Religion

Or 'That God Stuff', according to Kathleen

I was born and raised a Catholic. It was always a given for me that I would raise my children in that religion - however immersed or not I was at the time. So, when Keslyn was born, at the back of my mind was always "Hey, I need to see about getting my daughter baptized".

Now, I'm not a practicing Catholic; I haven't been for quite some time. I intend to - someday - begin attending church regularly again. But I'll admit, it hasn't been a pressing concern for me yet. I plan to find my religious home before Keslyn is of an age to begin catechism classes, but I have a couple of years before that becomes an issue.

When John and I went to Michigan in September '05, we looked into getting Keslyn baptized at my old church, and were told in no uncertain terms that it would not be possible. We were told that it was too short notice, and that may have had something to do with it, but the biggest reasons that the Catholic church that I had attended all my childhood, and that most of my churchgoing family had attended for longer than I've been alive was that John and I weren't married, and Keslyn was born out of wedlock. Well, let's just call a duck a duck, here: I was pissed. Seriously. It isn't Keslyn's fault or concern that John and I were (and still are, thankyouverymuch) "living in sin".

The Church should, in my opinion, be anxious to bring in new parishioners; increase the flock and all that. I understand that the lifestyle John and I are leading is not in concordance with the teachings of the Catholic church, but we weren't talking about getting John baptized. Keslyn isn't living in sin, so why refuse to grant her the benefit of God's grace via your church?

But refuse they did, and that plan failing, we returned home to California. John's Aunt Donna had recently joined a Catholic church nearby, so, with some misgivings, due largely to our previous experience, we contacted her and asked for the phone numbers of the appropriate people. And then we made some phone calls.

Our inquiries were directed to a very helpful woman named Rose, who set us up with an appointment to come in and discuss the baptism with her. Making sure that she knew our circumstances (unmarried and planning to stay that way until we move to Michigan), we sat down to talk about the necessary preparations for baptizing Keslyn. As it turns out, there is one very good thing about living in California: people are much less uptight, and that attitude extends to the churches. John's and my relationship and lack of recent church attendance had no bearing whatsoever on this church's willingness to baptize our daughter. However.

Such a long wait! We had our initial appointment in March - there wasn't an opening in the baptism prep classes until the end of May. The end of May came, though, and we went to the class. Uncle 'Go' attended the class with us, and it was probably the most low-key hour I've ever spent at a church. Actually, it was almost enjoyable, which was a pleasant surprise - I left the class feeling very much like I would be comfortable joining that church if we were staying in the area. At the end of the class, we filled out the forms for the baptism - child's name, godparents' names, patron saint. Patron saint? Huh?

Well, of course! Being little-schooled in the processes and procedures of baptisms, I hadn't given a thought to the choice of a patron saint for Keslyn. So, we left that spot blank, and turned in our paperwork, and I came home and got online to look up saints.

In this respect, it was fortunate that we had waited so long for the baptism. Keslyn's personality has started to assert itself, and we were able to choose a patron saint that we felt would resonate with her as she grew into adulthood. In the process, I even found a saint that resonated with me, which was a(nother) surpise. So, below, a few words on Keslyn's patron saint, St. Cecilia:

Profile:

Cultivated young patrician woman whose ancestors loomed large in Rome's history. She vowed her virginity to God, but her parents married her to Valerian of Trastevere. Cecilia told her new husband that she was accompanied by an angel, but in order to see it, he must be purified. He agreed to the purification, and was baptized; returning from the ceremony, he found her in prayer accompanied by a praying angel. The angel placed a crown on each of their heads, and offered Valerian a favor; the new convert asked that his brother be baptized.

The two brothers developed a ministry of giving proper burial to martyred Christians. In their turn they were arrested and martyred for their faith. Cecilia buried them at her villa on the Apprian Way, and was arrested for the action. She was ordered to sacrifice to false gods; when she refused, she was martyred in her turn.

The Acta of Cecilia includes the following: "While the profane music of her wedding was heard, Cecilia was singing in her heart a hymn of love for Jesus, her true spouse." It was this phrase that led to her association with music, singers, musicians, etc.

And the Prayer to St. Cecilia:

O glorious Saint, who chose to die instead of denying your King, we pray you please to help us, as His fair praise we sing!

We lift our hears in joyous song to honor Him this way; and while we sing, remembering, to sing is to doubly pray.

At once in our hearts on on our tongues we offer double prayer sent heavenward on winged notes to praise God dwelling there.

While with our hearts and tongues we try with song to praise God twice, we ask dear Saint, to help us be united close with Christ!

We chose this particular saint because she is the patron saint of music and musicians, poets and singers. Keslyn has (since the womb) loved music and dancing, and has had favorite singers and songs. She cannot hear a tune without dancing to it, and even taught herself to 'shake a tail feather' while watching the Blues Brothers. She's lately begun serenading John and I; she stands in front of us, staring us in the eyes, and sings quietly to us - complete with facial expressions and emoting. I realize that all children love music, and playing with musical instruments like organs and pots and pans... Keslyn just seems to be uncommonly fascinated with it, so this particular patron saint was a perfect fit.

We've scheduled the baptism for 1:00 Sunday, June 18th, 2006. Hoping for good weather, because we're having a picnic lunch afterwards. When we get home, I'll be in picture-posting frenzy - you cannot believe how adorable Keslyn looks in her white dress and shoes!

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