Parishioners are invited and encouraged to have their children baptized at St. Paul Catholic Church. The Diocese of Sacramento requires that parents and Godparents must participate in the baptismal preparation program (
Baptism Preparation Page) prior to the baptism being scheduled.
Children 4 years old and younger: – Parents and Godparents attend a baptismal preparation class Arrangements for baptism and baptism class are made through the Parish Office at (916) 381-5200.
Children 5 to 9 years old – Children and their parents and Godparents attend a baptism preparation class. The children will have to join CFF according to their grade level. Special baptism classes, separate from their Sunday CFF, will be scheduled for them. Arrangements for CFF classes are made through the Director of Religious Education. Arrangements for baptism are made through the Parish Office at (916) 381-5200.
Children 10 to 15 years old - Children and their parents and Godparents attend the 2-year RCIA class to be held in the Religious Education Center. Baptism takes place during the Easter Vigil.
Children 16-17 years old - Children and their parents and Godparents attend the 2-year RCIA class to be held in the Religious Education Center. Baptism takes place during the Easter Vigil.
Adults who wish to become baptized in the Catholic Faith are encouraged to participate in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA). Learn more about
RCIA.
The Sacrament of Baptism in the Catholic Church
"
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded of you" (Matthew 28:19-20).
Baptism is the first Sacrament celebrated in the process of becoming a full member of the Church community. It is the first of the three Sacraments of Initiation - Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist.
Baptism is, like all the Sacraments, a gift from God. Water is the universal symbol. Water is absolutely essential for all life. Water cleanses and restores. It is the waters of Baptism which give us new life. In accordance, through Baptism we also die to our old sinful selves in order to be restored and resurrected in the new life of Christ.
"The fruit of Baptism, or baptismal grace, is a rich reality that includes forgiveness of original sin and all personal sins, birth into the new life by which man becomes an adoptive son of the Father, a member of Christ and a temple of the Holy Spirit. By this very fact the person baptized is incorporated into the Church, the Body of Christ, and made a sharer in the priesthood of Christ." -- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1279
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