PRESS RELEASE of 06/03/98
MO.CO.VA. (Second Vatican Council Movement) announces
the first laical and parental blessings of catholics on their babies, waiting for a baptism, intede as an adult act to be chosen by adults.
Gabriella and Silvio Garofalo, in Avellino, Ersilia and Tonino Ziccardi, in Serino (Avellino), Anna and Raffaele Satalino, in Monopoli (Bari), Ketty and Luigi Ricco, in Como, agree not to baptise their babies, but to bless them themselves.
The ritual begins with a prayer of blessing asking God to offer to the child the earthly goods now and the gift of faith and of baptism for the future.
The prayer is followed by the proper blessing ritual: each parent makes a cross on the baby with a little white rose, simbol of God love, telling the blessing formula: “I … bless you in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit”.
The ceremony ends with a simple, humble and not party.
This article is available in Italian too