A Hokie & A Wahoo: Fiona's Baptism

Yesterday, Fiona was baptized into the Catholic Church. The baptism took place at Saint Joseph's on the Brandywine, which is the same church where we were married. I love the sentiment that such big events for our family were held in the same place. It was a bit of a dreary, rainy day, but it was filled with so much love, faith and support.

Our little family

The godparents! My sister, Kristen, and Ryan's brother, Kyle

My little leprechaun.

When your name is Fiona Kathleen, and you're a Mc and you're a redhead, your Mama has to dress you up in an Irish linen christening gown. Obviously.

This was during the Litany of the Saints. The deacon who was presiding over the baptism, likes to research different saints that share names and birthdays with the child. For Fiona, he chose Saint Finnian (closest to Fiona), Blessed Kateri of Tekakwitha (for Kathleen), and Blessed Mercedes de Jesus Molina (died on June 12th). We were laughing because he said there were so many Saint Catherines to choose from, since Kathleen is derived from Catherine. But for some reason, he felt compelled to focus on Blessed Kateri of Tekakwitha. What was humorous, is that I had chosen Kateri as my confirmation name. Also humorous, was that of all the saints associated with June 12th, he chose Blessed Mercedes de Jesus Molina, who was born in Ecuador. You know, that place my husband lived for a while. Neither of these facts were known by the deacon, so it made everything seem even more special.

Fiona receiving the sign of the cross from her godparents

About to be baptized. If I look nervous, it's because my daughter who should have been awake at this time actually looked like this:

Needless to say, her reaction after being sound asleep and then having water poured over her head was everything that you could possibly imagine it would be.

Baptized baby!

I did have socks for her, but I completely forgot to put them on. Oh well, baby feet are cute :)

The white garment is a part of the Catholic baptism. For her white garment, the deacon gave Fiona this, which his wife needlepointed for her. It was unbelievably sweet.