Our son was the very first child to be baptized in the "personal parish" entrusted to FSSP in Rome by the will of the Holy Father following Summorum Pontificum. His name will be forever the first in the parish records, and if by the mercy of God I am saved, I will enjoy watching historians form Heaven as they discuss the history of the "reform of the reform" when it will have displayed all its effects. We are now the first family to belong to the parish that will have the important task of renewing the continuity of traditional parish life and liturgy in the very heart of Christianity! The celebrant was the Reverend Father Joseph Kramer FSSP, the pastor, who seemed just as happy as we were. God bless the FSSP.

But our greatest consolation came for the relatives and friends we had invited. While only some of them were familiar with the traditional liturgy, all wanted to thank us personally for the wonderful discovery they had made, even those who’d come afraid of having to attend something weird and boring. One friend, not a traditionalist liturgy-wise, had the best comment of all: "I had no idea an old ritual could speak to the mind and the heart so powerfully, that’s something the people can feel as their own! So simple and yet so solemn!". I was (almost) in tears. Of course I had given some brief explanations before and prepared a booklet with the Ordo Baptismi Parvulorum, but all were struck by the visible meaning of the actions perfomed and many (other consolation) told me that it was evident that those were not just "symbols", but effective actions actually doing what was being said, especially the struggle with the devil and the repetition of acts performed by Jesus Christ in the Gospel to heal the suffering and free the possessed.

The fact that all felt edified, even those who don’t normally practice our faith was of enormous importance to us, second only to the fact that our baby is now incorporated to Christ and in a way that places him in the history of the post-conciliar madness and recovery.

Then there was the light and frugal Italian reception. All noticed that the children outnumbered the adults (our friends tend to ignore Malthusian prejudices). We drank, we sang, we laughed, smoked cigars, talked babies, sports, politics and history, all prayed for the Holy Father. Since the good fight never stops, we invited also a couple of friends who are responsible for a charity that helps families with terminally ill newborns and did some fundraising. It was a wonderfulday of May, in the old calendar, the feast of Mary’s Queenship. It was all so sweet, so Catholic. We are so blessed.

Someone took pictures, I hope they are good enough to post.

Praise God and pray for Pope Benedict!

Posted by Peg Hood