Though I was baptized before I officially remember it, I still think of baptism as a preeminent event in my spiritual life. I could not speak for myself, so my parents, grandparents and godparents spoke for me.

Recently, Marble Church has welcomed a class of new members and some of them were baptized. We also just launched our Interfaith Learning Evenings on “Life Cycle Events.” The topic of the first evening was Birth. Because of these nearly intersecting events, I have been studying about and reflecting on Baptism a lot recently. I read with great interest of early Christian rites of Baptism, as they were practiced in third century Milan, under Bishop Ambrose. In our times, many are baptized as infants, as I was; or for adults, baptism has taken on a varying ritual shapes.

Here’s what baptism looked like in the early church:

• Usually, baptisms were done during the Great Vigil on Holy Saturday night.
   
• Candidates for baptism were adults and children over age seven who had asked to enter the Christian community.  These ‘inquirers’ were gathered into a group called Catechumens.  During Lent, the catechumens were prepared for their baptism and church membership through ascetism (fasting, prayer, abstaining from sexual intercourse and from bathing), exorcism and learning the catechism.
   
• The candidates for baptism entered the baptistry, which was a special room with a font in it.  The font was like a very, very large bathtub or small pool.
   
• Initially, the candidates stripped naked and were anointed with oil.
   
• They faced west and renounced the devil and then turned to face east proclaiming their allegiance to Christ.
   
• The Bishop then blessed the water in the font with a prayer and the sign of the cross.
   
• One-by-one, candidates descended into the font.
   
• Each candidate was asked three questions, after which they were immersed in the font’s waters.  The three questions:  1) Do you believe in God the Father Almighty?; 2) Do you believe in our Lord Jesus Christ and in his cross?; 3) Do you believe in the Holy Spirit?  The candidate was expected to answer “I do believe.”
   
• The newly baptized person would step up out of the font and be anointed again with oil poured on their heads.
   
• Then their feet were washed by the bishop and they were clothed in brand new white robes.
   
• The Bishop said a special prayer over them and signed them with the cross.
   
• After all this, the newly baptized Christians would leave the baptistry and enter the sanctuary where the rest of the church membership was waiting.  They would join in with the whole community to celebrate the Eucharist for their first time and celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus the Christ. 

What do you know of your baptism? When and where did it happen? Who was there? What is important to you about baptism now as the launching of your spiritual journey?