Illiana Ochoa Bravo
A priest’s prayer was answered after a baptismal font was “beautifully” restored and given to St Crona’s Church. Fr Johnny Moore from the Diocese of Raphoe told The Irish Catholic, “the baptismal font is a representation of bringing the old into the new.”
When Fr Moore become the parish priest of the church of St Crona, he made a prayer to “get the baptismal back to be a connection for the old and new.” His prayer was answered on November 6 when the font was brought to the church. “I just thought if we can find the original font, and I prayed about it, that it would be a beautiful way of bringing something that was, for a lot of people who are still living, a baptismal font they were baptised in,” said Fr Moore.
The connection between the baptismal font and Fr Johnny Moore goes back 62 years. The day the font was brought into the church is the same day Fr Johnny Moore was born and baptised. “I was born at two, and I think baptised by three or half three. It was three o’clock when [the sculptor] arrived to put the font in place,” said Fr Moore.
The baptismal font was originally located in the old, decommissioned church of St Peter, Dungloe. Forty-five years after the construction of St Crona’s Church, the font was restored and brought to the church, where it is now displayed at the entrance porch.
Fr Johhny Moore said the official records state the church was consecrated in 1856. However, they have found smaller records that suggest there was another church, which would have been wooden with a graveyard around it, standing on that site 40 years ago. Since baptismal fonts are “very important,” it was suspected that it was older than the year the church was consecrated.
Father, I was baptised in that, my grandfather was baptised in that’ created a real connection to our past and our history”
Installing the font in the entrance porch is a way of “tying this new building with its predecessor” and is a reminder “of all those previous generations who sacramentally entered into the Church at this font.”
“I’ve noticed that since it was placed in the church, in the entrance as you come in, the amount of people who’ve come up all excited to say, ‘Father, I was baptised in that, my grandfather was baptised in that’ created a real connection to our past and our history,” said Fr Moore.
Reconstruction
The font was reconstructed by Redmond Herrity. The process of the reconstruction took an average of two months.
“[Reconstructing the font] was very enjoyable because I get to copy the people who made this 200 years ago,” said Mr Harrity. “To me, it is an honour to do this type of work.”
Mr Harrity said the restorations on the font “really called out the gorgeous colours of the marble.” The brass cross given to him by the church, the adorned red crucifixes in the marble and the gold inscriptions saying, ‘New and Old 1856’ in three different languages (Gaelic, Latin and English) were “beautiful.”
“In my line of work, it is beautiful because my work represents people from two-hundred years ago. Imagine how many people were baptised and imagine who they became,” said Mr Harrity. “That’s the thing about restoration work, there is always a story from someone.”
The baptismal font was meant to be installed around four months ago, but delays kept happening. Yet, on November 6, although the font was not meant to be installed, Harrity called Fr Moore to make the installation happen that day. “I was completely blown away. I saw it as kind of miraculous. It was an answer to a prayer,” said Fr Moore.
The church of St Crona will have a blessing ceremony for the baptismal font in upcoming weeks. Fr Johnny Moore will mark its restoration and say a prayer for those who has been baptised in the font.
Illiana Ochoa Bravo studies Journalism at Boston University and has a strong interest in photography and writing.