from Irving, Texas. Last week my friend told me that his pastor wants to install a baptismal pool in the center of the church replacing a traditional font located in a side baptistery area. It would cost $15,000, and he was asking people
Planning for a new baptismal font
This summer I visited the city of Speyer, primarily because I wanted to see its cathedral. Speyer cathedral is the largest Romanesque church in Germany, one of three great cathedrals of this type (the other two are at Worms and Mainz). It was originally built in 1030, and its long history has included expansion, destruction,
A Study of Two Baptismal Fonts
I am the proud owner of a series of four catechumenate books in Swahili. They were given to me by a religious Sister from Congo who attended a workshop I gave a couple of years ago in the Bronx. My Swahili is basically non-existent, yet I love these books. Part of what attracts me are
“In our own languages we hear them speaking”
What are your plans for mystagogy this year? There may be several models to choose from.
You might think the week after Christmas Day is a little early to be talking about emptying the baptismal font. Actually, it’s late. I walked into a local church during the fourth week of Advent to see what they had done with their environment. You guessed it. The baptismal font was bone dry and covered
Seven reasons you should never empty the baptismal font
On this All Saints Day, I have a proposal. Let’s not rename the catechumens with saint names. Many of them come to us with saint names already, but not all of them do. As I said in The Way of Faith, I once had a child catechumen named “Pebbles.” Let’s just say the topic of
Do you need to have a saint’s name for baptism or confirmation?
Free download: Why Baptized Candidates Should Not be Received at the Easter Vigil Your turn What are the best practices you’ve learned in your parish? Share your thoughts in the comments below. Free download: Why Baptized Candidates Should Not be Received at the Easter Vigil
32 best RCIA practices for Easter Vigil
I recently read this line in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults: The sacrament of baptism cannot be repeated and therefore it is not permitted to confer it again conditionally, unless there is a reasonable doubt about the fact or validity of the baptism already conferred. If serious investigation raises such prudent doubt and
Conditional baptism? Three interesting thoughts
