9: GODPARENTS’ NAMES (Practising Catholics):

“Godparents must be firm believers, able

and ready to help the newly baptised on the

road of Christian life.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church)

Each child has to have at least one Catholic Godparent who MUST BE aged 16 or more, be baptised,

confirmed, made their First Holy Communion and be regular at Sunday Mass, ie at Sunday Mass every

Sunday unless prevented by serious illness, work etc. In addition, they must be living in conformity with

the Church’s teachings, for example not normally married outside the Church and of good character.

11: CHRISTIAN WITNESSES/OTHER GODPARENTS:

Other Catholics or baptised non-Catholics may

act as Christian witnesses/godparents together

with the practising Catholic godparent.

An offering for the Church is customary on the occasion of your child’s baptism. We suggest that you

give in accordance with your means but also a realistic contribution to the upkeep of the church

and in proportion to the amount you will be spending on other elements of the celebrations. If you

pay tax, you can giftaid this as one-off donation by using the envelope provided.

Baptism is only the beginning of your child’s journey in faith. We, the members of Our Lady and St.

Joseph’s parish, promise to help you bring up your child as a practising Catholic. We will do this

primarily by welcoming you into the life of our community and especially Sunday Mass, by helping

you prepare your child for Confirmation and First Holy Communion and by welcoming your child

at St. Joseph’s Primary School and Our Lady and St. Paul’s Primary School and Holy Family Spe-

cialist Maths and Computing College. However, you are the first and the best teachers of your

child in the ways of faith. Without your teaching and example your child will miss out on so much.

Each year we welcome adults into the Church. If you were never baptised or were baptised as an in-

fant but never confirmed and wish to become a full member of the Catholic Church, please speak to

Fr. Paul or Fr Alf about it. It is possible to explore what becoming a Catholic would mean without

entering into any firm commitment.

If you are not married and wish to enter into the Sacrament of Marriage or if you were married out-

side the Roman Catholic Church and wish to see whether your marriage can be made valid in the eyes

of the Church, please speak to Fr. Paul or Fr Alf

O Loving God, bless our family with your love.

Guard us from all danger and harm; deliver us from anger that leads to division;

empower us to forgive as we have been forgiven; and send us into the world

to witness to your love and grace; in the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, we place our family under your care. Our Lady, pray for our family. St. Joseph, pray for our family.

If you would like your home to be blessed and your family consecrated to

the Sacred Heart of Jesus, please speak to one of the priests.

BRINGING YOUR CHILD TO BAPTISM

A GUIDE FOR PARENTS ARRANGING A BAPTISM AT

OUR LADY AND SAINT JOSEPH’S PARISH, HEYWOOD Child’s Name:

First of all, welcome! Our Parish of Our Lady and St. Joseph’s,

Heywood, is always delighted to welcome parents who are seek-

ing baptism for their child. This short leaflet will explain the proc-

ess for arranging a baptism, for helping you, as parents, under-

stand what this asks of you, and how we, the parish community

can help you.

The first stage, after you have contacted Father Paul or Father Alf is

for him to meet briefly with you at home. The second stage will be to be coming to Sunday Mass. The

final stage in preparation is to attend a Baptism Preparation Meeting.

Why? Because at the very beginning of the Baptism Ceremony the priest says to the parents ‘you are ac-

cepting the responsibility of training them in the practise of the faith. It will be your duty to bring them

up to keep God’s commandments as Christ taught us, by living God and our neighbour.’ Without the

well-founded hope that the parents will bring their child up as a practising Roman Catholic, the Church

cannot celebrate the baptism.

CHECKLIST: Family visit made: (date)

Sunday Mass attended: (church/date)

1) 2) 3)

4) 5) 6)

Baptism meeting attended

The following is to be completed by priest with family at the end of the Baptism Prep Meeting:

Date, time and church of welcome Mass

Date and church and time of baptism

To put it simply, the Church will only allow us to baptise your child IF you can show us credible signs

that you will bring them up as Mass-going Catholics. We ask you to be coming along to Sunday Mass

at St. Joseph’s or Our Lady and St. Paul’s for six weeks BEFORE we choose definitely a date for

the baptism. We ask you to continue coming to Sunday Mass on the Sundays leading up to the bap-

tism. Until these requirements have been met, any date is only provisional. Of course, if serious rea-

sons prevent you attending Sunday Mass any particular weekend, that’s fine. However, if these ba-

sic and not too demanding requirements cannot be met without good reason, it might be necessary

to delay the baptism.

Sunday Mass times are: at St. Joseph’s: 6.30pm (Saturday) and 9.30am

(Sunday); at Our Lady and St. Paul’s 11am (Sunday).

Please note the following:

• Rather than simply being present at Mass (when you’d much rather

be elsewhere) you will find it more fruitful (and be a better example

to your children) to join in with the hymns and prayers, listen to the

readings and PRAY. Please say hello to the priest after Mass just so

he can say hello and knows you’ve been there!!

• If it is your first time at Sunday Mass for a while, or if you miss Sunday Mass through your own

fault, you must go to Confession BEFORE receiving Holy Communion the next time. Confessions are

on Saturdays 11-11.45am and 6-6.20pm at St. Joseph’s.

• If you are living with your partner as man and wife but you are not validly married to them in the

eyes of the Catholic Church, you should discuss your situation with the priest before coming to Holy

Communion. If, for whatever reason, you cannot at this moment receive Holy Communion, still come

forward for a blessing-simply cross your arms across your chest as a sign. If it’s a while since your

last Confession, don’t worry-mention it to the priest and he will help you through.

• Coming to Confession is, anyway, a very important way to prepare for your child’s baptism. Look at

the picture on the right. If that is you, what’s in the bundle? How does it hold you back from coming

closer to Jesus?

We are aware that this might sound a little demanding. But

you have already given your child the gift of life—in baptism

they will receive the gift of ETERNAL life. You are handing

on your Catholic Faith to them, the Faith once given by Jesus

to the Apostles and now handed on by Pope Francis and the

Bishops and lived and believed by over 1.2 billion Catholics

throughout the world.

But Faith is something dynamic, alive. If it isn’t growing,

it’s stagnating and dying. As they grow up for many people

their Faith goes through times

when they question or drift.

What matters more is to use this

time to rekindle your own Catholic Faith so that you will be all the more

able to hand on that faith to your child. We are NOT looking for the fin-

ished article but rather for parents who are willing to look at what their

Faith means to them and how they can grow in it.

These questions may help:

• What do I think is most important in life?

• What do I think lies beyond this life?

• What do I think is the ultimate way to fulfilment in this life and

after death?

• Who is God for me? How did I know God as Jesus reveals God to

me?

• Do I pray? TAKE A LOOK AT http://pray-as-you-go.org OR

http://liveholiness.com/2010/02/how-to-begin-your-prayer/

• Do I come to Sunday Mass?

• Where can I breathe fresh life into the practise of my faith?

Usually at least one of the parents of a child to be baptised has to be a Roman Catholic. If you are the

non-Catholic parent, we do hope that you will feel able to join in as much as the preparation you can.

Indeed we hope that you will feel able to support your child in their Journey in Faith. Maybe God is

calling you into the Catholic Church also?

When can we pick the date for the ceremony? It all depends on how soon the parents can demon-

strate the appropriate commitment to the Catholic upbringing of their child. Usually the dates are cho-

sen at the end of the baptism preparation meeting, provided that the family has been attending Mass for

at least four weeks.

• Baptisms usually take place at 1pm on Sundays or Saturdays at either of our two churches.

The following details are required for the baptismal register and certificate:

1: CHILD’S SURNAME:

2: ADDRESS and PHONE NO:

3: CHILD’S CHRISTIAN NAME(S):

BOY/GIRL (please circle)

“In baptism the Christian receives his/her name in the Church. Parents, godparents and the Parish

Priest are to see that he/she is given a Christian name. The patron saint provides a model of charity

and the assurance of prayer.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church)

4: CHILD’S DATE OF BIRTH:

5: FATHER’S FULL NAME:

6: FATHER’S RELIGION:

7: MOTHER’S FULL NAME (and maiden name):

8: MOTHER’S RELIGION: