Nicholas’ first significant religious event was held this morning at St. Eugene’s Catholic Church in Wendell, NC. Father Charles Khonde (one of the two priests serving St. Eugene’s…Father Charles and Father Mel are easily the coolest priests I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting!).
Gathered round us were friends and family and a special thanks goes to Mike and Julie Morrison who agreed to stand as Nicholas’ godparents. The tradition of the godparents is an ancient one that goes back to the days of the Roman Empire. Back then, Christian churches were only starting to take hold and it was not uncommon for new converts to have parents who were not Christian. The godparents were elected to serve as your advocate and voice in the Church and were to help guide you along your spiritual journey. Nowadays, they still serve that spiritual role as advocates for the new member of the Church and generally would be willing to take in the child and raise them in the preferred faith.
Once we had gathered in the sanctuary, Nicholas was dressed in his baptismal gown that was hand-made by a friend of our great friends from the days that Gramps and Daddy were stationed in Jackson, Mississippi. The gown is utterly gorgeous and will be a precious remembrance of the baptism ceremony. And if you ever want amazing hand-made outfits for a baby, have we got a seamstress for you! 🙂
The Baptism ceremony itself was quite a wondrous thing and Father Charles really outdid himself on this one! The ceremony is quite straightforward (most of the forms are the same as the scene in The GodFather except that we didn’t schedule any hits on mobsters whilst it was going on…a parade on our wedding day is as exciting as we get)! The ceremony itself is almost a mini-Mass and before long, Nicholas was annointed with a couple of oils and water was poured over his head. He really liked that so Father Charles gave him two more splashes than you ordinarily get! The baptismal pedestal was the original one consecrated by the church and was recently fortified by one of Grammy’s neighbours Fitz (he’s really an amazing carpenter!) and that was a nice touch that he and his lovely wife Adrienne could see Nicholas baptised using the fortified pedestal.
Nicholas was fantastic through the entire ceremony which is rather unusual for baptisms (but not for Nicholas, he’s generally an agreeable chap except for the beginning and end of his feedings!). At times, he was very captivated by Father Charles and was definitely focused on the proceedings at hand. Way to go Nicholas!
Also, it turns out that this weekend is the celebration of the feast of the baptism of Christ. Father Charles was thrilled to have a baptism during this time as it’s the best time for a baptism! I wish we could say we were that clever but it was just a happy coincidence based on the weekend our godparents could come to North Carolina!
After the ceremony and the ritual sacrifice of several rolls of film, we headed out for lunch at Knightdale Seafood and BBQ, a favourite restaurant of ours that’s not surprisingly in Knightdale!
After lunch and cake, it was time to head back to Ms. Pat’s for some relaxation, games, and a nice dinner. Whilst there, we got some pictures of Nicholas in the snow before it all melts away. Daddy wanted a snowball fight but was overruled…guess we’ll try to get a snowball fight the next time… 🙂
Unfortunately, the it was time to wish Gramps a safe journey home to Port Orange to Nicholas’ beach house! Julie, Mike, and their children are heading back to Evansville on Monday and we wish them a safe journey as well! 🙂
We have another first to report today…Nicholas’ first tooth has finally poked through! Before we know it, the boy is going to be demanding pork chops and steaks to exercise those teeth… ;)-
