Baptism Quotes from Early Church Fathers, Saints & Scripture (with Photos)

ONE Lord,  ONE faith, ONE baptism Ephesians 4:5

Baptismal Font ready for 3 Extraordinary Form Baptisms

Saint Basil the Great [379] All of us who desire the kingdom of God are, by the Lord's decree, under an equal and rigorous necessity of seeking after the grace of Baptism. 

In the Extraordinary Form, the Rite of Baptism is so rich.  Sad that too few receive these symbolic prayers today. They begin outside of the Church.

Baptism procession to the font

On Divine Mercy Sunday, I was privileged to be invited to the Baptisms of 3 friends! 

The Church is alive with babies and families.

St. Vincent Ferrer ~ Every baptized person should consider that it is in the womb of the Church where he is transformed from a child of Adam to a child of God. 

St. Thomas Aquinas ~ Just as a man cannot live in the flesh unless he is born in the flesh, even so a man cannot have the spiritual life of grace unless he is born again spiritually. This regeneration is effected by Baptism: "Unless a man is born again of water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (Jn 3:5) 

St. Isidore, Doctor of the Church ~ Baptism is not the work of man but of Christ, and this sacrament is so holy that it would not be defiled, even if the minister were a murderer. 

St. Ephrem (d. 373) wrote a beautiful hymn in which he connected the baptism of Jesus with the womb of Mary and the sacrament of the Eucharist: “See, Fire and Spirit in the womb that bore you! See, Fire and Spirit in the river where you were baptized! Fire and Spirit in our Baptism; in the Bread and the Cup, Fire and Holy Spirit!” Christ, the Light of the World, dwelt first in the womb of the Virgin—who was thus “baptized” by her Son—and then in the womb of the Jordan; he emerged from both as the Incarnate Word, the Savior of mankind. Those who are baptized thus become the children of Mary and partakers of the body, blood, soul, and divinity of her Son. [source]

St. Hippolytus of Rome (“The Apostolic Tradition,” 215 A.D.) “Baptize first the children; and if they can speak for themselves, let them do so. Otherwise, let their parents or other relatives speak for them.”

We are to imitate Christ in all things, and He shows us the importance of baptism by being baptized himself. His baptism was a public act of faith, and so we should do likewise.

In the Catechism of the Catholic Church 537 ~ Through Baptism the Christian is sacramentally assimilated to Jesus, who in his own baptism anticipates his death and resurrection. The Christian must enter into this mystery of humble self-abasement and repentance, go down into the water with Jesus in order to rise with him, be reborn of water and the Spirit so as to become the Father's beloved son in the Son and "walk in newness of life":