Appropriate gift for priest for christening

A

aisling o'b

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I approached a priest I've known for years to ask him to a conduct a private christening for our baby boy. He readily agreed to whatever date and time suited us.
I'm wondering what would be an appropriate amount to put in an envelope for him? I'm thinking €50 on the envelope makes it a bit light. €100 then?
 
€100 :eek:, don't you know we are in recession;). I would have thought €50 was more than enough, why burden yourself with extra cost.
 
€50 isnt bad for an hours 'work' i'd say. Plus you could give him a dinner if ye are going for a meal

RGDS,

P
 
It depends on the priest and your family's relationship with him. If you are having him as a guest at the meal and he is a secular priest, then I would think 50 Euros is fine. If he is an order priest, they have a lot less money and maybe 100 Euros for his own holidays might be appreciated.
 
When my child was christened we gave the priest €50 but that was 4yrs ago. I would wait and see how the service goes and have an envelope ready with 2 €50's. Its a boring old sermon throw him the €50 but if he put some real effort into it, maybe the €100.
But its all down to what you can afford and think yourself.
 
In all fairness I think the norm is €100 nowadays. I've gone through 3 Christenings and sought guidance from other parents and conclude that €100 is appropriate.
 
If it is a private Christening, 100e seems about right, if it is a shared Christening with other babies getting christened at same time, 100e seems too generous.
 
Don't forget the sacristan ;-)
He/she is probably giving up Sunday lunch with their family to open/close/setup the church for the Christening. Even more important to remember them if it's a private Christening in addition to their usual duties.
 
Hi,

My friend has a christening coming up and asked me if I knew what the current going rate is for a 'shared' christening - for the priest and the sacristan? Would welcome some advice. Probably less than 2008!!

Thanks,

B.
 
buyingabroad said:
Hi,

My friend has a christening coming up and asked me if I knew what the current going rate is for a 'shared' christening - for the priest and the sacristan? Would welcome some advice. Probably less than 2008!!

Thanks,

B.
Click to expand...

€100 is the norm from what I have heard. And to be honest I would not begrudge that €100, the priest deserves it. And the people who I heard complain that it is too expensive are the same ones who have ridiculous OTT marquees and 3 course meal and drinking binge to "celebrate" the christening.
 
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