Baptism
Hello Dear Brother Ignatius,
First of all thank you for such a wodnerful work. You really do inspirer me many times with your answers. I pray God keeps you safe.
I always wanted to know the real date of my Baptism and teh one i should use. You see, i was Baptized when i was born. Yet, to make it " official" i had to be Baptized again in the church. Now, when was i really Baptized? At birth or during the official ritual in church?
Many ask me when i was baptized and i tell them the date of my Birth. I was wondering if that could be changed in the official records? The priest that performed the Baptism in the Hospital is dead now but i am more then certain that being Baptized there and then gave me graces that kept me alive all together. I praise God for his soul and pray he is in heaven.
Is it wrong to think of it that way and to hold on dear to it. I bless the Lord who gave me life and granted me to keep it till this day. Even more so, if i would of died i would have been in God's arms as his precious child, his daughter. So as you can see it is for that reason that i always say my birth date and not the other one.
I am wrong to want to think to change the date in the official book. Do you know if this can be done at all. If not then how am i to look at it.
Thank you very much.
Mariella
QUESTION from mariella on June 23, 2004
ANSWER by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM on June 27, 2004
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Dear Mariella: The Church teaches that one can be validly baptized only once. It is not possible to be validly baptized a second time. Whether or not one is validly baptized is a critical issue. Without valid baptism one is not a Christian no matter what their faith is in Jesus. Thus the Church must make absolutely sure that its members are validly baptized. Thus, if you could not prove your baptism with documentary evidence, what the Church did for you was called a "conditional baptism". A Conditional Baptism is saying, "Lord, we are not sure if Johnny was baptized, so we baptize him now conditionally, just in case. If Johnny was baptized before then that was his baptism, if he wasn't then this will be his baptism." Technically, if you were validly baptized when you were a baby, then that is the real baptism. The conditional one was just to be sure for the record. I was baptized in a Baptist Church in 1970. When I became Catholic in 1992, I gave the diocese what I had to prove my baptism. Based upon that I was received into the Church at Easter 1993. Then the following August the diocese decided that the paperwork I had was not sufficient proof. So I was given a "Conditional Baptism". The conditional baptism is the date recorded on the Church records which looks odd since I was confirmed at Easter 1993 and baptized in August 1993. Nevertheless, since I know that I was validly baptized in 1970 that is the date of my baptism on heaven's records, and the date that I use when asked.
God Bless, |