Bishop Gene Savoy Jr., officiant and father of the child Helena, applies baptismal water. PHOTO: Roger Weld
The Rite of Baptism for Helena Elizabeth Patel Savoy, daughter of Bishop Gene Savoy Jr. and Radheka Patel Savoy, was held following Communion Service on Saturday August 3, 2013. The ceremony took place at 12:30 p.m. at the Rectory-Abbey. A reception followed.
Parents Gene and Radheka Savoy with godparents Rebecca Willis and Robert Anderson during the baptism. PHOTO: Roger Weld
The entire resident congregation was invited to attend the service and reception as guests of the Savoy family. Also in attendance were godparents Rebecca Willis and Robert Anderson, both of whom took part in the service, several friends of the family, and other family members.
Members of the local congregation attend the service of baptism for Helena Savoy. PHOTO: Roger Weld
The traditional baptism, the second part of a three-fold initiation undertaken for the child Helena, was held on August 3—180 days following the February 2 anniversary of the proclamation of the Appearance of the Sun of Righteousness by the Child Jamil.
Helena Elizabeth Savoy in baptismal dress PHOTO: Radheka Savoy
Following the Hindu tradition, the child Helena was welcomed in April by a first set of ceremonies conducted on the sixth and eleventh days of her life. (See the article titled “Helena Elizabeth Savoy Welcomed with Hindu Ceremonies.”)
The third ceremony was conducted on the morning of Sunday, August 4th, shortly after sunrise atop the peak of the Temple Mount at Red Rock Consecrated Sanctuary. Present at this final ritual were the child and her parents. During this ritual, the child Helena was bathed in the water from the Temple Well, which in the future is to be the site of the Shrine of God’s Waters. The bathing ritual took place in the natural basin of a boulder to the east of the cross marking the highest point of the Temple Mount. Two small swallows appeared at the beginning of the service and remained throughout. The two birds, of a kind not often seen in this area, sat on either side of Helena throughout the service.
Bishop Savoy conducted this rite for his daughter in order to dedicate her life to the Light. In similar fashion, more than forty years before, during the first year of his own life, Bishop Savoy’s father and predecessor as Head Bishop had dedicated him to the life of Light at the top of the Temple of the Sun at Teotihuacán and later baptized him in the waters of the Pacific Ocean at Puerto Vallarta.