Christening at Circus Fantasia

 Through his years as a priest, Canon Alan thinks he has christened somewhere between 300 and 400 babies. That being said, he has never before had the opportunity to fill in the registers and name the father of the child’s occupation as ‘Fire Eater’ and the mother’s as ‘Trapeze artist’. The somewhat unique event that enabled him to do this was the christening/baptism of Luana Angela Candela, whose parents Antonio and Lucy were in Truro performing with the Circus Fantasia.

The cathedral had been approached by the circus community and were told that as they spend a good deal of the year touring around, it has become something of a tradition that any babies associated with these nomadic people, are baptised in the place they call home – the circus tent. So it was, that on Saturday 18th August Canon Alan packed a bag with all he required for the event and made his way to Hendra Park, Truro, where the circus was in residence.

Everyone from the circus community was there and Luana was Baptised in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, before her parents and Godparents and the community that forms her wider every day family.

Canon Alan simply says ‘it felt in every sense right and all passed smoothly and respectfully with hardly a tear or a grumble from the guest of honour, who was Christened with the help of a bowl that the circus people had used before for this very same purpose - and just to round the event off some of the baptismal water made holy in the service was used to bless the circus tent and those who perform in it. It was good to be involved in Luana’s first step on her Christian journey – before she journeyed on with everyone else to Bodmin, Hayle and beyond.

The photographs taken here were taken by the last person to be baptised using the bowl – she is a fully fledged grown up now – and as everyone in the circus as a skill -  a juggler as well!

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