We have a new baby in the family which is so exciting! It made me think of this baptism photo of the new baby’s grandma and I thought I’d share it with you. This is my sister’s baptism in Cuba. I’m the little girl just left of center, my brother is all the way to the right, and my dad is to the extreme left. The rest of the people are the godparents and some family friends, but not my mom which I always thought was weird.
I remembered my grandmother explaining that in Cuba the mother didn’t go to the baptism and this morning I did a little research and found an article that explained this practice which was known as “the churching of women.” Apparently, baptismal practices changed from having adult baptisms to baptizing infants because of infant mortality and sometimes mothers were still recuperating after birth. Somehow that became the reason for mothers not being at baptisms and that practice remained in place until the early 1970s. Wow!
P.S. – If you’re interested in learning more about the Cuban experience, especially after coming to the U.S., please check out my novel The Family She Never Met.
