*Please visit St. Mary’s Catholic Church website for any changes.
September 6 marked one of the important event in our lives, our daughter Chloe Isabelle received the Sacrament of Baptism at St. Mary’s Catholic Church.
We were absolutely clueless on what are the procedures in having our daughter baptized here. Basic information on what you need to do is available here but I wanted to talk to someone who actually had it done here. Luckily my friend Lanie had their daughter Elise baptized here, so there I was bugging her everyday.
Today I’m sharing with you what procedures/steps we did to have our child Baptized here in Dubai.
1) Attend Baptism preparation seminar. Visit church website for any changes.
The Baptism preparation seminar is held on the Second Friday of every monthfrom 8.30 am till 10.00 am in the mini hall.Parents and God-parents MUST attend this seminar before requesting Baptism for their child.It is recommended that parents attend the seminar before the birth of their child.(as of June 2014)
You don’t need to get prior registration to attend the seminar, just show up (you the Parents) with your child’s GodParents. Babies/Children who are to be baptized are not required to be present on the seminar. Again for the preparation seminar Parents & GodParents need to attend.
Upon entering the mini hall for the seminar you will be asked to register your name in a log book then you will be handed a “Preparing for your child’s Baptism” book and a Baptism application form.
This Baptism Application Form is very important you need to show this on the day of your child’s Baptism. One of the officers during the seminar signs this form noting the date when you attended the seminar.
All the things discussed on the seminar is available on this book.
2) Day of your child’s Baptism
Baptism for infants is administered every Thursday (except Maundy Thursday)at 4 pm in the Chapel of the St Mary’s Catholic Church.Prior registration is not required, however, parents and God-parents are required to attend the Baptism preparation seminar in advance.
Like the preparation seminar you don’t need prior registration for the Baptism Ceremony. Just to be sure though please call St. Mary’s office if they are conducting the ceremony on the date that you’ve chosen.
Required documents:
- Marriage Certificate
- Baptism application form
Baptism ceremony promptly starts at 4:30pm. It is advise that you come at least 30 minutes before the ceremony since you still need to complete registration and when you arrive early you get to choose where you sit. We were seated the right aisle (when facing the altar) and we we’re the first family to receive the rites.
What you need to bring:
- your Child wearing a white dress – I’m not sure if this is a requirement but it has been a practice in our family to cloth the child in a white/off-white gown.
- God Parents – of course they have to be present
- Candles – the Church provides each family with one candle which was lighted from the Paschal candle. I bought candles for each of the GodParent.
Photographers are allowed but they are very strict on where you stand and advise them to take pictures fast. Ryan our friend was the only one taking photos for us and sadly we were not able to document some of the rites like the Baptism of Water. It was not Ryan’s fault but our camera who was once again acting up and won’t work.
Before you leave make sure to get your child’s Certificate of Baptism.
Hope this post will help you prepare for your child’s Baptism. And if you do have questions please feel free to leave a comment and I’ll make sure to reply.
Visit St. Mary’s website for more information.
There is another Catholic church here in Dubai, St. Francis of Assisi Church visit the website for more information.
Cuddles and Crumbs 
how many days the seminar??
From my post above, you can complete the seminar in a day.
The Baptism preparation seminar is held on the Second Friday of every month
from 8.30 am till 10.00 am in the mini hall.
ah ok..thank you…it means one’s only…i thought the whole month
how about scheduling? I mean, Can I choose whichever date I want ? Even the earliest thursday possible?
You can choose any Thursday of the month (except for Maundy Thursday). St Mary’s Church only require that parents and godparents attend the preparation seminar.
If you’re asking whether they do private baptism, they don’t . Sacrament is done with the community (public) and only every Thursday.
I’m not sure if they same scheduling applies to St. Francis church in Jebel Ali.
Many thanks!
There’s no one here to accept baptism me.. It’s so pathetic..
oh my why? Have you tried talking to the Parish Priest.
Yes I talked to them but they told me they won’t do this for me, they said you have to go Europe.. So sad ..
hi there!!! is it required that all God parents to be..,should attend the seminar?
Yes, church requires all GodParents to attend seminar.
Is it mandotory to attend mother of child? Because we are attending seminar after the child birth
As far as I know both parents must attend as well as all godparents. You don’t need to bring baby during seminar
hi.. is it required for the Godparents to have confirmation certifacate?
base on our experience. They did not look for one.
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hi..i just want to know if you pay anything during the baptism? thanks
As far as I remember no payment was required but we made offering