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• Baptism are celebrated in the Cathedral commencing at 12.30pm on the 1st, 3rd and 5th Sundays of the month throughout the year, except in Lent. It is customary to baptise up to four children at each ceremony.
• If you wish to discuss more about Baptisms, please contact our Sacramental Team member on 8839 8412.
• Parent Preparation Programmes are conducted at the Cathedral. They are held on a Saturday in each month except during Lent from 2.00pm to 3.00pm in the Parish Hall.
• To book a Baptism date and a place at the Parent Preparation Programme, please contact the Parish Office on 8839 8412 during office hours Monday to Friday or email
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. You may need to give several months notice as available places fill quickly.
• Should you wish to have a luncheon afterwards, "The Cloisters" Function Room (our Parish Hall) is available for hire. For more information regarding catering and packages available go to www.thecloisters.com.au or contact our Hall Coordinator.
Preparation of adults for this Sacrament
In the years preceding the Second Vatican Council, Church leaders looked carefully at the current state of our initiation rites and decided that some changes in emphasis should be made to better adapt these sacraments to the pastoral needs of the contemporary Church. Following the discussion of these matters at the Council, the Church published a document: Rite of Confirmation and Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (which has come to be known by its initials, RCIA).
The RCIA restores the order of Baptism-Confirmation-Eucharist and emphasizes the interconnectedness of these three sacraments. These rites are neither separate nor are they static they are part of an ongoing process. The RCIA speaks of our faith journey. And this journey does not end at Baptism or First Communion, or even at Confirmation, but continues throughout our Christian life. The Sacraments of Initiation are a continual invitation to continued conversion.
This faith journey is not merely a matter of learning about the faith, not merely instruction, but also a true conversion process. It involves the whole life of the candidate and the whole life of the Church. Conversion takes place in community. Conversion implies initiation into that community, initiation into the Body of Christ. (Fr Thomas Richstatter, O.F.M., S.T.D. Sacraments of Initiation:Sacraments of Invitation )
In baptism, we are reoriented toward God; the life of grace overcomes the power of evil and enables the baptized to believe in God and to engage, under the power of the Holy Spirit, in the struggle against Satan and the power of death.
Baptism happens not only to the individual, but also to Christ's body, the Church. That's why the rite insists that we celebrate Baptism in the Christian assembly, with the community present and actively participating. It is the community who is welcoming the new members, journeying with them, providing models for them, supporting and nourishing them.
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