Children's Baptism

At Our Lady of Dolours Chatswood Parish, we run a 'Childrens' Baptism' preparation program for children from 6-12 years of age, twice each year. Please see below for the next program's dates. To be eligible to join the program at least one parent needs to be Catholic. If this is not the case, we still welcome your enquiry and are happy to discuss this further with you.

The Preparation Program

Is held over three to four weeks and includes;

Two child-parent small group preparation sessions
Presentation and anointing at a 9.00am Family Mass
A practice in the church before the Baptism Ceremony

The Baptism

Once the Childrens' Baptism preparation program is completed children are eligible to be baptised. Baptisms for children in the program usually take place during our 9am Family Mass, however they can be arranged at another time.
The details of the dates and times of the next Children's Baptism program are listed below and on the Enrolment Form.

Next Childrens Baptism Dates - March 2026

Date	Preparation Step	What Happens
Sunday 15th March at 10:00am	Session One	Introduction to Baptism. The children learn what it means to belong to the family of Catholics and how God calls each of us by name. We start at 10:00am straight after the 9:00am family Mass in our St. Peter meeting room.
Sunday 22nd March at 9:00am Mass	Presentation and Anointing	The children who are preparing for baptism are presented to the parish community and are anointed with sacred oil and the people are asked to pray for them as they prepare for baptism. This is an important part of the preparation for Baptism.
Sunday 22nd March at 10:00am	Session Two	After the presentation and anointing at 9am Mass, the children learn about the Symbols of Baptism and what will happen at the baptism ceremony. We start at 10:00am straight after the 9:00am family Mass in our St. Peter meeting room.
Saturday 28th March at 3:30pm	Session Three - Practise	The children and their parents (godparents are also welcome), attend a special session in the church to go through what will happen in the baptism ceremony with a priest and reflect on what their baptism means for their lives with the program leader.
Easter Sunday 5 April at 9:00am Mass	Baptisms	The children who have attended the preparation sessions are baptised at a 9:00am Family Mass. Note: There is a limit of the number of children who can be baptised in the same Mass. If there are several children, the Baptisms will be spread over the following weeks.

The second Children's Baptism program for 2026 will run in September.

The dates are as follows:

Session One: Sunday 6 September at 10am
Presentation: Sunday 13 September at 9am Mass
Sesssion Two: Sunday 13 September at 10am
Session Three: Saturday 19th September at 3:30pm
Baptisms: Sunday 20th September at 9am Mass

Enrolment

To enrol your child into the Childrens' Baptism program, please complete the enrolment form below and return it to the parish office along with a copy of your child's birth certificate, by the due date noted on the form. Once it is received, someone from the parish office will contact you to confirm the program details.