His Baptism (finally)

This past Sunday, Charlie was finally baptized.  It was a long time coming.  Charlie was born right after James ended his last semester, and many of James' classmates left to go various places for the summer, including Charlie's godmother.  We had the option of either waiting until late August to get him baptized, or asking Carly (the godmother) to pay hundreds of dollars to fly back to DC from Indiana for a weekend.  Since all involved are broke graduate students, we chose the first one.  Then, sadly, Hurricane Irene came the exact weekend of the scheduled baptism.  We knew we would lose power, and didn't know how or if Carly and Mike (the godfather) could make it from downtown to our church in hurricane aftermath.  So, we canceled.  But, the day finally came and it was beautiful.  Here are some pictures.

 Although none of our family was able to come celebrate with us, we had many wonderful friends come to witness the baptism.  Here is the first half.

Here is the second half.  Seeing so many smiling faces in the pews made me remember how blessed we've been with great friends out here.  

Charlie just cracked me up.  He cried during the entire Liturgy of the Word portion of the baptism.  Then as soon as we got up and gathered around the font, he got quiet, paid complete attention and an almost contemplative look came upon his face.  He didn't cry a bit when he was baptized, but was startled when Fr. DeRosa anointed his ears.  Then he gave us some great big smiles during the prayers of blessing on the parents.  It was very sweet.

 Poor Lucy.  She'd been looking forward to Charlie's baptism for quite some time and talking about it nonstop.  (For a long time it was, "Sunday!  Charlie be baptized!" On Saturday, I baked a cake.  Then it became, "Sunday!  Eat cake!  Charlie be baptized!")  But, the baptism was held after the 11am mass.  And one mass is just about all Lucy can handle.  By the time mass is over, she is running all over the place with chaos just spilling out of her.  We knew she wouldn't be able to keep still or quiet for the baptism, so we asked a great friend to keep an eye on her.  I think she missed the actual baptism part, and when people started leaving the church, Lucy broke down crying about the baptism being "put away."  

 

 We picked some great godparents.  They're really pretty awesome.  They want to have monthly godparent soirees or GPSs.  Since we are all in DC for grad school, it is likely that this will be the only year they live near Charlie so they're taking advantage of it!

 After the baptism, we invited everyone (all 25ish of them) back to our very small basement for a party.  I made 15lbs of pulled pork, and everyone brought a dish to share.  It was great.  One of our friends brought watermelon punch and he hallowed out the watermelon and used it as the punch bowl.  See?  We know some pretty great people.  Lucy, our little party animal, cried every time some one left.  "PEOPLES?"  I know I'm making it sound like she was crying the whole day, but she was actually great.  When just a few people remained, she sat next to me on the couch, looked at a book, and then just completely passed out.  

 The day itself was so busy that I didn't get any close up pictures of Charlie in his baptism gown.  This gown was made by my grandmother for my brother to wear.  Then I wore it, (skip twenty-something years) then Lucy wore it.  And now, Charlie.  I love that.  I hope a lot more babies wear it.  On a funnier note, Charlie has gotten so chunky that we could only snap one of the back snaps of the gown.  Ah well.  Anyway, I wanted some pictures, so I put it on him today.  He still smells like chrism, so it totally counts.

 I kept trying to get him to smile, but of course as soon as he did, my hand slipped on the camera.

 And then the gown found its way into Charlie's mouth, and with that, we decided the photo shoot was over.

Oh, and if you want to read more about Charlie's patron saint, Blessed Charles de Foucauld, click here.  He wrote a beautiful prayer that I used to pray often in college (which I just realized is not list on that link, so I'll type it here).

Prayer of Abandonment 

Father,
I abandon myself into your hands; do with me what you will.
Whatever you may do, I thank you:
I am ready for all, I accept all.
Let only your will be done in me, and in all your creatures.
I wish no more than this, O Lord.

Into your hands I commend my soul;
I offer it to you
with all the love of my heart,
for I love you, Lord,
and so need to give myself,
to surrender myself into your hands,
without reserve,
and with boundless confidence,
for you are my Father.

Charles de Foucald