Tuesday, October 09, 2012

Liam's Baptism Ceremony

God, Your perfect timing is so beautiful!

On the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary and on Respect Life Sunday (October 7, 2012) our precious Liam Lee was baptized into the family of the children of God!

We dressed Liam in a traditional christening gown, since it is an old custom for both genders.

His baptismal gown was a 93-year-old family heirloom!

Sewn in 1919, my Great Grandmother Tesoriero used it for my Grandmother Gorman's baptism.  It was then used for my father's baptism in 1950, my uncle's baptism in 1962, my baptism back in 1979, and now my son's baptism here in 2012.  How special!

The bonnet is made of a folded hanky that my Grandmother Pilley gave me before I was born and which I wore on the day of my baptism.

The precious shoes that Liam wore are the same ones I wore!  I thank my mother for protecting these keepsakes over the years!

I couldn't wait for this special day to begin, and neither could our little Liam!  He woke me nice and early (around 6 AM) and we had breakfast together, while I explained to him how exciting and purposeful this sacrament would be.

Our little house became very crowded that morning with two dogs, two sets of grandparents, two aunts, two uncles, and three little girl cousins.  Dogs were chased, diapers were changed, the bathroom was in constant use, someone was always crying, and everyone was looking their finest.

Things became loud and exciting, and I loved it.  This is the beautiful craziness of family life!  After the ceremony, the house would get even more crowded with additional family members who were so smitten with Liam that 10 people volunteered to help change his diaper.

Since it was a chilly October morning, we dressed Liam in another vintage family heirloom: a hand-sewn sweater and bonnet set made with love by my grandmother's sister, my Great Aunt Alice, on the occasion of my birth in 1979.   He looked absolutely adorable in it, and when I put it on him and told him that he was all set to go to church, he waved his arms and smiled with excitement.


Michael carried Liam proudly in his arms as we all crossed the street to church, the whole bunch of us looking like a parade of strollers and diaper bags, led by a pair of happy Godparents, with Grandma and the Moses basket trailing behind.  (We decided to take the Moses basket to church instead of the car seat, since the Moses basket looks much more Biblical!)

We chose Michael's siblings (Terry and Jennifer) to be Liam's Godparents.  We invited their spouses (Cindy and Andrew, respectively) to join us up near the altar.



Michael lit Liam's baptismal candle by using the flame that was on the paschal candle.

Father James O'Blaney, who married us in 2011, baptized our beloved son in 2012.  Look at how little Liam's eyes are glancing up at Father!

Here's the Goddard Gang!  Pictures with my side of the family will be posted later, since they were taken with a camera that I don't have with me right now!

Our little family of three!

Four generations!

Liam with his Grandmother Goddard!

Liam with his Uncle Andrew!
In an upcoming blog posting, I'll share with you photos of our after-party!  :)