The sacrament of baptism of a child is one of the main events in the life of every Orthodox person. The day of baptism is the second birthday, but it does not concern the physical life, but the spiritual one. On the day of baptism, the child will acquire his personal Guardian Angel, who will protect him from troubles and adversities throughout his life.
When is the best time to celebrate baptism?
This question does not have a clear answer because a person can be baptized at any age. Note that a child under 7 years old, as a rule, does not take part in the decision to baptize, from the age of 7 years his consent is also necessary, and from the age of 14 a person can make a decision on such an important event on his own.
Once upon a time, it was customary to baptize a child either on the eighth or fortieth day of life, when a woman was considered cleansed after childbirth. Currently, there are no such strict prohibitions, and you can baptize a child at any time: both in fasting, and in the first month of life, and a little later, when the baby gets stronger. Note that the sacrament of baptism can becarried out in the hospital, in cases where the child is weak or sick.
Who should be chosen as godparents?
Today, godparents are chosen in most cases by personal sympathy - friends, relatives, good acquaintances. Usually parents in this way emphasize the importance of a person and bring him closer to their family.
This is not bad, but you need to remember that being a godparent is a very responsible duty. After all, it is the godparents who are responsible for the spiritual development of the baby, introduce him to the church, take him to communion and confession. It is to the godparents that a person can turn for help and advice, and they, in turn, are obliged to support him in any situation. By the way, a child must necessarily have a godfather of the same gender as himself, so a boy can only have a godfather, a girl can only have a godmother.
Spouses, mentally ill and incompetent people, parents of a child cannot baptize one child. In addition, godparents must be of the same faith as the child and their parents.
The sacrament of baptism: the rules and features of the ceremony
During baptism, the priest reads a prayer three times, thereby driving away evil spirits, blesses the water and dips the child three times, thereby washing him from original sin. After bathing, the child is handed over to one of the godparents and a cross is put on. Then the chrismation takes place.
After baptism, it is desirable that the cross remain on the bodybaptized. It is important to consider only the size, while the material, shape and inscriptions do not matter. The godparents should buy the cross.
As for the child's clothing, it should be light and comfortable. In most cases, the child is baptized in a special christening shirt, which remains as a keepsake after the ceremony. According to folk signs, if a child is ill, it can be wiped with a baptismal towel, with which the baby was taken from the font on the day of baptism. Thus, the sacrament of baptism - the introduction of a child to the church - is a very important and responsible event in his life. It is very important to take it seriously and responsibly: choose the right godparents, church, date, clothes, etc.
