OMPH Celebrates 17 Student Baptisms in a Single Day
- thartman12
- May 2
- 2 min read
By Patrick Brennan, The Catholic Witness
It was not nearly the same scale as when St. Peter baptized 3,000 people in a single day (Acts 2:38-41), but it was still an impressive sight as 17 students were baptized in one ceremony April 25 at Our Mother of Perpetual Help Church in Ephrata. In all, 17 students were baptized, five were administered the Sacrament of Confirmation, and eight children received their First Holy Communion.
Calling it one of his personal “top ten days of priestly ministry,” Father Paul Borowski, CSsR, pastor, noted, “While I had the great honor to administer the sacraments, I was simply reaping the fruits of those working in the school who have sown the faith.” The entire OMPH School student body of more than 175 young people, PreK to eighth grade, gathered with their teachers, staff, parishioners and parents of the honorees to watch and participate as Father Borowski carefully explained each step of the ceremony, turning it into a “teachable moment” for all.
The path to the ceremony began back at the beginning of the school year, when principal Peggy Snyder learned during routine sacramental preparation instruction that many of the youngest students had not yet been baptized, in most cases due to the Covid pandemic occurring at the time of their birth. She sent a letter home to parents inquiring if they would like to first have their child baptized, and subsequently join their peers in the additional sacramental preparations for their age group.
There was an immediate positive response. “This celebration happened because of the wonderful spirit of faith that exists in our school,” explained Father Borowski. “From the principal, to the teachers, to the aides, and to the support staff, the celebration was a testimony to the faith that shows forth through all those involved at OMPH School.”
(Photos by Patrick Brennan, a freelance reporter for The Witness.)
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