Baptism On The Epiphany

I waited, I waited for the Lord, and he stooped down to me... He put a new song into my mouth. ~ Psalm 40:2, 4

Sunday, January 8th, 2012, our son, John Benjamin was welcomed into the Holy Catholic Church as an adopted son of the Heavenly Father. What a glorious day! We were two very proud parents surrounded by friends and family who love us, all three of us, as much as we love all of them. The day couldn't have been more perfect.

When I look back at how we arrived to this day, I can't help but be overwhelmed with all the blessings we had along the way. Some were noticed right away, some took time to be revealed. Some, people might say I am forcing meaning to, but I don't think so. There are no coincidences, right? What do you think:

• I was blessed to have experienced the joy of visiting the Holy Land in July, 2010. That trip changed my life. The fact that I went on this journey during my struggle with infertility was no mistake. The meaning of "your life is a prayer" took on real meaning as I better understood the struggles and life of our Savior, His Holy Mother, and all others that we read and hear about at Mass and during our daily devotions and spiritual readings. Better able to accept my cross and my growth in desire to live God's will really took off in Israel. It was in Israel that my devotion to the Holy Family began.
• I conceived John Benjamin 9 months after my visit to the Holy Land. I consider this a Spiritual Birth.
• My first pregnancy was conceived at the Marriage Encounter Weekend. For what it was worth, we had a couple of people say they could tell the Holy Spirit was with us. Was He ever!
• We found out we were pregnant with our first child on the First Sunday of Advent, 2010.
• We miscarried our first child 13 days later on the vigil night of Our Lady of Guadalupe. (13 days makes me think of how many times Our Lady visited the children of Fatima). This begins a much stronger love for Our Lady of Guadalupe. Later, I find out that my prayer buddy during the Lenten season when we conceived the second time was A Martha Trying To Be Mary of whom prayed to Our Lady of Guadalupe for our intentions to conceive.  
• We buried Catherine Grace on January 1st, 2011 - Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.
• We found out we were pregnant with our second child on Good Friday, 2011. I began suspecting that we might be pregnant on Holy Thursday and I don't think I'll ever forget praying "in the garden of Gethsemane at the Altar of Repose" that night. "Let this cup pass from me, O Lord, but not as I will, but Thy will be done." This Easter was much different than the Easters in the past as He was resurrected, indeed! And so was I.
• My son's due date was December 31st. I've recently posted about that here.
• John Benjamin was born on December 30th, the Feast of the Holy Family.
• The doctor that delivered John Benjamin was not supposed to be our doctor originally. He, fortunately, was assigned to us and after our first consultation with him, at the end, he asked about our infertility experience which included our journey with Dr. H. Our doctor, who then revealed he is catholic, stated that he was in the middle of reading Dr. H's latest book. We loved him immediately. Later, as we were in labor and delivery and the doctor recommended a c-section, and in seeing how overwhelmed I was, offered to pray to Our Lady with us. Right before we went into the surgery, there we were with our secular doctor praying the Hail Mary and discussing the significance of the Feast of the Holy Family. How cool is that? 

I can go on and on, and after I post this I will probably remember more "coincidences" to add. But again, to me, these are not coincidences at all, but rather "signs" for me to know that we are exactly where we are supposed to be.

We even had "coincidences" with the baptism gown. Before I was even pregnant, I have been researching the perfect gown for our baby. When the time came, I finally found my baby's gown on the internet. Before I ordered, I had some questions, so I called the owner of Smocked Treasures, Marianne. She was amazing and answered all of my questions. I knew right away that she was the right person to custom design JBR's gown. The next day, which happened to be the Immaculate Conception, I had a desire to call Marianne to ask her if she could add the "Hail Mary" to the bottom of the baptismal gown...in Latin. I expected some kind of remark regarding the prayer in Latin given I hear people grumble about Latin all the time at the church. Plus, I'm guessing people don't request prayers in Latin very often! Marianne was happy to look into if my request could happen or not. She said that it might be tricky but she will test out the embroidery to see if it will work (or if it will pucker given the fabric is silk). Oh, I wanted this to be done soo bad, so of course, I prayed. I just wanted to pay homage to Our Mother Mary for all she has done for me, and this was my way of doing it. A few days later, Marianne emailed me and told me it will work! This woman I have never met before mailed to me the most beautiful gown, the one I dreamed of. It is gorgeous! The pictures do not do it justice and I will probably go get professional pictures done because my baby looked amazing! Here is the proof:

The best thing is that when she shipped out the gown, she sent me an email. Check this out:

If I may share the reason this was soooo important to me to be able to add the Hail Mary to the gown...last year I was diagnosed with breast cancer, and the Hail Mary was always the prayer I turned to in need since I was a young girl.  Well there were many sleepless nights that I said it over and over, and I am relieved and grateful to now say that I am a "survivor"!!  Last week I got my MRI results, and they were negative!!  I also had my last required surgery for reconstruction last Wednesday, and although I am moving a bit slow and taking it easy, working on little John's gown was truly my inspiration these last few days...so it meant a lot to me that it came out perfect!  Your timing for requesting such an unusual design was simply meant to be - and my prayers are now with you and your little one for his safe & healthy arrival. God bless you and your family this holiday season!

I highly recommend Marianne at Smocked Treasures for a baptismal gown, or any other special occasion gown for children. She was wonderful and I love that John's gown had such a beautiful meaning to the person who made it! Oh, and when you click on her website, JBR's gown is shown as the The Hail Mary Christening Gown For Boys. Very cool. Some close ups:

I AM TOTALLY IN LOVE WITH THIS LITTLE BOY!!!

To end this post about a completely wonderful day, I'd like to put the Consecration Prayer we prayed before Our Lady of Guadalupe. Guess who was crying by the end of the first sentence :)

Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth, to your Immaculate Heart, the channel of all graces, we consecrate this child whom we have received from God's goodness.

We offer him to you that you may present him to your Divine Son, that you may take him under your loving, maternal protection, that you may preserve him from dangers, that you may keep him from all sin, that you may make him grow in piety and in all virtue so that he may always be worthy to call himself your child.

May he grow daily in wisdom and in grace, may he go through life having you always as his refuge and mother. May all virtues shine in him and may he never offend your maternal Heart.

May the Eternal Father always look upon him with delight and see in him a ray and reflection of your Immaculate Beauty.

And as today he gladdens our home, so may he one day gladden the Eternal Home which we pray will be his.

Amen.