Oh baptisms, you get me every time. That part when, as parents, you promise to raise your child in the faith, is such a beautiful yet daunting task! After weeks of newborn sleep deprivation and dirty diapers and countless feedings ~ it snaps me right back to what's important. This is not our child but a child of God's and we are just blessed to try and get him back to Him.
Phil's parents and two of his sisters were able to come up from Maryland to celebrate with us, and Phil's dad is very handily a Deacon who administered the sacrament to our 7th baby, Brendan Joseph.
Our three eldest served at the Mass and then again at the Baptism following. What a gift.
Deacon Gramps was a champ through the whole thing even while a mischievous Declan ran around the church, unable to be tamed. Oh, two year olds, they can humble the most prideful of mothers :)
It cracks me up that Brendan's moment of Baptism is being blocked by Alexander's big head. Such is the life of the seventh child, I suppose!
TOTALLY NOT THEOLOGICAL, but I loved that flyaway cardigan I was wearing. So flowy, so flattering, so forgiving. The 3 F's of fashion after children. I went back and got another one. OK, back to the sacrament at hand...
Brendan's godparents were so cute and lit the Baptismal candle together. They are not married so it made me laugh because it looked romantical. That's my brother-in-law, Bill and our "god-daughter" Haley.
Deacon Gramps blessed both myself and Phil as part of the Baptism, and seeing Phil's dad bless his son and his grandson always makes me tear up. Good thing you can't see me face ;)
And that was a wrap! Welcome to the Catholic Church Brendan Joseph Martin! You've got a crazy family that adores you and godparents that are amazing, so you can only go up from here!
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| Paternal grandparents |
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| Maternal grandparents |
Then we all headed over to the school cafeteria to paaaaartaaaay:
Lots of family, friends, and food. The 3 F's of partying.
There was even an Irish step performance :)
I'm so so so grateful for all the gifts in my life, and there's nothing like the grace of a sacrament to remind me of that.
You threw a spectacular baptism! Welcome to the church Brendan!
ReplyDeleteSo much goodness in one post! Even I teared up with Deacon Gramps blessing his son. Love those handsome altar servers,too. It was quite a stellar family celebration. Congratulations to baby Brendan and all of the Martin's.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful baptism! And you look wonderful, Colleen! Good luck starting back to work!
ReplyDeleteWhat great pictures of a great day! Welcome to the church Brendan! (And, not liturgical, but you look great, Colleen!)
ReplyDeleteThat photo of the three boys and "Deacon Gramps" looks like it could be a Normal Rockwell painting. Love that the trend in male haircuts is clean, crisp, and so very vintage looking right now.
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