Latin help please.

[Kate]

 

[Kate]

Sorry, I couldn't see where to type!
Can anyone understand this please? Rose was born on Feb 4 and baptised on 15 March according to the form but I don't understand what is down the side.
Thanks.

 

[peter]

I think it says she was baptised at home, presumably on 15th March, and that there was further ceremony at the church on 23rd April. In the Church of England this would be a private baptism followed by reception into the church.

 

[Kate]

Thank you. This was definitely in a an RC church but that makes sense..
Perhaps she was poorly, so baptised at home, then a further ceremony in church when she was better. I have had this for years and wondered!

 

[JimP]

Baptisata est domi et die 23 aprilis ad ecclesiam portata est infans praedicta sacras ceremonias et preces adhibui.
She was baptized at home, and on the 23rd of April the aforesaid infant was brought to the church I made use of the rites ceremonies and prayers.

 

[At home in NZ]

I have done considerable searching of RC Irish records and it appears that the practise of 'churching' is what is described. I have seen it entered in registers as Churching but never in the format as in the example from Kate.
Churching was also practised by C of E. Helpful explanation in this link.

 

[Kate]

Thank you.

 

[peter]

I have done considerable searching of RC Irish records and it appears that the practise of 'churching' is what is described. I have seen it entered in registers as Churching but never in the format as in the example from Kate.
Churching was also practised by C of E. Helpful explanation in this link.

I'm certainly not an expert on Catholic records but I can't see anything in the wording to suggest that the entry refers to 'churching'. Churching is for the mother, not the child, as the link explains.

What you will sometimes see in CofE baptism registers is a second entry for a child who had been privately baptised, ie not in front of a congregation, so usually - but not necessarily, at home. This second ceremony is for the congregation to receive the child into the church, and it looks to me as if the Catholic tradition is similar (although I did find a Catholic church whose website states that there can be no such thing as a private baptism).

 

[At home in NZ]

I'm certainly not an expert on Catholic records but I can't see anything in the wording to suggest that the entry refers to 'churching'. Churching is for the mother, not the child, as the link explains.

What you will sometimes see in CofE baptism registers is a second entry for a child who had been privately baptised, ie not in front of a congregation, so usually - but not necessarily, at home. This second ceremony is for the congregation to receive the child into the church, and it looks to me as if the Catholic tradition is similar (although I did find a Catholic church whose website states that there can be no such thing as a private baptism).

You can read what you like into what I said, I used the word 'appears' meaning that I was not certain.

In short, churching was re-introduction to the church after confinement and when her normal duties resumed.
The Irish tradition

I was brought up as a Catholic, I had 4 younger brothers, I can only remember the last two being baptised due to my age. My one and only child was baptised in an RC church.
Every one of those baptisms occurred with only the immediate family and godparents present. None of the baptisms occurred during Sunday mass in front of a congregation. At a stretch you could say they were 'private'.

 

[peter]

This page gives the form of service for a private Church of England baptism and includes the note "If the person lives, they shall afterwards come to church, or be brought to church, and the service for Holy Baptism followed, except that the Signing with the Cross, the Prayer over the Water and the Baptism are omitted."

Wikipedia describes churching as follows:

"In Christian tradition the churching of women, also known as thanksgiving for the birth or adoption of a child, is the ceremony wherein a blessing is given to mothers after recovery from childbirth. The ceremony includes thanksgiving for the woman's survival of childbirth, and is performed even when the child is stillborn, or has died unbaptized."

Inevitably there are differences between the various Christian denominations, but there will also have been many changes over the centuries. The 'History' section of the Wikipedia article is worth reading.