Baptism & Chrismation

Here are some photos from the day of my baptism back in February. They weren't taken on a digital camera and so I have had to scan them. Apologies for the poor quality. You can still make out the frost on the grass, which should give you some idea of the temperature. Some water was added to the font from St Bertelin's well where I had been on pilgrimage the day before, along with some water from the River Jordan that our nuns in the Holy Land send us every year.


Waiting for the neophytes


Censing the font


The first anointing


My flab


The Baptism (2nd dip, I believe)


Indoors and dry
(three of my friends in the background)


The Chrismation


Smiles with Fr Paul


...and with the godfathers

St Bertelin's Shrine

At long last, from the day before my baptism, here are some photos from my pilgrimage to St Bertelin's Shrine in the Church of the Holy Cross, Ilam, Staffordshire. There is a spring nearby, from which I fetched some water to add to the font the following day. I foolishly failed to photograph the well. Still, enjoy!


The Church of the Holy Cross


and again


An sealed Anglo-Saxon doorway


The belfry


The base of an Anglo-Saxon Cross


and another


The Chancel


The Shrine