Sacraments

How Do I Become Catholic?

Each year on Holy Saturday during the Easter Vigil,  thousands are baptized into the Catholic Church in the United States.  Parishes welcome these new Catholics through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults.

The RCIA process is for people who are interested in the Roman Catholic faith and who would like question and/or pursue learning about our religion and join our community of believers.

Maybe you are looking to be Baptized Catholic.  Perhaps you are married to a Catholic and wish to find out more about your spouse’s faith.  Perhaps you are already a Catholic and never received your First Eucharist and Confirmation.  Or perhaps you are baptized in another Christian faith but have thought about becoming a Catholic. The RCIA Journey in Faith is for all of you!

Catechumens (those who wish to be baptized in the Catholic faith and become full members) and Candidates (this wishing to complete their initiation in the Catholic Church by receiving the sacraments of Eucharist and Confirmation) are guided by catechists, sponsors, and parish staff who welcome them and accompany them on their faith journey.

Becoming a Catholic is not just a matter of learning and accepting a number of beliefs. It is a process of growth and conversation, as well as growing into a particular Catholic community or parish.

You will need a sponsor who will pray for and support you on your journey.  The sponsor is meant to be a fellow pilgrim on the journey and must be a Catholic.  The sponsor may be a spouse or friend.   However, if the enquirer does not know anyone suitable, the parish will be happy to suggest someone.

Ordinary parishioners can join this journey of faith and many find the sessions helpful in developing their knowledge of their Catholic faith and their understanding of its traditions.  As you learn, you may even become a “parish sponsor” for those seeking to join the Church.

Who should participate in RCIA?

• Those adults (18+) who want to become Catholic and have never been baptized, or
• are baptized, but not in the Catholic Church
• Those adults (18+) who were baptized in the Catholic Church and
• never received first Communion and Confirmation, or
• never received Confirmation

Contact Deacon Leo Gahafer with any questions at rcia@saintbrigid.org.

 

Drawn by lives of believers, hundreds exploring the faith  

 

Scheduling a Baptism at Saint Brigid

Baptism Requirements

Parish Registration: Parents of the child to be baptized should be registered members of Saint Brigid Church. If you are not yet registered, please register at the Parish Office or complete the online registration form on the Saint Brigid website.

If you belong to another parish, but wish to have the baptism at Saint Brigid for family reasons, you will need a letter of permission from your pastor.

Baptism Classes

Parents are required to attend a Baptism Class before the baptism.  The class is scheduled one Sunday a month from 3:15-4:30pm in the chapel.  

Baptism Class Dates for 2024

Jan 21    Feb 18    Mar 17    Apr 21    May 19    June 9

July 21    Aug 18    Sept 15    Oct 20    Nov 17    Dec 15

• To Sign Up for Class:  Email baptisms@saintbrigid.org to reserve your space in a class.  Include the names of all who will be attending and the date of the class you wish to attend.
• You may attend a baptism preparation class at another parish if necessary, then provide a letter or verification of attendance from that parish indicating the class date.
•  Parents are asked to attend a class for each child, not just their oldest child*    (*if you attended a class in the past 24 months you can receive credit for that one)

Scheduling a Baptism

Baptisms at Saint Brigid are private family baptisms, scheduled in the Adoration Chapel at the following times:

• Saturdays:  10:30 & 11:30am, 12:30, 1:30, 2:30 & 3:30pm
• Sunday afternoons:  2:30 pm & 3:30 pm

We recommend that you check with invited friends and family members about their availability before selecting a specific date.  Plan to arrive at the church 10 to 15 minutes before the scheduled time.

Children receiving the Sacrament of Baptism should be dressed in a white gown or outfit. The Parish will provide the Baptismal Candle and a Baptismal Bib as a symbolic gift from the Parish.

A Certificate of Baptism will be provided at the baptism or mailed to shortly afterward.  Please keep this certificate in a safe place.  It will be needed when registering for religious education or preparing for future sacraments.

Visiting Clergy

If you wish to ask a Priest or Deacon from another parish to officiate at the baptism, please contact your clergy first to confirm his willingness and availability. Then either you or the clergy should contact baptisms@saintbrigid.org to schedule the baptism.

Requirements for Sponsors (Godparents)

At baptism, the sponsor (or Godparent) begins a life-long relationship with their godchild by praying for and supporting their godchild in faith, as well as providing an example of the Catholic faith in action.   Hopefully the godparent and godchild will develop a close personal bond as well.

You may choose one or two sponsors for your child.  Only one is necessary.  At least one sponsor must be an active, practicing Catholic (see qualifications below).   The other godparent may be a Christian of another denomination

Sponsor Requirements

(The Catholic sponsor must meet all four qualifications)

1. Be a practicing Catholic and a member of a parish.
2. Be at least 16 years of age.
3. Have received the Sacraments of Baptism, Eucharist, and Confirmation in the Catholic Church.
4. If married, must be sacramentally married in the Catholic Church.

The Catholic godparent must provide a sponsor certificate signed by the pastor of the sponsor’s home parish.

Contact our Baptism Coordinator, Kathy Hogan at baptisms@saintbrigid.org for more information and to request your child’s baptism.

We look forward to helping you plan your child’s baptism!

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Requesting a Duplicate Certificate

Duplicate Baptism Certificates are provided upon request. Please allow 10-14 days for the certificate to be prepared and signed by the pastor.

To request a certificate, send the following information to Kathy Hogan at baptisms@saintbrigid.org

• Full Name of Baptized Person
• Their date of birth and city of birth
• Date of baptism (approximate is fine)
• Father’s Full Name
• Mother’s Full Name (include maiden name)
• Your email address  (a scanned copy will be emailed to you)
• Mailing address for the hard copy (the hard copy will be mailed to the address you provide)

Questions? Email Kathy Hogan at baptisms@saintbrigid.org.

How Do I Find Out More about the Catholic Church?

Are you interested in finding out more about the Catholic Church? The Inquiry process will help you to receive insights into the Catholic faith by discovering the truth, beauty, and goodness in the Church. As you investigate her founding by Christ, and the lives and teachings of the earliest Christians, you will see our Lord’s unfailing love throughout the centuries for his bride, the Church.

Inquiry is for those 18 and older who have not been baptized, were baptized in a non-Catholic Church or community, or were baptized Catholic, but have not yet received first Holy Communion and/or Confirmation.

The purpose of Inquiry is to allow you the opportunity to ask questions. Our goal is to provide what the Church teaches about those questions to allow you to make an informed decision about moving forward in receiving the sacraments.

Come learn about the Inquiry process at Saint Brigid, where you can ask the questions that you need answered and learn more about the Church that Christ built.

If you are interested in finding out more about becoming Catholic, please contact Todd Coury for more information.

How Does my Child Become Catholic?

This is a process for youth by which one is received into the Catholic Church (non-Catholics) or completes the sacraments of initiation (Catholics) through faith development focusing on prayer, sacraments, and the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Who should participate in the Rite of Christian Initiation for Children?

• Those who want to become Catholic, are seven to seventeen years old, and
  • have never been baptized, or
  • are baptized, but not in the Catholic Church
• Those who were baptized Catholic, are in 3rd to 12th grade, are seventeen years old or younger, and
  • never received first Communion and Confirmation

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Please contact Susan McQuade to find out more information about RCIC.

Interested in becoming a Sponsor, but unsure if you ‘know’ enough? Don’t worry, you do not need to be a theologian to be a sponsor. You just need to have the heart to accompany someone on his or her journey into the Catholic Church. You will attend class each week, which takes place on Sundays from 10:30-11:45 AM in Corbett Hall. In addition, there will be a few classes that take place on other days. You will receive the full schedule at the orientation. There are also specific requirements that need to be met in order to be a sponsor and they are as follows.

Sponsor Requirements at Saint Brigid

• 16 years of age or older, and
• is fully initiated into the Catholic Church (i.e., received Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Communion), and
• is not the father, mother, spouse, fiance, or boy/girlfriend of the person being sponsored, and
• sincerely believes and strives to put into practice the Word of God as taught by the Catholic Church, and
• regularly takes part in the Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation, and
• if married, is married in accordance with the requirements of the Catholic Church.

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If you have any questions, please contact Deacon Leo Gahafer to find out more information about being an Baptism/RCIA sponsor.

Did your miss  their First Holy Communion?

If you have a child OVER the age of 7, is baptized Catholic or in the Christian faith, who have not yet received their First Holy Communion, this sacrament can be received through the Rite of Christian for Children.

Rite of Initiation for Children, (RCIC), is a program that will teach your children the basics of the Catholic faith and will provide them with the preparation necessary to receive the sacraments of Baptism (if needed) as well as First Eucharist, First Reconciliation and Confirmation.  This is a program modeled after the one used in the early Church and is similar to the Rite of Initiation for Adults.  It will guide children and their families through the process using beautiful liturgical Rites as the faith is nurtured and grows.

The program runs on Sunday’s during the academic year, attend 9:00 am Mass and class from 10:20 am till 12:20 pm.  The Sacrament is celebrated at the Easter Vigil.

We also have special formation programs for those children who are older than 7 years old or who may have other special formation needs.

 

 

We encourage our parishioners to make plans in advance to ensure that your wishes are carried out and your loved ones are not burdened in their time of grief.

Please contact the parish office at 678-393-0060 for more information on pre-planning for a funeral.

We Believe in the Resurrection of the Dead

As Catholics, we believe that on Easter, Jesus Christ rose body and soul from the tomb as the Glorious Victor over sin and death. Christ’s triumph is also a cherished promise for all of us. It is our assurance that the bodies of all who were united to Christ in this life through Sacramental regeneration will one day rise to take their place with Him when He comes to bring a new heaven and a new earth. The experience of death inevitably brings deep sadness, because it separates us from our loved ones, but when we walk with Christ, it is also full of hope. His Church understands death, and she knows the resurrection. As they have throughout the centuries, the Church’s rites accompany our loved ones into the next world and are a promise of hope for those of us who await our own encounter with the mystery of death.

Preparation for Death

We know that our earthly existence will come to an end. However, for most of our lives, we do not know the day or the hour when we will be called from this life. When the time of death seems to be drawing near, the Church has special rites to prepare us to come before the Lord. Whenever it appears that someone has a serious illness, it is appropriate to contact a priest to receive the Anointing of the Sick, by which the Church asks the Lord to grant healing of soul and body. This is often preceded by the sacrament of reconciliation, where Christ offers the forgiveness of sins. As an individual confronts illness, the Church assures them of Christ’s presence by providing opportunities to receive Holy Communion, so that their suffering might acquire meaning from the power of Christ’s cross. When the moment of death draws near, Holy Communion is given as viaticum, the “food for the journey,” so that Christ, present in the Blessed Sacrament, might bring spiritual strength for the passage into new life. Finally, at the hour of death, a priest or deacon may accompany the dying and their family with prayers asking God’s grace for a person about to set foot into eternity.

The Catholic Funeral

As human beings, we have an intense need to say goodbye to our loved ones and to commend them to God. The Church’s rites reflect that need, as her prayers accompany the deceased beyond this life. There are three parts to a Catholic funeral. First, there is a vigil service, which typically takes place the night before the funeral. Here, family and friends gather to “be with” and “watch over” the body of the deceased. In addition to the formal liturgical rites of the Church, the vigil may be an opportunity to pray the rosary or to speak lovingly in memory of the departed. It also allows well-wishers to offer their condolences to the family. The vigil may take place in a funeral parlor, at the family’s home, or in the church.

The focus of the Church’s prayers for the departed is the funeral Mass. Here, the body of the deceased is brought to the church, where the celebration of the Eucharist reveals the presence of Christ’s own passion, death, and resurrection. Just as the deceased was welcomed into Christ’s family through baptism and nourished in the Church through the sacraments, so now their body is brought to the church a final time as the Church prays for the gift of eternal life. If special circumstances require it, a funeral can also be celebrated outside of Mass.

We believe that the body itself is sacred, the physical substance of a person that will rise on the last day when Christ comes with new heavens and a new earth. For this reason, in the Rite of Committal, the Church commends the body of the deceased to the earth, to keep it until the day of the resurrection.

Remembering the Dead

After the burial, we do not forget our loved ones. Indeed, we need to remember and to pray for them. For this reason, it is customary to visit the graves of the deceased, frequently to remember them in prayer, and to request that Masses be offered for the repose of their souls, especially on important anniversaries such as one month or one year from the date of their death or the anniversaries of their birth. In addition to special Masses, the Church prays for all deceased Christians on All Souls’ Day

What about Cremation?

Although cremation in the United States of America was in the past closely associated with opinions that rejected our faith in the resurrection of the body, the Church no longer prohibits it, so long as it is not used as a sign of disrespect for the dead or a denial of the bodily resurrection. If cremation is chosen, it should ordinarily take place following the funeral Mass, and the cremated remains are then entombed or buried in the same dignified way that the body would be. Respect for the body requires that the cremated remains be treated with the same respect after cremation that the body deserves. The Church also permits the celebration of the funeral Mass in the presence of the cremated remains and that is possible here in the Archdiocese of Atlanta. Here again, the cremated remains must always be honored with the same reverence and respect that is their due as the residual elements of the human body that itself was sanctified and recognized through the sacraments.