Congratulations on the birth of your child. We at Saint Mary of the Angels and Holy Family, recognise that all life is a gift from God and that, with the birth of a baby, lives are changed forever.

The Church reminds us that “Baptism is a Sacrament which cleanses us from Original Sin, makes us Christians, children of God and members of the Church ( Penny Catechism).

In order to assist you as you consider the possibility of Baptism for your child, we hope that the following pointers will be helpful:

• Baptism is a Sacrament of the Catholic Church and a search, brings many gifts and blessings – not least the hope of eternal life and membership of the worldwide Church;

• In Baptism, we declare our firm belief in God, who is the Father, Son and Holy Spirit;

• In Baptism, we proclaim our faith in the resurrection of Jesus – and we are happy to publicly declare it;

• In Baptism, we make a number of promises about what we believe and how we live out our faith;

• Baptism commit us to bringing up our child as a Catholic, attending Mass regularly with our child, teaching our child prayers and Bible stories, and helping our child grow in faith.

All of these pointers are of equal value.  Because we respect your integrity as the parents of this child,  we want you to fully understand what you are undertaking in requesting Baptism.

In addition to these ‘spiritual’  and ‘faith’ concerns, there are a number of practical concerns which we ask you to consider:

• In order to be baptised at Saint Mary’s of Angels, you need to be resident in the parish. That means you have to declare it and register your family in our database.

• A sign of your commitment to the faith, which you will promise at Baptism, is your attendance on a regular basis at Mass. If you haven’t been coming to Mass, then this is the perfect opportunity to start again! if you are new to Mass attendance, we would ask that you come regularly for three months before requesting Baptism for your child.  This gives us a chance to get to know you – and you a chance to re-connect with your faith in an authentic way;

• A further practical concern in order for you to request Baptism here, is that at least one parent must be a Roman Catholic.

• Godparents, too, must be 16+ and there must be at least one fully practising baptised Catholic.
• Parent(s) will have to to attend Baptism preparation session at the parish.

• Baptism will be celebrated in the group (more than one child), during  the Holy Mass on Saturday’s  at 12 noon. Dates of Baptism during the year are predetermined:

  1. 25th of October 2025

  2. 27th of December 2025

  3. 28th of February 2026

  4. 25th of April 2026

  5. 27th of June 2026

  6. 29th of August 2026

  7. 31st of October 2026

If you have decided to baptise your child, these are the first steps to follow:

• Fill out the Parish membership form (online only) and send it to the parish.

Parish Database Form

2. Fill out the baptismal form (online only) and send it to the parish. Registration must take place at least 10 weeks before Baptism.

Baptismal Form 2025/2026

After receiving your data we will contact you within two weeks about the preparation course and further arrangements.