Surely every parent at one time asked himself the question: "Why is a child baptized and if it is necessary at all, at what age is it better to perform this rite, and how not to make a mistake with the choice of godparents?" Let's try to answer these questions and learn more about how the Sacrament of Baptism goes and what it takes.
So what is the baptism of a child for?
Baptism is a Christian Sacrament, during which through some visible sacred acts the invisible grace of God is communicated to the child. This is the main event in a person’s life, this is his spiritual birth. It is believed that the Orthodox rite of baptism rinses away the original sin from the baby and makes it clean again before God. During baptism, an Angel is assigned to the child, who will keep and protect him throughout his life. Subsequently, a baptized person can get married in a church, become a godparent himself, and his family can always put a candle in the church for his health.
When is it better to baptize?
The rite of baptism of a baby by the rules is carried out on the fortieth day after his birth. By this time, the young mother is completely physiologically cleansed after childbirth and can attend the temple. Yes, and the baby at this age quite calmly endures the rite, unlike older children, when they are already beginning to distinguish between “their” and “strangers” and may be frightened of the new situation and large crowds.
Name
Before the baptismal rite, it is very important for parents to choose a name under which the baby will be baptized. It is believed that much in the fate of man depends on him. It is advisable that as few people as possible know the church name of the child. They choose him, as a rule, in honor of some saint. In the old days, the baby was given the name of the saint whose memory fell on the day of christening, but today parents are given complete freedom to choose a heavenly patron for their child.
The choice of godparents
The acquisition of spiritual mentors by the child, the beneficiaries involved in his Orthodox upbringing, is another important reason why the baptism of the child is necessary. The choice of godparents should be approached very responsibly. In this matter, you should not start from the degree of your friendship or relationship with the candidates under consideration. First of all, think about how godparents will value and cope with the mission assigned to them. After all, their participation does not end with the adoption of a child from the baptismal font, but rather, it is just beginning. It is they who are responsible for ensuring that the child regularly attends the temple, fasts, takes communion, and they are called upon to constantly pray for him.
How is the baptismal rite?
Godparents bring the baby to the temple without clothes, wrapped only in a white diaper, stand in front of the font and repeat the prayers for the baptism for the priest, read the “Symbol of Faith”, promise to fulfill the commandments of God and renounce the devil. Then the priest takes the baby from their hands and lowers it three times into the font. At the same time as the baptism takes place, the Sacrament of Confirmation is performed, after which the already baptized baby is returned to the godfather, and those, in turn, must take the baby in their arms and wrap them in kryzhma. After that, the priest will put a cross on him and cut his hair, marking this small sacrifice of the baptized to the Lord in gratitude for the beginning of a new spiritual life. After the rite is completed, the baby is surrounded three times around the font in a sign of eternal union with the bosom of the Church. And, finally, the father brings the boys to the altar, and the girls are helped by the icon of the Mother of God.
Celebration of baptism
If now you have understood for yourself what the baptism of the child is for and decided to perform this Christian Sacrament, then you should think over the celebration program in advance. Traditionally, all guests are invited to the house where the child lives, and celebrate the holiday with a plentiful feast. Since christening was originally considered a children's holiday, and many children of different ages are invited to them, there must be a lot of sweets, cookies, nuts, pies and gingerbread on the table. And to symbolically end the celebration, you can serve a cake in the form of a cross.