On Friday, November 28, we were told that a Chaplain at Children's Mercy Hospital could provide us with a Catholic rite of Baptism, if we were interested. They mentioned this since Thomas was going to be undergoing open heart surgery the following Monday. Since we were interested, we called the Chaplain and said we were able to do it right away if she was available.
She brought up three simple Christening gowns, which were really just front cutouts that one could lay across the top of a baby, without having to worry about tubes and other medical apparatus. We picked one of the three for Thomas to wear.
The Chaplain, Mary Anne, Tim, and I gathered beside Thomas' bassinet, and closed the curtains around his area. Becky, the Chaplain, read a verse from the book of Matthew: "Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them. Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.' "
She took a little seashell which contained holy water and poured a little bit out on Thomas' forehead three times as she said, "I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit."
When she was done, she gave us the shell to keep, along with a little gift and a green beaded bracelet with a saints charm on it (Saints Patrick and Bridget). The gift was a small plaque/ornament that showed a little boy praying with a stuffed bunny rabbit (or puppy dog) by his knees, with the phrase "God bless this precious little boy entrusted to our care." She also said we could keep the baptismal gown.
Becky said that the Roman Catholic Church authorizes chaplains to do baptisms like these in special circumstances, and that we can still have a more formal affair later in our church.
