# Capitalization questions for Catholic ceremonies



## Just Browsing (Sep 26, 2012)

OK, I'm seeing these done all sorts of ways.

Is "mass" capitalized? How about "christening"? And then "christening mass"?


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

1001nightspress said:


> OK, I'm seeing these done all sorts of ways.
> 
> Is "mass" capitalized? How about "christening"? And then "christening mass"?


I am thinking Mass is always capitalized. Not sure about the christening but then I only went to Catholic school for 2 years.


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## notreallyhere (Oct 8, 2011)

Yes, Mass is capitalized. If this is a Catholic ceremony, it would be a baptism, not a christening - and baptism would not be capitalized. Unless, of course, it's the beginning of a sentence. 

*My credentials - 18 years, Roman Catholic upbringing. Ah, the memories . . .


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## Just Browsing (Sep 26, 2012)

cate dean said:


> Yes, Mass is capitalized. If this is a Catholic ceremony, it would be a baptism, not a christening - and baptism would not be capitalized. Unless, of course, it's the beginning of a sentence.
> 
> *My credentials - 18 years, Roman Catholic upbringing. Ah, the memories . . .


Thank you! Would it be correct to have "a baptism Mass"? (Do Masses happen for baptisms, in other words.) Author currently has a christening Mass, but author is not Catholic, only some of his characters.


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

1001nightspress said:


> Thank you! Would it be correct to have "a baptism Mass"? (Do Masses happen for baptisms, in other words.) Author currently has a christening Mass, but author is not Catholic, only some of his characters.


Are you asking is there a special Mass for baptisms?


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

Here is what I found on a Catholic forum.

The parish I currently attend celebrates baptisms during Mass. We have been pretty lucky, as we have had at least one baptism a weekend since Easter. 

There are other parishes in my diocese that have baptisms on a Sunday afternoon, outside of Mass. 

There are still others who allow a family to pick a private time, again outside of Mass, for baptisms.

I have heard some, over the years, grumble about Baptisms during Mass, as they tend to make Mass a little longer than the typical 60 minutes or less. 

IMHO, all baptisms should be, so long as there are not dire circumstances( i.e. danger of death) celebrated in the context of the Mass. Not only is the child being baptised being born again into a life with Christ, through baptism they are becoming a new member of the community, and it is the responsibility of all the members of the faithful to stand along side with the parents and Godparents, as they profess their faith and desire to raise their child in that faith.


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## Jena H (Oct 2, 2011)

Baptism is like a wedding:  it can be celebrated with a Mass, or separately.


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## notreallyhere (Oct 8, 2011)

Yes, to all of the above. It really depends on the church - where I grew up, we didn't have baptisms during Mass. It was always separate - family and friends only. And it is simply a baptism. Any other questions, feel free to shoot them my way, or PM me.


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## Just Browsing (Sep 26, 2012)

This board is the best.

That is all. 

Thank you guys so much!


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## Bilinda Ní Siodacaín (Jun 16, 2011)

I'm Catholic and we called it both baptism and christening but mostly christening. We always celebrated it separate to Mass, friends and family only.


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## notreallyhere (Oct 8, 2011)

Bilinda Ní Siodacaín said:


> I'm Catholic and we called it both baptism and christening but mostly christening. We always celebrated it separate to Mass, friends and family only.


That's interesting - we never called it a christening, but I live in the states. I wonder if it's a regional thing?


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## WHDean (Nov 2, 2011)

Baptism (lowercase) is not part of the Mass (uppercase). But a baptism can be shoehorned into a Mass, like a half-time show. Both the _Oxford Style Manual _ (s.v. "Mass") and the CMS (8.109) capitalize _Mass _ when it refers to the Catholic ceremony involving the Eucharist. Generic references, where _mass _ just means "religious services" (e.g., in the plural _masses_) are usually lowercased.

Note that _christen _ just means "make a Christian." So you can say that someone who was baptised was christened (because the act confers membership in Christian churches), but the ceremony itself is called _baptism_ in Catholicism.


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## Bilinda Ní Siodacaín (Jun 16, 2011)

cate dean said:


> That's interesting - we never called it a christening, but I live in the states. I wonder if it's a regional thing?


I'm from Ireland so it very probably depends on where you're from.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

"Mass" is capitalized if you're referring to the Catholic Liturgy.

I don't think "Baptism" needs to be capitalized, but it's not wrong to do so. If your object is to not have people get all offended, capitalizing it is probably a safer bet. 

Either it will be part of a regularly scheduled parish Mass, with special substitutions for various prayers, or it's a separate rite that takes place at another time and there is no Mass involved. 

Contrast that with a wedding or funeral, where there is often a Mass in conjunction with the rite that is separate from the regularly scheduled parish Masses.  

So to say "Baptism Mass" doesn't make much sense whereas you'll often hear references to Wedding Masses or Funeral Masses.  If it's just the Baptism, I'd call it the Rite of Baptism; if it's happening during Mass, I'd call it Baptism during Mass.


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