Some forty years ago, baptismal ceremonies in our country were almost prohibited. At the beginning of the last century, party leaders and the state actively promoted atheism as the basis of human ideology. Although the churches were not officially liquidated, the clergy were persecuted by the state authorities. All this has led to the fact that modern man knows little about the details of religious rites. They are increasingly becoming a part of fashion, a beautiful external attribute of today's life, devoid of their true spiritual meaning.
As you know, adopting Christianity, a person goes through a wonderful ceremony - baptism. Traditionally, baptism requires a godmother and father, or one of them.
What godparents should be
The very first sacred act in a person's life is the sacrament of baptism. The godparents are the most important people after the parents, who should provide assistance in the spiritual education of the child, become a support and support. In fact, these are family members. Their responsibilities are not limited to gifts to the godson on the day of the angel and maintaining communication with his family. Their main function is the spiritual development of the godson, initiation into the faith and the church.
When choosing godparents, you need to remember that the baptism ceremony is carried out once and the child cannot be baptized, therefore, it will not work to change the godparents. The Church makes an exception only if the godfather has changed his faith or leads a flagrantly immoral, not pious way of life.
A child can have both godparents, or only one, but in this case he must be of the same sex as the godson.
It is allowed to become a godparent for several children, but the godfather must assess his strength, whether he can cope with his main responsibility, whether he has enough time and attention to properly raise all his godchildren.
Who is forbidden to become a godfather according to the canons of the Orthodox Church
People who have taken monastic vows cannot become godparents. There are also age restrictions for godparents. A boy at the time of assuming the duties of a godfather must be 15 years old, a girl who decided to become a godmother - 13 years old. Parents, relatives or adoptive parents cannot become godparents for a child. There is a ban on intimate relationships between godparents, so spouses or people about to marry should not become godparents of the same child.
Since the godparents must introduce the godson to the church, they must be baptized. Unbelievers and unbaptized people cannot become godparents.
People of different faith and heterodox are also forbidden to become godparents. An exception can be only if there are no Orthodox in the environment, and a person of another faith wants to become a godfather, and there is no doubt about his ability to raise a child as a highly moral and spiritually developed person.
It is unacceptable to take mentally ill people and morally fallen as godparents.
In various sources of esoteric and near-religious orientation, you can find a number of other prohibitions. However, it is worth remembering that baptism is a rite that obeys the laws of the Orthodox faith, and the ministers of the church and people of true believers know about it best of all. Nevertheless, when a child is baptized, only the parents decide on what information to rely on.
