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Baptismal Font
Our
Baptismal Font was designed for our church as part of the Forward In Faith
restoration project. It is made of Italian Travertine marble. The upper
font is used for the baptism of infants, either by pouring water over the
baby’s head or immersing the infant in the font. Adults being baptized
stand in the lower pool while the priest or deacon pours water over their
head.
The prayer of the Church calls the baptismal font the “womb of the
Church,” because from the font Christians are reborn through water and the
Holy Spirit (John 3:1-21). The upper font expresses that symbolism. The
lower pool is in the shape of a cross, since Saint Paul says, “Are you
unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his
death? We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that,
just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too
might live in newness of life” (Romans 6:3-4). Water flows continuously in
the font, recalling the promise of Jesus, “The water that I will give will
become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” (John 4:14).
Near the font stands the Paschal Candle, a large candle inscribed with the
current year, which is blessed at the Easter Vigil (the complete
celebration of the resurrection on the Saturday night that leads into
Easter). The Paschal Candle is the symbol of the light provided by the
Risen Christ to those who search for God, and a candle lit from it is
given to the newly baptized.
At the other doors of the church you see small receptacles filled with
water, of the same marble as the font and similarly cross-shaped. As
Catholics enter a church, they dip their fingers either in the baptismal
font or in these holy water fonts and make the sign of the cross on
themselves, thus recalling their baptism.
Close to the baptismal font is found the ambry, a glass-sided repository
for three types of holy oils used in the sacraments, including baptism.
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