On Tuesday afternoon Year 1 took a trip to St James’s Church in Marylebone.
We met with Father Philip to discuss our most recent Religious Education Topic of Baptism. During our visit we looked around the Church and even got to sit in the area of the Church where many Baptism’s take place. Father Philip explained what the sacrament of Baptism is and how it welcomes you into the Catholic Church, he also highlight many key elements of the ceremony and explained what is used and what takes place. We got to see the shell which is used to place the Holy Water on the baby’s head, the Baptismal font which holds the Holy water and the Paschal Candle which is used to light the Baptismal Candle which is later handed to Parents or Godparents.
Father Philip then took us to the Baptistry, this is a small room inside of the Church which was created to host the sacrament of Baptism. Father Philip explained that usually now this room is too small for Baptisms to take place in as many people use the sacrament as a celebration to welcome a new child into the world and God’s family. Usually a larger audience of family and friends will gather for a Baptism, therefore the Baptistry is only used on occasions where 5-10 people will be present.
Father Philip also explored Jesus’ Baptism with us, we saw a stained glass window which had an image of John the Baptist and Jesus in the river Jordan. They compared Jesus’ Baptism to ones which take place today and discussed similarities and differences, many children could highlight that now Baptisms no longer take place in a river but rather a Church and that most people Baptised are now babies rather than adults.
Father Philip was amazing and really helped all of Year 1 in consolidating their understanding of the sacrament of Baptism, this was a very special trip which all of the children enjoyed thoroughly. Well done Year 1 for your amazing effort, thank you Father Philip for your guidance and a huge thank you to all of the adults who accompanied us and made our trip possible!
