Christening a newborn child today is becoming almost a fashion. Sometimes parents themselves do not know why this is necessary and what an important sacrament this is.
Church strengthens the status of godparents
Baptism is the most important event in human life. With immersion in water and the invocation of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, there comes death to sin and birth into a holy, spiritual life. The Orthodox Church has been performing this sacrament over babies for a long time, although they are not yet able to understand the importance of what is being performed on them. Therefore, in church practice, a rule has been established to look for adult guarantors for the child. How ready the godparents are for the new role, the interview before baptism, to which the Russian Orthodox Church has recently paid special attention, should find out.
Who are the catechumens
At the very beginning of the existence of the church, when only adults were baptized into the faith, who most often became martyrs, the preparation for this sacrament was serious and lengthy. Within 1-3 years, such people were "announced", that is, they got acquainted with the basics of religion, passed throughone interview before baptism. For a long time they studied the Gospel, participated in joint prayers and even in the exorcism of evil spirits. But their participation in the divine service had limits: after the exclamation of the priest: "Catechumens, depart!" they had to leave the premises where the Liturgy of the faithful, the Sacraments of Confession and Communion began. After baptism, which, as a rule, took place on Easter, people who passed such a long test became real Christians and were ready to die for their beliefs.
The role of godparents in the announcement
Over time, when the position of the church was strengthened, the confession of Christ did not threaten torment and death, the need for lengthy preparation for churching disappeared, babies began to be baptized. But the liturgical rite of the announcement, which came from the ancient church, has remained to this day. Anyone who is about to receive the sacrament of baptism must renounce Satan three times: "Have you renounced Satan?" - "I gave up." Then confirm your faith: "Have you been combined with Christ?" - "Combined." Bow to Him and read the Creed.
Of course, the baby is not able to do this. The godfather (for the boy) and the godmother (for the girl) are vouched for and do this. They are required to be interviewed before a child's baptism to prepare for their responsible role in this ordinance.
Order of the Patriarch
At the end of the last century and the beginning of this century, the Russian Orthodox Church experiencedan influx of adults who want to be churched and parents who want to baptize their children. Moreover, many of them had a very distant idea of faith, of Christ, of spiritual life. These people needed at least a minimum of religious knowledge and an idea of the obligations that the Sacrament of Baptism imposes on them.
To this end, the Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in 2013, by a special order, introduces a requirement that an interview be held in the church before baptism. It is intended for both parents and foster children of their children. Twice they come to the announcement conversation in order to obtain the necessary knowledge about the upcoming event. Without these conversations, the priest has no right to perform the sacrament.
Catechesis of parents
Catechism - a set of basic rules of the church. If parents bring a child to be baptized not because of their faith, but because everyone else does it, then they will be disturbed by the question that is asked at the interview before baptism. After asking a few questions about how often they go to church, whether they go to confession regularly, whether they take communion, the priest will enlighten them on the basic issues of faith. They learn about the sacraments of the Church, about the obligation to regularly commune their child, to pray for him. The catechist lecturer will tell them that Christ should become the main authority in the family and upbringing. A conversation with parents involves solving practical issues: date, time of baptism, necessary clothing.
Themselves parents in the sacramentbaptisms do not participate and remain mere spectators. But at the last stage of this service, the introduction of the newly baptized into the temple takes place. While the priest brings the boy to the altar, and puts the girl to the holy icons, the mother makes prostrations and prays for her child. To be able to participate in the churching ceremony, she needs to be clean, so the date of the event must be coordinated with this natural circumstance.
Name giving
During the interview before baptism, parents discuss the name that the baby will take after the sacrament. This issue is especially important if the birth certificate contains a beautiful name, but not included in the calendar. The parents of Eduards and Stanislavs, Oles and Viktory, on the advice of the priest, choose in advance an Orthodox name for the child and, together with him, a heavenly patron. This protector and prayer book accompanies a person throughout life. Usually, the person being baptized is given the name of a saint whose memory is celebrated on the day of his baptism.
Previously, the name was given on the 8th day after birth - the name day was more important than the birthday. The fate of a person was connected with how he was named. Now, unfortunately, many do not know what they are called in Orthodoxy. But the church man is known by his Christian name. It would be nice to give the godson an icon with the image of his patron, so that she would be his companion for life.
Announcement for godparents
The recipient from the font is a person who takes into his arms a newly consecrated baby. The main role in thisthe sacrament is given to godparents. The father or mother of the baby may be non-church or profess a different faith - this will not prevent their child from becoming a Christian. But the recipients are simply obliged to be religious people. Everything that happens at the sacrament with the baby will happen only according to their faith.
Therefore, the interview of godparents before baptism is a very crucial moment in preparation for this event. The priest explains to them the role that they will play in the service itself, speaks of the responsibility for the soul of the baby, whom they undertake to lead to God. Gives them a task to complete by the second class.
Requirements for receivers
It is important for a godparent to know if he has an interview before the baptism of a child, what the priest asks. And the receiver from the font owes a lot:
- Know, understand and apply in your life the ten commandments of the Old Testament and the seven beatitudes of Jesus Christ. This is the basis of Christian morality, which he will form in the future godson.
- Regularly participate in worship, confession and communion.
- Know the prayers "Our Father" and "Virgin Mary". To be able to clearly, without hesitation, read the "Symbol of Faith", understand and explain it.
- Know what the New Testament consists of, and read the Gospel of Mark from cover to cover.
- On the eve of the sacrament, endure a three-day fast, confess and take communion, in order to accept with a pure soul and God's helpresponsibility for a new soul.
Who can't be godfather
- A person who is under church punishment, on whom a penance has been imposed, and he is excommunicated from communion, cannot become a recipient from the font.
- Close relatives: parents, brother or sister are not eligible either.
- A husband and wife cannot baptize the same child.
- Monks and those who are preparing for monasticism are not godparents.
- People with a mental disorder do not participate in the sacrament of baptism.
As you can see, a fairly wide range of issues affects the first interview before baptism with godparents from the font. At the same lesson, a questionnaire is filled out for the child and his godparents, a task is given, the completion of which may take 3-4 weeks.
Why take communion before the sacrament of baptism
To prepare for the upcoming event, it is the recipients from the font who must work hard. And not the range of material issues is important in this matter. Buying a christening shirt, a towel, a cross, a chain, donating money to the church and laying a festive table - all this is external fuss. A terrible thing can hide behind it: the sacrament did not take place, the betrothal to God did not happen. And all because the baby cannot answer for himself, and the recipient does not want to. Well, he does not consider these issues important, he does not have time for them!
Therefore, a very important step in preparing for the upcoming event is the second interview with the priest before baptism. In addition to testing theoretical knowledge ("The Creed", the Gospel, commandments), it necessarily includes a confession. This sacrament will reveal the sincerity and authenticity of the faith of those who will be the main figures in the future baptism. The unwillingness of the godparents to confess and take communion indicates that they need to be changed, it is impossible to spoil the child’s spiritual life that has not yet begun. And the priest in such cases has the right to postpone baptism until the recipient meets the requirements dictated by the sacraments.
Cherished reference
Parents who have already baptized their children know how hard it is to find a moment when everything is ready in the family, the child is not sick, both recipients are in place and both are free, and there are no obstacles to the ceremony in the church. From this point of view, the requirement for compulsory catechesis is an additional obstacle: covenant baptism is postponed for another month and a half, until the priest takes the exam and issues a certificate of successful reading. No references to busyness or lack of time are valid.
If godparents live in another city, they can be interviewed before the baptism of the child at the place of residence and bring on the day of the sacrament the same certificate of announcement, certified by signature and seal.
Perhaps the child will be lucky, and his godfather is really a church person. But even in this case, he must take a written recommendation from the priest of his parish and provide it at the place of baptism. For a person who agrees to takeresponsibility for the soul of a little Christian, detours are excluded: either refuse or become churched.
Batiushka has the last word
The priest, like no one else, understands the role of godparents in the life of a baby: this is both introducing him into a prayer life and reading the Bible with him. If something happens to the parents, and the child is left alone, his godparents will adopt him from the font.
The priest conducting the catechization largely depends on how the interview goes before baptism. One will ask a couple of questions, wave his hand and christen the baby. The other will ask in all severity, and only after making sure that the child will fall into reliable hands, will he give permission for the sacrament. Perhaps both will be right: the ways of the Lord are inscrutable.
