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On the day of Holy Baptism of my sister, maternal grandmother, grandfather, aunts Molly, Laly, mother's elder sister Chinnamma's daughters Ruby ( 14 years) and Rhymie ( 12 years) were present from mother's family. I don't remember whether aunt Chinnamma & her husband Mr Daniel were present or not. By that time, a third girlchild, Rini ( 3 years) was born to them. Uncle Daniel's house was just the third one from my mother's house. He was the eldest son in his family. He had three younger sisters and a brother who was the youngest one in their family.
After his marriage with aunt Chinamma,their family as a whole, joined Pentecostal Church. I think his father owned one or two acres of land. But, being the eldest son, he went to Pazhampillichal, a village in Adimaly Panchayath in Idukki district, to buy more land to raise crops there. Then it was difficult for their daughters to go to school from that place because the nearest school was far away. Therefore, their daughters Ruby and Rhymie lived in their mother's house ( in my mother's house) and went to school. They studied in St. Joseph's High School, Paingottoor. During the vacations, they would go to their house in Pazhampillichal. But in the midsummer vacations, sometimes we would meet and would exchange some special news. I called Ruby & Rhymie as 'chechi' because they were elders to me. As Ruby and Maji were of the same age, both of them would talk with me about the welfare of each another.
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On the day of Holy Baptism of my sister, maternal grandmother, grandfather, aunts Molly, Laly, mother's elder sister Chinnamma's daughters Ruby ( 14 years) and Rhymie ( 12 years) were present from mother's family. I don't remember whether aunt Chinnamma & her husband Mr Daniel were present or not. By that time, a third girlchild, Rini ( 3 years) was born to them. Uncle Daniel's house was just the third one from my mother's house. He was the eldest son in his family. He had three younger sisters and a brother who was the youngest one in their family.
After his marriage with aunt Chinamma,their family as a whole, joined Pentecostal Church. I think his father owned one or two acres of land. But, being the eldest son, he went to Pazhampillichal, a village in Adimaly Panchayath in Idukki district, to buy more land to raise crops there. Then it was difficult for their daughters to go to school from that place because the nearest school was far away. Therefore, their daughters Ruby and Rhymie lived in their mother's house ( in my mother's house) and went to school. They studied in St. Joseph's High School, Paingottoor. During the vacations, they would go to their house in Pazhampillichal. But in the midsummer vacations, sometimes we would meet and would exchange some special news. I called Ruby & Rhymie as 'chechi' because they were elders to me. As Ruby and Maji were of the same age, both of them would talk with me about the welfare of each another.
Uncle Yacob, aunt Leela, Benny & Maji were there. I think uncle Yohannan and aunt Sicily might have been there. My paternal grandfather & grandmother wouldnot come to the Church. They might have gone to their Church and at noontime, come to our house. I don't remember whether my paternal aunt's family was invited or not because the function was a simple one. After the Holy Baptism, we walked to the busstop and reached home by bus.
Holy Baptism is one of the seven sacraments of the Church. The seven sacraments are : - 1) Holy Baptism 2) Holy Mooron ( confirmation) 3) Holy Confession ( Penance) 4) Holy Eucharist 5) Holy Orders ( priesthood) 6) Holy Matrimony 7) Holy Anointing of the Sick ( Unction of the Sick ). "Sacraments are the visible acts of the invisible means of grace, which our Lord ordered and instituted as essential for the salvation of the human race", we were taught in Sunday School. The Holy Baptism was established by Jesus Christ. "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you"( Matthew 28 : 18 - 19 ). It happened in abundance on the day of Pentecost ( Acts 2 : 37 - 41 ). "Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God"( John 3 : 5 ). The Lord taught that the kingdom of god is a spiritual one and that those who would want to participate in this kingdom needed to be born again. "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus"( Galatians 3 : 27 - 28 ).
After a child is baptized, the priest immediately anoints his/her forehead with Holy Mooron. It is considered like receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit. "And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee" ( 2 Corinthians 1 : 21 - 22 ). The Sunday School Teacher advised that as the Mooron sacrament was given on the forehead, we shouldnot use bindi, which is a tradition followed by the women in India. In our Church, noone came with a bindi on forehead.
Holy Baptism is one of the seven sacraments of the Church. The seven sacraments are : - 1) Holy Baptism 2) Holy Mooron ( confirmation) 3) Holy Confession ( Penance) 4) Holy Eucharist 5) Holy Orders ( priesthood) 6) Holy Matrimony 7) Holy Anointing of the Sick ( Unction of the Sick ). "Sacraments are the visible acts of the invisible means of grace, which our Lord ordered and instituted as essential for the salvation of the human race", we were taught in Sunday School. The Holy Baptism was established by Jesus Christ. "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you"( Matthew 28 : 18 - 19 ). It happened in abundance on the day of Pentecost ( Acts 2 : 37 - 41 ). "Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God"( John 3 : 5 ). The Lord taught that the kingdom of god is a spiritual one and that those who would want to participate in this kingdom needed to be born again. "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus"( Galatians 3 : 27 - 28 ).
After a child is baptized, the priest immediately anoints his/her forehead with Holy Mooron. It is considered like receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit. "And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee" ( 2 Corinthians 1 : 21 - 22 ). The Sunday School Teacher advised that as the Mooron sacrament was given on the forehead, we shouldnot use bindi, which is a tradition followed by the women in India. In our Church, noone came with a bindi on forehead.
Actually, in my childhood, I hadnot even thought about using bindi. There was another reason also behind it. My paternal aunt Mary's family & my mother's sister, aunt Chinnamma's family were in the Pentecostal Church. Besides, my paternal grandfather and grandmother were members of Pentecostal Church. The women in these families didn't wear any ornaments and never talked about using bindi on the forehead. That might be the reason why I didn't have any affinity towards bindi or ornaments.
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