Booking a Baptism
Baptisms take place in St.Laurence O'Toole Church on the 1st saturday of the month.
You must give at least 1 month's notice to book your baptism.
Booking the Date in the Church
You can request a Baptism by Downloading an application request form and filling it in completely. The Application Request form must then be returned to the Parish Office. Please NOTE that Baptisms are NOT booked until the completed request form is received and checked in the office.
Download
Baptism Certificate
You can get a Baptismal Certificate through the Parish Office.
What you need to provide is ...
- The name of the person as it appears on the Birth Certificate
- The date of Birth of the person
You can either ring the Office or Email this information to the office and we will get back to you.
Need a Baptism Cert?
Godparents
Only ONE Godparent is required for each child.
However, a maximum of TWO Godparents are permitted per child.
In the case of TWO Godparents, there must be One MALE and One FEMALE.
They must each have completed the Christian Initiation (Baptism, confirmation & Eucharist) and be at least 16 years old* [ *exception to be made only at the discretion of Archbishop’s House. The Godparent must be mature enough to understand the role of Godparent.]
In the case of the above exception where a Godparent is under 16 years of age, the parents must write to the Archbishop requesting permission for this Godparent.
Include in the letter:
- age of young person
- date & place of his/her confirmation
- reason for choice
- relationship to child being baptised
- date of baptism
- telephone number of parents
- name of Primary School and Secondary School attended.
If you cannot find TWO Godparents, a person can then be chosen as a Christian Witness and their name will be recorded in the Baptismal register and on the certificate as a Witness not a Godparent.
Information about choosing your Godparent(s)
Other
The Baptism Register must have the same names as the Birth certificate of
the child.
the child.
So please use this information when booking the baptism through
the office.
the office.
You will then be asked to bring your child’s Birth Certificate to the office.
We do not permit any private baptisms in the parish.
The parish sees the baptism of your child as a celebration for the parish and so would like to welcome you and to share this great sacrament with you and your family and continue to support your child on his/her faith journey.
More Information you will need to know
Understanding Baptism
Baptism is the first sacrament of welcome into the Christian community.
In our church the ceremony begins at the door of the Church. Think of when people are welcomed into a home and a family.
The priest spells out this significance when, at the door, he addresses the person by the newly chosen name and says "NAME" the Christian community welcomes you with great joy’.
A whole richness of ceremony surrounds the sacrament. There is, for example, the reading of the Word of God, the anointings, the candle and white garment, the sign of one’s Christian dignity and the pouring of the water ‘in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit’.
"Being Christian is not the result of an ethical or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction." (Deus caritas est)
What it means to be baptised