ongregation there present may testify the
receiving of them that be newly baptized into the number of
Christ's Church; as also because in the Baptism of Infants every
Man present may be put in remembrance of his own profession made
to God in his Baptism. For which cause also it is expedient that
Baptism be ministered in the vulgar tongue. Nevertheless, (if
necessity so require,) Children may be baptized upon any other day.

The main object of the rubric is that there should be a good
congregation; and in preferring 'Sundays and other Holydays' to
other days, because 'the most number of people' then 'come
together,' the rubric implies that some come together on all
days, viz., to daily Morning and Evening Prayer.

145. And note, that there shall be for every Male-child to be
baptized two Godfathers and one Godmother; and for every Female,
one Godfather and two Godmothers.

The twenty-ninth canon of 1603 forbade parents, that is fathers,
to be godfathers for their own children; but this prohibition was
abolished by the Convocation of Canterbury in 1865, though the
amended canon has not yet received the sanction of the Crown. So
that the law on the subject has been for sixteen years in a state
of transition, and a custom of admitting fathers to be godfathers
for their children is growing up.

146. When there are Children to be baptized, the Parents shall
give knowledge thereof over night, or in the morning before the
beginning of Morning Prayer, to the Curate. And then the Godfathers
and Godmothers, and the people with the Children, must be ready
at the Font, either immediately after the last Lesson at Morning
Prayer, or else immediately after the last Lesson at Evening
Prayer, as the Curate by his discretion shall appoint. And the
Priest coming to the Font, (which is then to be filled with pure
Water,) and standing there, shall say, Hath this child, &c.

The use of the word 'Priest' here should not be taken to exclude
the ministration of a Deacon in the absence of the Priest, inasmuch
as the Ordination Service empowers a Deacon to baptize. But it
seems to exclude the ministration of a Deacon in the presence of
the Priest.

The font should be filled immediately before the Baptism, so that
the water may be pure and fresh.

The official dress for the Priest is a surplice and a stole.

It is the custom of some Churches to use a shell for pouring water
on the child; and it ensures the application of sufficient water