Parents, planning to baptize a child, should understand that baptism is not a tradition or a ceremony, but a great sacrament. Through baptism, a person unites with God and receives a Guardian Angel to help him.
Instructions
Step 1
Approach this event responsibly and prepare everything you need. The choice of godparents should be taken very seriously, because they will become your child's spiritual mentors. Future godparents should be people of the Orthodox faith and lead a Christian life in compliance with all the commandments. A huge responsibility rests with godparents after baptism. They must take an obligatory part in raising your child, and also constantly pray for him.
Step 2
Agree in advance on the baptismal procedure at the church. Contact a priest for this. Discuss with him the questions you are interested in, find out the time and day of baptism. Also clarify the question of photographing and filming this important moment in the child's life.
Step 3
Prepare everything you need in advance. You can buy a cross in the church shop. If you purchased it in a jewelry store, then give it to the priest in advance for consecration. Choose a string or ribbon that is not too thin for the cross. When the child is a little older, you can replace the ribbon with a chain. If the godparents have the opportunity, they cover the costs of the sacrament. Usually the godfather gives the child a cross, and the godmother gives the diaper and undershirt.
Step 4
Prepare a white baptismal shirt for your newborn. The baby will be dressed in it immediately after the sacrament has been performed. Baptism also requires a white diaper, large towel, or sheet. They will be needed in order to wrap the baby in them after immersion in the font. White clothing, according to the teachings of the Orthodox Church, is a symbol of the beginning of a new life and the purification of the soul. Some baby shops and church stores sell a baby baptism kit, which includes a shirt, white diaper, and bonnet. Christening gowns may be sold separately for girls.
Step 5
Before baptism, godparents need to go to the "candle box" and indicate their details for a baptismal certificate. You also need to get two candles.
Step 6
At the very beginning of the baptism, the godparents with the baby should stand in front of the priest. The priest will read prayers, illuminate the water in the baptismal bowl. Then she will anoint the newborn with oil. The baby will be undressed and lowered into the baptismal font three times. The godparents will accept the child and dress him in baptismal clothes. Then the priest will put a cross on the baby. After baptism, the sacrament of chrismation will take place. Then the godparents with the newborn and the priest will walk three times in a circle. The priest, after reading the prayers, will wash the ointment with a sponge and cut the child's hair crosswise. This will end the baptism.
