Holy Baptism from Hell...!!!

Saturday, 27th January, 2018 was the day my daughter Alanis got baptized. She was welcomed into Christianity with the Baptism ceremony which was held at St. Anthony's church, Malad at 6pm. She was blessed with the Holy water and the Holy oils. It’s every catholic parents wish and desire to get their child baptized. This is the first major function after the life changing event in a catholic parents' lives. Obviously nothing comes close to see your own flesh and blood in person after spending 9 months in the mother’s womb. This event changes everything for the new parents.

 Baptism as a sacred ceremony is conducted after 40 days of the child being born, but nowadays it’s not a mandate, some parents do it before 40 days. Since both the parents are now adjusting to their new life, it’s time to plan for the Baptism ceremony. The parents have to give a name to the child by which he will be known for the rest of his life, which can get a little frustrating at times, because I’m sure every parent would have some disagreements with regard to the names suggested.

The baptism ceremony which is conducted in the church is sacrosanct, and there is a deeper meaning in the child getting baptized, apart from entering Christianity, Lord Jesus is welcomed into their hearts. They become Catholics, another individual joining the catholic faith. Every religious ceremony which is conducted for any religion, is special, pure, conducted with seriousness with a spiritual aura.

My daughters Baptism was a BLOODY DISASTER. The entire ceremony was done in such a hotchpotch manner, the decorum wasn’t that of a Baptism ceremony, but rather that of a stock exchange trading floor. The chaotic ceremony left me, my wife and my family completely disturbed and disheartened. It was an utter failure on how the entire episode unfolded and I blame the church and the priest solely responsible for this ghastly unorganized and painful experience we had been put through. It is shameful on the part of the church to allow this nuisance especially for such events.

My daughters Baptism happened in between a private Communion mass which was deliberately stopped by the priest conducting the Baptism and then while the Baptism ceremony was in progress, he tells the priest to continue with the Communion mass. All of this happened after a wedding mass which just got over and the couple were finishing with their pictures/poses, etc. While entering the church, the priest leading the way ahead of all the parents and their infants, the priest stops to have a conversation with the newly married couple. This is just the beginning of the chaos. After a good minute the priest finally decides to move ahead closer to the altar. As we approach the altar I see this boy sitting on a chair ahead of all the church benches, and the priest indicates to him, to move ahead closer to the altar to make space for us parents.

I didn’t realize till that very moment that there is another priest who is conducting a communion mass for that boy sitting on the chair. And I look at my wife and with a completely disgruntled look, and my wife too gives me a similar look of irritation. We both are looking at each other and wondering “what the fuck?” is happening around here. As the priest begins with the Baptism ceremony, he asks the parents to remove all clothing from the child which according to me is not standard practice in all churches. While the Communion priest was conducting the mass, and me standing next to the priest I’m was unable to hear a single word he was saying. There is so much noise around that it’s difficult to concentrate on what is happening in front of you. The wedding crowd dispersing in the background, the priest conducting the mass and his voice being heard on the loudspeakers. It’s a complete ruckus.

I was standing next to the priest and as I was overlooking what he was reading, and I could notice that he was skipping some parts of the prayers, like he was in a hurry to go somewhere. The parents respond to the baptism prayers saying “I Do”, here I am responding looking at others lips and not what the priest says. After pouring of the Holy Water over the child’s head and blessing the child with the Holy Oil, it’s time to wear the white dress on the child again and receive the final blessings. The priest instructs all the parents to change their children in to the white Baptism gown and get the ”ENVELOPES”. I’m thinking in my head... Are you FUCKING serious???” “Get the ENVELOPES”. Are you doing us a favour by baptizing the child? What shit is this man?? I was getting so livid with this entire escapade. And unfortunately we hadn’t carried an envelope, since we left the house in a rush, the priest was actually asking us again n again. It seemed the priest was only interested in getting the ENVELOPES and not conducting the Baptism ceremony. It felt like the ceremony was rushed through just for the ENVELOPES.

It’s an utter disgrace that such stupid and idiotic incidents occur in today’s age and time. What’s the point in an individual becoming a priest if he is doing it only for money and not for the love for the Almighty and service to the people and the society? It’s sad but true.

We are filing a formal complaint with the Archdiocese of Bombay just to ensure such mockery of divine sacraments are not taken lightly by the people in charge of the Catholic faith and the church. I don’t care if the other families who were part of the Baptism ceremony are not interested in taking this up with the church, but my family and I are definitely escalating the complaint to the highest authorities in the church.