St. Paul recorder., 1961-07-21
Something TO
Think About
BY Maurice f. White

father, or have godparents, have
you ever wondered how the Gus
tom was started?
My attention was drawn to the
subject when I read that while in
England last May, President and
Mrs. Kennedy served as godpar-
ents for the baptism of their in
fant nephew. The chances are that
they did not know any more about
how the custom was begun than
the rest of us who are godparents,
Since this is the season when most
people become godfathers and
godmothers, 1 thought it a good
subject to write on.
Thanks to the Minneapolis Pub
lie Library and Mrs. Rosalee Hill,
in the Sociology Department, here
is what I discovered.
1t seems that the Christian
practice of having godparents or
sponsors for children presented for
baptism was began in 154 AID. by
Hyginus, Bishop of Rome. The
so-called uncivilized and primitive
peoples were also found to have
observed the custom of naming
godparents for their children.
However, just as different things
have different meanings to differ
ent people, such was the case
here.
In Christianity, godparents were
supposed to represent the church
which offered the child to Christ
to be baptized. Christian godpar-
ents had no obligations to provide
for the child's physical or mater
ial welfare. The situation was re-
versed among the primitive and
savage peoples. For them, godpar-
ents were proxies for the real par
ents and both sets of parents were
responsible for feeding, clothing
and sheltering the child. Upon be-
ing named a godparent, the prim-
tive and savage people danced
shouted and received gifts as il
they were in fact the true par
ents.
This brings us to another sim
ilarity between the primitive and
European societies-the latter be-
ing the one from where this coun-
try acquired the custom. The god
parents and godchildren alike
were presented with gifts. The
primitive godparents eceive d
bread and cheese, while the god
children got a beasts claw, which
was supposed to ward off sickness,
Christian godparents were given
food also, but later the food gifts
were replaced by trinkets and
later still by jewels. However
this practice gave way to the
gifting of the child and its mother
by the sponsors. And things got
so out of hand that the Church
eventually had to step in.
1t seems that as the practice OF
gifting the child and its mother
became more entrenched, little BY
little, larger presents were expect
ed for both of them. Some enter.
prising parents even had their lit
tie offsprings baptized more thar
once in order to receive more
"loot". When you consider thai
those doing the giving were the
godparents and that each chile
could have up to three sponsors
you can see why it became in
creasingly difficult to find anyone
who wanted-or more likely, who
could afford-to be a godparent
Finally, the church declared
that there would only be one bap,
tism per child and that present:
by the godparents would be limited
to the white robe the child wore
for the ceremony. Although re-
lieved of the obligation, sponsors
nevertheless continued to give
their godchildren presents.
Along with small pieces OF
money, salt, bread and cheese
which were supposed to insure the
child money and food throughout
ife-a favorite gift to godchil.
dren was a coral with bells. The
coral was supposed to be an ANU
let against fascination and there
F-