"...The restoration of 2005 placed (the baptismal font) here, at the entrance to the cathedral, to symbolize baptism as the sacrament of entrance into the Church..."
"The dominant symbolism in this font is new life. We find it in the flowing water, a key symbol in both the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures. The two deer in the mosaic recall Psalm 42: "Like the deer that yearns for flowing water, so my soul is yearning for you, My God."
"The shape of the font is also important. It is octagonal, reminiscent of the Book of Genesis, which describes God creating the world in six days and then resting. On the evening of the seventh day, in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve sinned and were banished from the garden. But God also promised to send a Saviour, a promise He fulfilled in the resurrection of Jesus. The early Church Fathers, in their reflection on baptism, saw the Resurrection as the eighth day, the day that reversed the curse of Adam and began a new creation for all humanity. They saw in it a day outside human time, because for those baptized eternity already has begun; they are living in the eighth day. Following this patristic insight, baptismal fonts in the early Church had an octagonal shape."
(The use of marble in both the baptismal font and the altar links Baptism and Eucharist, the two most important sacraments in the faith life of Catholic Christians.)
The above comments are taken directly form "A Pilgrim's Guide to Sacramento's Cathedral - The Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament" by Monsignor James Murphy, a beautiful color photographic guide to the newly renovated Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, www.cathedralsacramento.org
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"...The restoration of 2005 placed (the baptismal font) here, at the entrance to the cathedral, to symbolize baptism as the sacrament of entrance into the Church..."
"The dominant symbolism in this font is new life. We find it in the flowing water, a key symbol in both the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures. The two deer in the mosaic recall Psalm 42: "Like the deer that yearns for flowing water, so my soul is yearning for you, My God."
"The shape of the font is also important. It is octagonal, reminiscent of the Book of Genesis, which describes God creating the world in six days and then resting. On the evening of the seventh day, in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve sinned and were banished from the garden. But God also promised to send a Saviour, a promise He fulfilled in the resurrection of Jesus. The early Church Fathers, in their reflection on baptism, saw the Resurrection as the eighth day, the day that reversed the curse of Adam and began a new creation for all humanity. They saw in it a day outside human time, because for those baptized eternity already has begun; they are living in the eighth day. Following this patristic insight, baptismal fonts in the early Church had an octagonal shape."
(The use of marble in both the baptismal font and the altar links Baptism and Eucharist, the two most important sacraments in the faith life of Catholic Christians.)
The above comments are taken directly form "A Pilgrim's Guide to Sacramento's Cathedral - The Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament" by Monsignor James Murphy, a beautiful color photographic guide to the newly renovated Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, www.cathedralsacramento.org
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