The Shape of Baptism

For many people, Christmas is over. The Christmas trees that once adorned the corners and lit up the windows of houses have been picked up or packed away. Christmas carols that not long ago resounded through shopping malls and car radios have now yielded to elevator music or to today’s top hits. The Church, on the other hand, has continued to celebrate Christmas up to and including today’s Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.

Jesus came to the River Jordan to receive from John a baptism of repentance and conversion. Though Jesus had no need of repentance or conversion, he chose to place himself alongside sinners as a sign of solidarity. That’s one reason Jesus’ baptism gives meaning to our baptism, a meaning that has often been expressed in our baptismal fonts.

Throughout the centuries, baptismal fonts have come in an assortment of shapes and sizes and have helped to shape our beliefs about baptism:

“The font is a symbol of both tomb and womb; its power is the power of the triumphant cross; and baptism sets the Christian on the path to the life that will never end, the ‘eighth day’ of eternity where Christ's reign of peace and justice is celebrated.” Built of Living Stones

That’s why some of the earliest fonts were pools designed for immersion and built in the shape of a cross to symbolize that baptism is an immersion in the death and resurrection of Jesus. These pools often included three steps leading both into and out of the font to signify that the person would be baptized in the name of the Trinity. Other fonts were eight-sided, expressing the “eighth day,” or day of resurrection and re-creation.  Many fonts were shaped like either a tomb or a womb, symbolizing death and rebirth.  As infant baptism became more prominent, the size of fonts diminished.

No specific shape is required for a baptismal font being built today, but fonts must be able to accommodate the baptism of both infants and adults.  Fonts must be visible and accessible to all who enter the church and they must be located so that the entire assembly can easily participate in the celebration of baptism.

No matter what the size or shape of a baptismal font, when we bless ourselves with the water it contains, we remind ourselves that baptism shapes us into a holy people who celebrate God’s life-giving love, not just at Christmas, but all year.