American Phoenix by Jane Cook

Author:Jane Cook
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: ebook, book
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2013-02-25T16:00:00+00:00

John and Louisa returned home from the ball to the news that their footman, Paul, was a new father. Earlier in the day his wife had given birth to a daughter. Would they hold a christening service for him as they did their butler in November? Because his child was a daughter, would Louisa and her chambermaid, Martha, stand in as godmothers?

This time a pregnant Louisa did not hide her enthusiasm over hosting a christening service. She embraced the role of godmother with gusto, finding “a piece of showy calico to wrap the babe in.” Unlike the previous service, which followed Lutheran Church practices, this service upheld the Orthodox Church’s traditions.

“A table was set covered with a handsome white damask napkin with candles and a camel’s [hair] pencil,” Louisa described.

The ceremony started with a procession. The head priest—or pope, as Louisa called him—led the godparents, nurse, and babe to the table. The priest consecrated the bathing tub, a small silver-plated bowl filled halfway with cold water. He placed the nurse and godparents in a circle around the tub.

“The child was presented to me to hold quite undressed,” she explained. “The pope took the child from me, made a prayer in a sort of chant and dipped it three times into the tub.”

In between each dip, the priest swiped the camel’s hair brush across the babe’s forehead in a blessing. With a wet sponge, traditionally dipped in oil, he made the sign of the cross on the infant’s breast, shoulders, and feet. The priest gave the babe to Louisa, who held her while Martha dressed the child with the cap, shirt, and calico wrap.

Then they did something Louisa never thought she would do. With their backs toward the tub, they marched three times around the basin. Each time, the priest ordered them to spit “out the devil and all his works.” Louisa never imagined spitting on the floor of her parlor. The tradition fit Orthodox customs but was far from orthodox to her Anglican and Congregational propriety.

The priest ended the service by cutting three locks of the babe’s hair, rolling them into a little ball, and throwing it into the baptismal water. Louisa had reason to hope that soon she could host her own baby’s christening service.

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