All of you know the day on which you were born and you celebrate it as your birthday, don’t you? We all celebrate our birthday. I ask you a question, that I have already asked several times, but I’ll ask it again: who among you remembers the date of your Baptism? Raise your hands: they are few (and I am not asking the Bishops so as not to embarrass them...). Let’s do something: today, when you go home, find out what day you were baptized, look for it, because this is your second birthday. The first birthday is the day you came into life and the second birthday is the one on which you came into the Church. Will you do this? This is your homework: find out the day on which you were born to the Church, and give thanks to the Lord, because at Baptism he has opened the door of his Church to us.-Pope Francis, General Audience, St. Peter's Square, November 13, 2013
Saturday was Edmund's second birthday. No. Not the second anniversary of his birth, but the eleventh anniversary of Baptism. I remembered! And we celebrated!
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| This is actually Jill's baptism. I look terrible in Edmund's baptism picture. |
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So I asked the internet.
First link that pops up is this suggestion for a Family Prayer Service.
Honestly, my kids would die of embarrassment if we tried it.
I could see my teens balking at the idea of making the sign of the Cross and their kid brother's head, and I can't see him keeping a straight face, or allowing it.
Thus I have come up with my own ideas for Celebrating a Baptism Anniversary, all of which abide by my KISS (keep it simple, stupid) rule of party planning and are probably completely obvious to all of you anyway.
1. Know the dates.
I have all of my kids' sacrament dates in my Google Calendar set on "repeats annually." But for Patrick and myself, I have to do some recon.
My mother set me up with the link to get a copy of my Baptismal certificate and I was able to do it all online, from sending a jpg of my driver's license to the $10 payment.
Hopefully, you have copies of all the baptismal certificates, or the parishes that have them aren't closed, so you will have a much easier time.
Hopefully, my mother-in-law has the pertinent information.
2. About gifts...
Many of the other links I read suggested BUYING THINGS for a baptismal anniversary. Small gifts or even religious items. I don't think Pope Francis would think this is kosher.
It just seems fitting that a Spiritual Birthday would have Intangible gifts.
I personally love giving (and receiving) spiritual bouquets.
A spiritual bouquet is a gift of prayer and/or sacrifice done for the benefit of the recipient. Novenas, holy hours, a Mass are all good things for a spiritual bouquet. A homemade card or note letting someone know that you've been praying for them should suffice for presents.
A little gift of service is another intangible gift idea. Like taking over a chore, making a bed, filling their car up with gas, something small but thoughtful.
3. Decorations?
If you have the baptismal candle, you can always bust that out for a little table decor.
We didn't get a baptismal candle for Susan. The parish had just had fancy-schmancy rust colored burlap pew coverings installed and the pastor didn't want anyone dripping wax on them. I guess I could just order her a baptismal candle?
You can even light it...or not. What am I saving that candle for if not to light on baptismal anniversaries?
4. Activities
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| "Um, Jessica? That's a tattoo." Yes, but it was the google image I liked best. |
Say a family rosary, letting the "birthday" boy or girl lead, or even pick their favorite mysteries, or go to Mass (and then a bakery for donuts, because everyone knows donuts are spiritual goods, not material goods), or read the story of the patron saint of the person you are celebrating.
At the very least, you can do what we do and add a "God Bless So-so!" to the end of your grace before dinner.
Pray for the godparents. Remind your kids to pray for their godparents too.
As a godparent, I'm hoping that all of my godchildren or their parents see this one.
5. Refreshments
Have cake.
Or a dessert. Because in my mind, it's not a celebration unless there's some sort of celebratory food or drink involved.
Raise a glass and toast to the ongoing salvation of the birthday person!
My kids love "Kids' Wine." Martinelli's Sparkling Cider is their vintage of choice. Welch's makes lots of good sparkling kid-friendly wines as well: red grape, white grape, blueberry, and cranberry.
Whelp. There are my non-Pinterest-worthy ideas for incorporating Baptism Anniversaries in your family life.
I'm sure you probably have lots of better and more-inspiring tips to share, so use the combox to your advantage.
These are some great ideas--simple, too! Even though my kids are tweens and teens, I've been debating some simple ways to start observing their baptism days. Better late than never! ;-) I'll be using some of your ideas. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteCheryl
http://www.diary-of-a-sower.blogspot.com
We've remembered the days lots of times, like "Hey! Today was the day you were baptized!" But this was the first time we made a conscious effort to celebrate it. After having celebrated a baptismal anniversary exactly one time, I declared myself an expert. ;)
DeleteI can't tell you how much I love that you used a tattoo picture in your post. KISS is always the best policy as it can be determined by each person what "simple" means to them. So, you kind of shamed me with the whole… what am I saving them for if not to light on the anniversary thing. I do have a candle for each child. Time to go dig them out. And the praying for their godparents thing… perfect! Maybe say this as a part of family prayer time:
ReplyDeleteDear St. John the Baptist, patron saint of godparents, pray that the Child Jesus hears the petitions of my heart, and that my godparents are kept safe in the arms of the Lord. Amen.
You should feel no shame. The whole time I wrote this, I was cringing and imagining the lovely spreads that you and the other Jessica would have photographed on a post like this. Just b/t you and me, I have yet to actually light a baptismal candle (unless it was at the actual baptism). I have this idea that the candles might be needed as relics in the shrines of my saints. I have spent too much time at the St. Therese of Lisieux shrine near me, and they have her old toys, her prayer book, her cup! All third class relics now!
DeleteBut see, Jessica, that is what is so beautiful about KISS. Those kinds of spreads are simple for folks like us. It really comes to us like second nature. It's the way our brain works. So, what might not look simple to someone else is simple for me just like what looks simple to you might even be too much for someone else. :)
DeleteI know, and there's no jealousy on my part. More of a wistfulness, like how I wish I could be Italian, and throw fab family parties like you, and wink either eye.
DeleteAwesome ideas!! My baptism is January 1st, so we always celebrate on that day!
ReplyDeleteAnd one of my daugthers hav ea baptism on Dec. 26th, so there is always plenty of cake around. My husband's baptism day is the same day as my 4th child's birthday...so yay for more cake!!
This is such a great idea....I grew up celebrating Baptism days with a little celebrationa nd renewal of baptismal vows and it was really meaningful for us. We haven't done it every year with our kids, but we try to.
January 1st! What a great day to have been baptized! I'm still waiting for my certificate to come in the mail, so I can only guess that my baptism day is sometime in May or early June.
DeleteSo, Isaac's baptismal day is his birthday. We're going to have a ceremony to "conclude the rite" or something with godparents and candles and such once RSV season is over. What do you call that? A christening? There won't be any water involved. I hope the baptismal gown still fits. The Pope would want us to have cake on that anniversary too though, right?
ReplyDeleteMy husband's youngest brother was emergency baptized. The ceremony they have later is called a "conditional baptism" and I'm positive Papa Francesco would want you to have cake then too.
DeleteAbsolutely. Too funny about the baptismal gown. I CANNOT believe they are making you and Mark take the baptism class when your child IS ALREADY BAPTIZED! People who work in parish offices...grumble grumble...well, I have no charitable thoughts about them. Closing my mouth.
DeleteI have been wanting to do something to recognize the kids' baptismal anniversaries but always forget. I should probably start with looking up the dates and getting them on the calendar! I actually had the thought last year that we could get out everyone's candles and celebrate on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord - that way only ONE date to remember, not multiples throughout the year. But, alas, I didn't get my act together to do that this year either!
ReplyDeleteWhat a neat way to celebrate the Baptism of the Lord!
DeleteHi Jessica! I just stopped in from Charlotte's. Happy baptism birthday to your son! We, too, celebrate these special days. We bring down the sacrament keep sake box, look at the baptismal cards, prayers and well wishes from others from that special day, light the candle (although I don't have mine nor does my husband have one...in which case, we purchased a new one...why not, right? :) We sing happy birthday, a family prayer and do a faith based gift. I am a believer in the faith based gift...any tool that will connect them and bring them closer is always a good thing in my opinion. But that's it. It's a very simple, meaningful day for the entire family. Blessings to you all in this new year and on all of your baptismal birthdays!! God bless!
ReplyDeleteYou make a good point about tool that connect and bring them closer. When I told Edmund we were going to celebrate his baptism, he got this gleam in his eye and asked, "With presents?" So soon after St. Nicholas Day, Christmas, and his biological birthday too. But I could see that if this were in a different season or month, my feelings might be very different.
DeleteGreat ideas! Sorry I totally forgot to pull out one of our candles!!
ReplyDeletePshaw. It was a lovely and delicious dinner, and the company wasn't bad either! ;)
DeleteI love that you used a Napoleon Dynamite image for the cake, ha ha. these are great ideas... we try to remember the candle and a dessert, but I love the ideas of praying for the child and their godparents and of spiritual gfts such as a novena or Mass intention! this is also a reminder to me to send a card fomy godchildren ea h yeaf on their baptismal anniversaries, maybe with a holy card inside once they are old enough to not eat and tear them up!
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