Kids first day out.

We had my kid's baptism last Sunday and like the many baptisms that I have attended till
date, I expected it to be a function devoted to just one kid. Imagine my surprise when I see
three more cute kids (and their parents, godparents, relatives etc) at the Church.

It seems a Sunday evening every month is specifically kept aside for baptisms at this church
and the priest would baptise all the kids that turn up for baptism on that day. Proceedings
were kind of long-drawn because the priest would have to repeat the same verses for each
kid and go from one kid to the other while making the sign of the cross on the their foreheads
or while sprinkling holy water on them etc.

One thing I noticed was that all the kids were silent, which is very unlike what I have seen during other baptisms. Usually the kid would cry atleast when sprinkled with holy water,
but in this case none of the kids even seemed to notice it. Old-timers would say that the kid
cries because Satan is expelled due to the sprinkling of holy water. Hmmm. Does this mean
that Satan managed to stay back in the kids inspite of the holy water ? I hope not.

Since the baptism was in the afternoon and it being generally hot and humid, the kids were drowsy / asleep and that could explain how they went through the whole exercise without
even a whimper.

It is usually a normal practice to have the kid lie in front of the altar, after the function is
over. In this case, it was actually a pleasant sight seeing 4 cute babies lying side-by-side.
They looked so cute & lovely in their white dresses. Though my son did not take kindly to
leaving the warmth of his mother's arms and started bawling as soon as he was laid down. :-)





At our place, the baptism would usually be the first outing for kids, since the time they came home after delivery. Elders do not allow the kid to be taken out anywhere till the Baptism is
done. Except maybe a visit to the hospital if the kid is not well or for vaccinations.

I think this has also to do with Mr.Satan - the fear of Satan becoming an uninvited guest in
a kid that has not been in a church yet and been baptised, sprinkled with holy water etc.