Every Saturday dozens of toddler and infant boys in white tie and tails and girls in flowing white christening gowns fill the pews at Mary Immaculate Church in Pacoima, waiting their turn for the splash of holy water that will mark their entry into the Roman Catholic Church.
Overwhelmed by sheer numbers and the children's squawks and screams, the priest conducting the ceremony gets straight to the point. He reminds parents of their commitment to raising their child in the church and warns them against using the occasion an an excuse for overindulgence.
Then, row by row, with recorded Mexican folk music playing in the background, parents and godparents line up to approach the priest to receive the sacrament as cameras flash and camcorders roll.
Later, the many families head off to catered private parties at rented halls that, despite the priest's admonition, include plenty of drinking and dancing well into the night.
In most Anglo parishes and English-speaking Protestant churches, small numbers of children are baptized at regular services once a month. But in churches serving Latino communities, the ceremony has shifted to a special Saturday night service and has become almost an assembly-line operation conducted weekly. Church officials said the mass baptisms began about a decade ago as a result of immigration and a high birth rate among Latinos.
Mary Immaculate is typical of Spanish-speaking parishes, where baptism ranks alongside \o7 quinceaneras--\f7 the coming-out party for 15-year-old girls--weddings and funerals as life's most significant milestones.
"In our community baptism is seen as essential when a child comes into a family," said Father Bill Antone, a priest at Mary Immaculate. "It is a must in a traditional way, where in more Anglicized communities it is viewed more as an option."
In addition to its spiritual significance, baptism is big business in the Latino community, said Jose Pimentel, a salesman at Lilian's Bridal and Tuxedo Shop in San Fernando, where the pricey kiddie tuxedos and gowns are sold. The reason is simple. "Every child has to be baptized," he said.
Several San Fernando shop owners specializing in baptism apparel and accessories refused to talk about the trade, either out of suspicion or competitiveness.
