Laurine, soon to be baptized: ‘I finally feel like I belong’

“I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” These are the words that thousands of catechumens around the world are preparing to hear on Easter night when they are baptized. Throughout Lent, Aleteia will share with you the stories of some of these men and women, who are happy to become children of God.

At 30, life is full of surprises, as Laurine knows only too well. Originally from Beauvoisin in the Gard department in southern France, this bubbly young woman is about to experience something she never imagined. As a catechumen, she will be baptized on Easter night.

“My parents aren’t believers and are rather averse to religion in general,” she says by way of introduction. “My paternal grandmother was in a sect, so religion has become a taboo subject, a cause of discord because of that.” While her older sister was baptized to please her grandparents, this wasn’t the case for Laurine. “My parents divorced when I was little, so my baptism wasn’t on the agenda.”

She remembers wanting to explore her faith around the age of 8, but she was made to understand quite quickly that this was not a priority. At the age of 17, she lost her maternal great-grandmother, to whom she was close. “She believed in God and I remember the beauty of her funeral Mass. I remember feeling caught up in something, feeling a connection. But I didn't look into it any further and life went on as usual.”

Well, not quite. She feels the presence of her great-grandmother very strongly when she has to face difficult choices and make painful decisions. “Today I know that she never stops interceding for me with God,” Laurine assures us. “At the time I didn't have the words, but today I know.”

And then there was an encounter three years ago now. The encounter. The one with the man who is about to become her husband next year. “Pierre was the first person I talked to about religion. He explained to me that he was Catholic, but from the start he told me that he didn't mind that I didn't believe in God.”

However, the further Laurine progressed in the relationship, the more she realized that faith represented everything she had hoped for: a shared worldview, common values... It was difficult for Laurine to put into words what took place. “Something happened. It must’ve been the Holy Spirit that came down on us!” she jokes. One morning, she—who had practically never been to church—before asked her boyfriend to accompany her. “I wasn't sure how to go about it and he simply replied, ‘With pleasure.’”

It was a Mass for families, that day in April 2024. “I remember crying a lot on that church bench. There were so many welcoming people, so much love around us... I felt like I belonged,” she recalls, moved. “And that was the trigger. For too many years I had let myself be carried along by events without deepening my faith. I decided to stop and think about it. I knew that this was where I was meant to be.”

Things then happened quickly for Laurine. She was put in touch with the person in charge of catechism for adults, the famous catechumenate. “In concrete terms, my life has changed. There was a tipping point during this family mass. I feel a great alignment in my life with all these stages,” she says.

When she sent her letter to the bishop two weeks ago, the words flowed effortlessly. “It's rare for me to feel such fluidity. Everything was very natural, nothing was blocked.” She added, “Things flow naturally, I know it's not a passing fancy. I feel that it was deeply rooted in me. It just had to come out.” How does she feel as the big day approaches? “It's as if I've finally untied a difficult knot!”

So, of course, although peace has won the day, it hasn't all been smooth sailing during the preparation. “Just imagine, I'd grown up and lived without religion for 30 years!” How many times did she ask herself, on returning from a meeting, “Am I really starting to believe in all this? Am I starting to become weird?”

Moments of clarity, when she knows she’s in the right place, alternate regularly with moments of doubt, when she wonders if she’s not mistaken. “When you’re alone, you doubt. I found it difficult to accept this change at the age of 30. Being with Pierre and with a team of catechumens helped me a lot.”

She and her fiancé never run out of things to discuss about faith, the Church, social issues, or the famous compass that is the Gospel. He has been immersed in it since childhood and has grown up with the values of the Church, whereas she is discovering and absorbing everything she can.

“Since I started on this path, he keeps telling me what a brave thing I'm doing. But I also find it very courageous of him to accompany me on this path.” Because although Pierre received a Catholic upbringing in childhood and defines himself as a believer, Laurine's conversion stimulates him and pushes him to question anew everything he learned in his youth. “I discovered faith at the age of 30 and my faith was directly that of a woman who already has 30 years of life experience. I didn't go through the ‘child's faith’ stage,” she says.

When asked what this Easter night means to her, we can almost hear Laurine smiling on the phone. “I doubt that a blinding light will suddenly descend on me when the priest pours water on my forehead,” she says. “But I'm going to become a member of the Christian community. I can't wait to be part of the team! And then there's Communion too. So I'll also get to share in Christ.”

After the baptism, it will be time for her wedding to Pierre. “I'm so happy to continue my journey of faith with a marriage preparation course,” the young woman continues. “And then to be able to pass on this faith to my children, to build our family on solid foundations, on this faith that drives us and excites us. Being baptized is the gift I’ve chosen to give myself for my 30th birthday. And what a gift.”