Baptism at St. Mary Immaculate

Please call the Parish Office at 815-436-2651 to begin the process of having a baptism at St. Mary Immaculate. You will need to complete 3 steps before your child can be baptized:

1. Register as a Parishioner
2. Register for a Baptism Prep class
3. Schedule the Baptism

Register as a Parishioner

To have your child baptized at St. Mary Immaculate, you must be a member of the parish. If you are not a member of the parish, you must register. Please click here for registration information.

Please note: You must be a registered parishioner for SIX months prior to scheduling a Baptism or receiving a Sponsor/Godparent letter. 

English Baptisms are held on the 2^nd and 3^rd Sunday of the month and Spanish Baptisms are held on the 4th Sunday of the month.  Families are invited to attend 12:15 Mass, where pews will be reserved for each family.  Baptism will immediately follow Mass.  Those who are unable to attend Mass will need to arrive by 1:15 p.m.  Dates may change based on the liturgical calendar. 

Please contact Margaret O’Leary at the Parish Office, 815-436-2651 Ext. 803, for further details.

Additional registration and Baptism guidelines can be found below.

Register for a Baptism Prep Class

Once you have registered as a parishioner, call the Parish Office and sign up for a Baptism Prep Class. For the immediate future, we will be holding baptism classes via Zoom.

The future dates for these classes are:

Wednesday, December 11^th

All classes are held from 7:00-8:15pm.
There is a $25 fee to attend the class (non-refundable).

If you have attended a Baptism class at St. Mary’s within the last 3 years, this requirement is waived.

Schedule the Baptism

Once you have completed the Prep Class, call the Parish Office to schedule the baptism.

Godparents:

When a child or an adult is to be baptized, he or she must have at least one godparent. It is customary for children to have two godparents. When there are two, one must be male and the other female.

At Least One Godparent must:

(a) Be Catholic
(b) Have been baptized, confirmed and have received First Communion
(c) Be 16 or older
(d) Be an active*, registered member of a Roman Catholic parish

*Active means that they must be practicing the faith. In general, if a potential sponsor is not a member of the parish where the baptism is to take place, he or she must obtain a letter or certificate from their own parish which affirms that they meet the above requirements. Therefore, if the godparent is not a parishioner at St. Mary Immaculate, they should obtain a letter or certificate from the church where they are registered.

Role of the Godparent

The role of the godparent is to assist the parents and the child in living a Catholic life. In order to do so, the sponsor needs to provide good example of living that life. The role of godparent is a role of service done in the name of the Church, and the person who is a sponsor should be capable of performing that service.

However, if there is one godparent, the appointment of one ‘Christian witness’ to the baptism ceremony is allowed. This witness must be a baptized, practicing Christian.