The origins of the role of godparents in weddings are directly related to the practice of baptism and confirmation. By the second century AD baptisms were accepted as spiritual and social purification of infants and secondary parents or “sponsors” would enact to speak the child’s part in the acceptance of God in life. This also was the case in Confirmation as the rites of Christian passage into adulthood and so for weddings as the couple’s union binds them together as one. As religion binds families and communities together, Godparenting became a lifetime commitment with a promise to care the religious upbringing of all the children of God. The common thread among all these is that in every rite of a new beginning a hierarchy of spiritual maturity is expected and in case that the parents of the child cannot fulfill this obligation then the people who stood side by side during the parents should be able to carry the duty. The Spanish words for the godparent roles are used for members of the wedding party—padrino meaning “godfather” or “best man” and madrina meaning “godmother” or “matron of honor”—reflecting the custom of baptismal sponsors acting in this role in a couple’s wedding.