Baptistery area

4 - The Baptistery area

Welcome to the baptistery area. The baptistery includes the entire area around the baptismal font. It is a very special part of the church building. In fact, some fourth and fifth century churches had separate buildings which served as baptisteries. The cathedral in Florence, Italy, and St. John Lateran basica in Rome are two examples of churches with separate baptistery buildings.

Why did the early church put so much emphasis on the baptistery, that they would enclose it in a separate building? It is because baptism is the central, sacrament of the Church. For Christians, it's the trunk of the tree, and all the other sacraments are branches. Jesus commanded his disciples, "Go forth and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." Baptism creates a permanent bond between the Christian and the risen Christ. Because it's permanent, it can never be repeated. You can't receive any other sacrament of the Church without first being baptized. Although a priest or deacon is the usual minister of baptism, any layperson can validly baptize in case of emergency. Many nurses have baptized infants in danger of death.

This font, however, is our normal place for baptism. You will notice that it has flowing water. It is meant to be a reminder of Jesus' words to the woman at the well: "I will give you living water. The water I give will be a fountain within you, leaping up to provide eternal life." You will also notice that it has eight sides. Ancient baptistries were often built with eight sides, and this is why: God created the world in seven days. The early leaders of the Church considered the day of Christ's resurrection to be the first day of a whole new creation, so they called it "the eighth day." His resurrection was the beginning of a whole new chapter in God's creation. When we are baptized, we are brought into the new creation, too, and we are promised resurrection and eternal life.

Baptism requires pouring of water in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. There are three ways to do: 1) submersion, in which the person to be baptized is completely submerged in the water. 2) immersion, in which the person to be baptized enters into the font, and water is poured over them. 3) infusion, in which water is poured over the head of the person to be baptized. Church regulations today call for immersion as the preferred style of baptism, because it is a fuller sign of being immersed in the life of Christ. Because this is the place where new Christians are "born" sometimes the font is called the "womb" of the Church.

The cabinet by the wall is called the Ambrey. It contains the holy oils used in the sacraments: the Oil of the sick, the Oil of Catechumens, and the Sacred Chrism. Two of them, the Oil of Catechumens and the Sacred Chrism are used in baptism. The Paschal Candle is usually kept next to the baptismal font, except during the Easter Season and at funerals. The baptismal font is usually located near the main entrance of the church building. This is because it is through the sacrament of Baptism that we become members of the Church. When we pass by the font, we sign ourselves with the baptismal waters in the sign of the cross as a reminder and renewal of our baptism.