Carmel Bulletin, 6 September 2013
Last weekend, Fr Paul shared with everyone the design concept for the renewal of our church. This brings to completion a thorough period of parishioner formation, consultation and planning.
As articulated in the guiding concepts for this process, one intention within this process is to reflect as much as possible the liturgical principles of the Second Vatican Council. We asked the architect, Jesse Mowbray, to ensure that a fixed, dignified space was provided for the celebration of baptism.
The Church’s General Introduction to Christian Initiation (no 25) states that
the baptistery or the area where the baptismal font is located should be reserved for the sacrament of baptism and should be worthy to serve as the place where Christians are reborn in water and the Holy Spirit.
The Book of Blessings affirms this, saying that
the baptistery or site of the baptismal font is rightly considered to be one of the most important parts of a church” (no 1080).
The importance of the Sacrament of Baptism as the first sacrament means that it should have a dedicated space for its celebration, which includes a fixed, gracefully constructed font. Our current baptistery doesn’t work as the place where baptisms are celebrated, but rather where the (moveable) baptismal font is stored when baptisms aren’t celebrated.
The newly proposed space for the baptistery will provide dedicated space for the celebration of Baptism. It will stand as a sign to all of the importance we give to this sacrament. Next week, we will look at why we have proposed the specific location at the centre of the church. In the meantime, you can read and view more about the design concept in the parish centre and at www.olmcwenty.org.au/churchrenewal.
Liturgy 