"Wash" | Reflection by Lisa Levy

I was baptized into the Roman Catholic Church as an adult, fully immersed by Father Bob at St. Thomas More in New Haven at the Easter Vigil Mass when I was 33 years old. I am so grateful that I can remember the experience. In the Catholic Church, there is an emphasis on being washed clean of sin, original and otherwise; but that was not the part that felt most meaningful to me. Two things stood out that have remained in my heart even 12 years later. 

The first was the litany of saints, sung just prior to my stepping into the water: the choir sang the name of the saint, and the congregation responded, Pray for us. It started with Mary and Joseph and moved forward through history; as the litany progressed and became a chant, I could almost feel the saints moving around me as they were called into the church by name. When I came out of the water for the third time (baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), everyone in the sanctuary was clapping, but I thought that I was hearing the applause of the saints who had been brought into the room during the litany. (The photo attached to this reflection is of me, emerging from the water, thinking I could hear the saints’ applause!)

The second thing that stood out was that, after my baptism was complete, the congregation renewed their own baptismal vows and then came forward to dip their fingers into the baptismal font where I’d just been immersed, crossing themselves with the water of my baptism.

I felt drenched in love; for me, being washed was the holy entry into a common life, supported both by my spiritual ancestors and by the living waters of a thriving community. It remains one of the most sacred events of my life, and I will never forget it.