The Baptistery
At the entrance to the church
sits the baptistry, sometimes simply called the holy water font. Being the first thing we encounter as we enter the church, the baptistry reminds us of our baptism, the beginning of our new life in Christ. As we sign ourselves with holy water, we should recall the “love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God” (1 John 3:1) – the love that has freed us from our sins and made us adopted sons and daughters of God the Father in Jesus Christ.
The baptistry is placed at the entrance to the Church to remind us that before we can enter God’s holy temple and approach the Eucharistic table, we have to first “put on Christ” through our baptism (Galatians 3:27). None of us are worthy to approach God on our own. It is only through being baptized into the Body of Christ that we have confidence to “draw near to the throne of grace” (Hebrews 4:16). Baptized into Christ, we share in His role as priest, prophet, and king, and so we can approach the Eucharistic sacrifice which nourishes us to go out and “declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).
The updates from the Transcend campaign
will include a painted blue ceiling to match the rest of the church and an image of the Holy Spirit in the dome above the baptistry. The embellished ceiling will begin to draw the eye upward and into the beauty of the rest of the Church. The image of the Holy Spirit hovering over the holy water font recalls the story of Christ’s own baptism in the Gospels. He was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River, “and when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens opened and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased’” (Mark 1:10-11). In the same way, though invisible, we received the Holy Spirit at our baptism; and even now, the Father speaks to us, His beloved sons and daughters, that He is well pleased with us.
Transcend
keep the conversation going about the beauty of the Catholic faith and the Transcend Campaign. Want to see how you can sponsor a facet of the Church? Email Rebecca Almanza, our development director, at ralmanza@stannparish.org. Please continue to pray for the successful completion of these projects and for our church.