Baptized by the Pope

Heidi and Dan Sierras with their children, Logan, 3, baby Eleanor, Kayla, 8, and Ethan, 11.
Heidi and Dan Sierras with their children, Logan, 3, baby Eleanor, Kayla, 8, and Ethan, 11. (photo: CNS)

At this evening’s Easter Vigil Mass at the Vatican, Heidi Sierras will be baptized, confirmed and receive first Communion from Pope Benedict XVI.

Register subscribers can get acquainted with the California mom of four and the story of her conversion in this article by Tim Drake, published in our April 12-18 issue.

Tim’s article is a reminder that while there’s plenty of free content here at the Register’s website, there are also a lot of great articles that can be accessed only by subscribers.

Here’s an excerpt from Tim’s story:

Describe how you feel knowing you’ll be receiving three sacraments from the Pope.

Heidi Serras: It’s hard to describe how I feel. I feel very honored and amazed. It’s hard to put into words how incredible this will be.

My husband and two older children (my son, who is 11, and daughter, who is 9) will be traveling to Rome as well, and will receive Communion from the Pope. My daughter was to receive her first Communion in May. They allowed her to receive first Communion beforehand so that she could receive from Pope Benedict, as well.

In addition, there will be 30 other people from our parish, St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Modesto, Calif., going to Rome, and the priest, as well. Because our priest will be gone for the Easter Vigil, our bishop is coming to our parish to baptize those who are coming into the Church. There will be 35 people coming into the Church. So, in some ways, everyone is going to benefit from us traveling to Rome.