Baptism is a mystery which cleanses us from original sin and gives our souls the new life of sanctifying grace by which we become children of God and heirs of heaven.  Baptism is one of the three rites of initiation into the Church. Through baptism the believer partakes in the Death and Resurrection of Christ.  Baptism of water is necessary for the salvation of all men because Christ has said: ‘Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God’ (John 3:5).
The custom now is to baptize infants.  Baptizing infants before they know what is going on is an expression of God’s great love for us. It shows that God loves us and accepts us before we can ever know Him or love Him. It shows that we are wanted and loved by God from the very moment of our birth. To say that a person must reach the age of reason and believe in Christ before he may be baptized is to make God’s grace in some way dependent on man’s intelligence. But God’s grace is not dependent on any act of ours, intellectual or otherwise; it is a pure gift of His love.

The second rite of initiation into the Church is Chrismation, which is considered the believer’s personal moment of Pentecost; through an anointing with oil, the priest seals the person with the “gift of the Holy Spirit”.

The third rite of initiation is the reception of the Holy Eucharist. Immediately following baptism, the neophyte may receive the precious Body and Blood of Christ in the Sacrament of Holy Communion and, in the case of an infant, is brought to Church regularly after baptism to receive the sacrament. The new life in Christ, given in baptism, is renewed again and again in the Eucharist. Every baptized and confirmed infant becomes a full member of the Church and is entitled to receive Holy Communion. As nature provides milk for the nourishment of the infant after birth, so God provides Holy Communion for the infant immediately following baptism in order to provide nourishment for the spiritual life the neophyte has received through baptism.