The baptismal font, made of Carrara onyx and glass mosaic, combines a traditional-style upper font with a lower font. The lower baptismal font is patterned after fonts used in the early centuries of the Catholic Church. The font, dedicated in 1993, combines the symbolism of the octagon (signifying the "eighth day" of eternity), the cross (signifying Jesus' death and resurrection) and, at the center of the lower font, an ornate pattern that can read as paradise, a crown, the sun, the tree of life, or the axis mundi (center of the world.) The lower font responds to the efforts of the Second Vatican council to restore early Christian baptismal practices and accommodates both the pouring of water and immersion.
