Baptizing a newborn child is becoming almost a fashion today. Sometimes parents themselves do not know why this is needed and what an important sacrament it is.
Church strengthens the status of godparents
Baptism is the most important event in human life. With immersion in water and the calling of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, death to sin and birth into a holy, spiritual life occurs. The Orthodox Church has been performing this sacrament over infants 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. The interview before baptism, to which the Russian Orthodox Church has recently been paying special attention, should find out how the godparents are ready for the new role.
Who are the catechumens
At the very beginning of the church's existence, when only adults were baptized into faith, who most often became martyrs, the preparation for this sacrament was serious and lengthy. For 1-3 years, such people "made public," that is, they got acquainted with the basics of religion, passed more than one interview before baptism. For a long time they studied the Gospel, participated in joint prayers and even in the casting out of evil spirits. But their participation in the divine service had limits: after the priest's exclamation: "Proclaimed ones, go out!" they had to leave the room where the Liturgy of the faithful began, the Sacrament of Confession, and which, as a rule, took place on Easter, people who had passed such a long test became real Christians and were ready to die for their convictions.
The role of godparents in the announcement
Over time, when the position of the church was strengthened, the confession of Christ did not threaten with torment and death, the need for lengthy preparation for churching disappeared, and babies began to be baptized. But the liturgical rite of announcement, which came from the ancient church, has remained to this day. Anyone who is going to receive the sacrament of baptism must renounce Satan three times: "Have you renounced Satan?" - "Renounced". Then confirm your faith: "Have you combined with Christ?" - "Combined". Bow to Him and read
Naturally, the baby is not able to do this. The godfather (for the boy) and the godmother (for the girl) vouch for him and do it. They need to be interviewed before being baptized. a child to prepare for the responsible role assigned to them in this ordinance.
Patriarch's order
At the end of the last century and the beginning of this century, the Russian Orthodox Church experienced an influx of adults who wanted to become churched and parents who wanted 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 responsibilities 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 the requirement that an interview be held in the church before baptism. It is intended for both parents and the recipients of their children. They twice come to the public conversation in order to get the necessary knowledge about the upcoming event. Without these conversations, the priest has no right to perform the sacrament.
Catechesis of parents
The catechism is a set of basic rules of the church. If parents bring a child to be baptized not because of their faith, but because everyone does so, then they will be disturbed by the question of what is asked at the interview before baptism. By asking a few questions about how often they go to church, whether they make regular confessions, or whether they approach the sacrament, the priest will enlighten them in basic matters of faith. They will learn about church sacraments, about the obligation to regularly receive communion with their child, and pray for him. The catechist lecturer will tell them that Christ should become the main authority in the family and upbringing. involves the solution of practical issues: date, time of baptism, necessary clothing.
The parents themselves do not participate in the sacrament of baptism and remain mere spectators. But at the last stage of this service, the newly baptized are introduced into the temple. While the priest brings the boy to the altar and puts the girl to the holy icons, his own mother bows down and prays for her child. To be able to participate in the rite of churching, she needs to be clean, so the date of the event must be coordinated with this natural circumstance.
Naming a name
During the pre-baptismal interview with the parents, the name that the baby will take after the ordinance is discussed. This question is especially important if a beautiful name is written in the birth certificate, but not included in the calendar. The parents of Eduards and Stanislavs, Oles and Viktoriy, on the advice of a priest, select in advance an Orthodox name for the child and, together with him, a heavenly patron. This protector and prayer book accompanies a person throughout his life. Usually, the baptized person is given the name of the saint whose memory is celebrated on the day of his baptism.
Previously, the naming of a name took place on the 8th day after birth - the name day was more important than the birthday. The fate of a person was associated with how he was named. Now, unfortunately, many do not know what they are called in the Orthodox way. But man is known to the church by his Christian name. It will be good to give the godson an icon depicting his patron saint, so that she will be his companion throughout his life.
Announcement conversation for godparents
The receiver from the font is a person who takes a newly consecrated baby into his own hands. The main role in this sacrament is assigned to the godparents. The baby's father or mother can be non-church or profess a different faith - this will not prevent their child from becoming a Christian. But the recipients simply have to be religious people. Everything that happens to the infant during the sacrament will happen only according to their faith.
Therefore, the interview of the 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 an assignment for them to complete it for the second lesson.
Requirements for receivers
It is important for the godparent to know if he has an interview before the baptism of the child, what the father asks. And the receiver from the font owes a lot:
- To know, understand and apply in your life the ten commandments of the Old Testament and the seven commandments-beatitudes of Jesus Christ. This is the basis of Christian morality, which he will form in the future godson.
- Regularly participate in divine services, confess and receive communion.
- Know 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 receive communion, in order to accept responsibility for a new soul with a pure soul and God's help.
Who can't be god
- A person who is under church punishment, on whom a penance is imposed, and he is excommunicated from the sacrament, cannot become a receiver from the font.
- Close relatives: parents, brother or sister also have no right to this.
- A husband and wife cannot baptize the same child.
- Monks and those preparing for monasticism are not godparents.
- People with mental disorders do not participate in the sacrament of baptism.
As you can see, a fairly wide range of issues concerns the first interview before baptism with baptismal receivers. In the same lesson, a questionnaire for the child and his godparents is filled out, an assignment 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 font receivers who must work hard. Moreover, it is not the range of material issues that is important in this matter. To buy a baptismal gown, a towel, a cross, a chain, donate money to the church and set the festive table - all this is external vanity. 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 be responsible for himself, and the recipient does not want to be responsible for him. Well, he does not consider these questions important, he does not have time for them!
Therefore, a very important stage in preparation for the upcoming event is the second interview by the priest before the baptism. In addition to testing theoretical knowledge ("The Symbol of Faith", the Gospel, commandments), it necessarily includes confession. This sacrament will reveal the sincerity and authenticity of the faith of those who will be the main figures in future baptism. The unwillingness of the godparents to confess and receive communion testifies to the fact that it is necessary to change them, 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 difficult it is to find a moment when everything is ready in the family, the child is not sick, both receivers 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: the covenant baptism is postponed for another month and a half, until the priest takes the exam and issues a certificate of successful announcement. Any references to being busy and not having time are valid.
If the godparents live in another city, they can pass an interview before the baptism of the child at their place of residence and bring the same certificate of announcement, certified by the signature and seal, on the day of the sacrament.
Perhaps the child will be lucky, and his recipient is really a churched 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 has agreed to take responsibility for the soul of a little Christian, workarounds are excluded: either refuse, or become a church.
The last word remains with the priest
The priest, like no one else, understands the role of godparents in the life of the baby: this is both his introduction into the prayer life, and the reading of the Bible with him. If something happens to the parents, and if the child is left alone, his adopters from the font will adopt him.
It largely depends on the priest conducting the catechesis 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 falls into safe hands, will he give permission for the sacrament. Perhaps both will be right: the ways of the Lord are inscrutable.
Baptism is a great Ecclesiastical Sacrament to a supernatural birth. Not every person clearly understands its meaning, therefore, catechumens are held in the church before baptism.
What is the conversation for?
Currently, by decree of the Patriarch of All Russia Kirill, a compulsory interview in the church before the christening is established in Orthodox churches.
The conversation is conducted with:
- Parents.
- Receivers.
- The most baptized are over 15 years old.
Many visitors to the temples do not understand the meaning of the innovation, because before everything was much simpler.
Conversations are conducted by a catechist, their purpose is to increase the level of conscious readiness to receive the Sacrament of both the baptized themselves and their godparents.
Baptism Sacrament Rules
During the Sacrament, a person is immersed in baptismal water, thereby symbolically dying to a life in sin and resurrected to a new, holy, sinless life. Just as Jesus died on the Cross and was resurrected three days later to a new, glorified life, so the one who is baptized after being immersed three times leaves the font differently.
For those wishing to receive Holy Baptism of adults, the following requirements are mandatory:
- acceptance and fulfillment of the Commandments of God;
- agreement with the dogmas of the Orthodox faith;
- awareness of the need for constant participation in parish life;
- acquiring basic skills in attending worship services;
- knowledge of basic prayers;
- acquaintance with the text of the Gospel.
Before performing Baptism, an adult must necessarily confess, and the next day, take Communion at the Liturgy.
At the Baptism of infants and adolescents (up to 15 years old), at least one godfather is required:
- boys have a man;
- girls have a woman.
Preparatory conversations with godparents
For godparents, the ROC puts forward the same requirements as for those who are baptized. But shortly before the celebration of the Sacrament, they should confess their sins and receive communion.
There are a number of restrictions for receivers:
- they should not be the biological parents of the baptized persons, their siblings and half-sisters;
- it is forbidden to choose monastics as godparents;
- people with mental disabilities are not allowed as receivers.
If the godfather is a permanent parishioner of any of the churches of the Russian Orthodox Church, then it is not necessary for him to go through the announcement. But the very fact of belonging to the Faith of Christ must be confirmed by a document signed by the rector of the church or confessor, with an imprint of the seal of the said church.
Preparatory conversation with parents
Before baptism, the clergyman must discuss the following points with his parents:
- The date and time for the sacrament is appointed.
- What clothes should parents and the person being baptized have for baptism?
- They choose the church name of the one who is baptized.
Responsibilities of the parents:
- there must be believers themselves;
- attend the service;
- take communion.
Responsibilities of parents after the baptism of a child:
- Attend worship services.
- Lead to communion.
- To live by ourselves and to bring up a child according to Orthodox canons.
An example of a public conversation
In the Orthodox Church, it is customary to baptize children according to the religion of their parents. The latter bring an obligation before God to teach children the faith, educate them in the spirit of Orthodoxy.
Baptism is the very first sacrament that was established for entry into the Church.
Pre-baptismal interviews, pre-baptismal interviews
In this Sacrament, the believer dies to the worldly life of the flesh and is born into a spiritual life. An important turning point is taking place in human life for the sake of salvation into eternal life.
And what is salvation for us?
All people descended from Adam, who sinned against God. Therefore, all people are sinful from birth, spiritual life is alien to them.
And in Baptism a person:
- dies;
- renounces passions and sins;
- resurrects in a new life leading to eternity;
- cleansed from original sin.
The Creator gave Adam and Eve a commandment to establish the soul in obedience, but they violated it and departed from Him. Then they ate the forbidden fruit and they were overtaken by the feeling of the loss of the Grace of God. Their descendants became slaves of passions, and the devil subjugated them to himself. For the sake of union with the Heavenly Father, we accept Baptism.
Spiritual ties arise between him and the newly-baptized, no less strong than blood ties.
The Sacrament of Baptism introduces a person into the Church, and now you can raise prayers for him to Heaven and partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. The Lord gives the newly baptized Guardian Angel, who will:
- protect a person;
- pray for him;
- after death will help his soul to ascend to Heaven to its Creator.
Being godparents is a great responsibility for a newborn member of the Church.
Once I was present at a baptism, where the priest decided right before the sacrament to test the competence of the godparents and some adult baptists. Usually Communion takes place after the morning liturgy, in different churches the days and times of services differ. After the Sacrament of Baptism, it is imperative to give the Holy Communion to the child. Girls are not brought into the altar, their churching ends at the Royal Doors. The priest concludes the churching with prayer and dismissal with the cross.
Who was Jesus, how does Christianity differ from other faiths .. etc. in this spirit .. we had six baptisms at once .. It is not necessary to stand a service with a child, they give the babies communion without a queue and only with wine (by the blood of Christ). The priest takes the child in his arms in the narthex of the temple and marks the cross with them at the entrance to the temple, in the middle of the church and on the pulpit at the Royal Doors, saying the words: "The servant of God is churchgoing."
Both are allowed by the Church: when to read the mother's prayer is the decision of the priest.
The main part of the ceremony takes place in the baptismal room, and only at the end the priest takes the baby to the church for the Churching, in order to carry the boy through the altar, and bring the girl to the royal doors.
In some churches there is a baptismal or baptistery - a separate room specially designated for the sacrament of Baptism.
At the end of the ceremony, the priest held a conversation with the godfathers, our godfathers were shocked, but they liked it. The child should be given Communion regularly, preferably at least once a week. Sometimes the first Communion is celebrated on the same day, but more often the priest asks to come the next day or in a week. For male and female infants, the rite of churching is slightly different. The godparents should answer: - I am combined.
Since the child cannot grasp the essence of the questions, his godparents take vows for him.
And, turning to the godfathers, he asks questions three times, which also need to be consciously answered three times.
What questions before baptism are dealt with the priest?
Of course not. Therefore, during public talks, we will talk about the main thing - about Christ the Savior himself. First, the priest asks: - Do you renounce Satan, and all his works, and all his service, and all his pride? The godparents should answer: - I deny it. Amen ”, the Holy Spirit invisibly descends on a person and gives spiritual gifts - the gift of prayer, repentance, forgiveness, love, understanding of the Holy Scriptures, etc. And this is the same Peter who only recently denied Christ for fear of being arrested.
The priest will explain who God is, what spirit and faith are, and will tell you the basic rules and requirements for parishioners. The white baptismal robe serves as a sign of the purity of the soul and reminds the baptized that he must maintain this purity in the future, and the cross serves as a sign of his faith in the Lord. Then they read the Creed prayer, which should be memorized. It is inconvenient to come to such a significant event empty-handed.
This is indeed the birth of a new person - a Christian.
They are sown like seeds in the ground, and it depends on the person himself how he will take care of these gifts.
Water is a very ancient symbol of purification.
To whom you forgive sins, they will be forgiven; on whom you leave them, they will remain with them, ”He told them. And the apostles could pass on this gift through the laying on of hands to other worthy Christians.
Christ baptized everyone without any conditions - and now a person goes to church, and you have to do this to him and this, and only then will we accept you! From the heart. In fact, they try not to appoint baptisms only on Holy Week due to the importance of church services. If we are talking about the life and death of a child, then here all restrictions are removed at all. The question often arises whether it is possible to baptize a child in fasting. Yes, you can. And the opposite opinion is nothing more than a delusion.
Announcement conversations before baptism: what you need to know before the christening of a child - information for parents and godparents, answers to questions about baptism in the article!
I'll start in order from the very beginning. The first thing I ask a person who has expressed a desire to be baptized is whether he has read it. The answers to this seemingly very simple question are different. Most of the answers are monosyllabic: i.e. "Yes or no". With this, everything is clear. A person who consciously decides to be baptized and showed zeal in his desire, of course, has read, if not the entire Bible, then at least the Gospel. Such a person will have enough questions and it will be much easier to tell him about Christ and the Church. Conversations in such cases are quite effective. But if a person reads the Gospel in parallel with attending public talks, then this is very good, because in the process of reading the Holy Scriptures, he has many questions that require detailed explanation. For me personally, the more a person asks questions, the better. This gives me some idea of the level of human knowledge in the field of Christian doctrine. In addition, by asking questions, you can understand what is most interesting to a person at the moment. After all, the answer to the question posed by him will be for the questioner a kind of personal achievement in the knowledge of the Christian faith. I know from experience that a conversation in which there are answers to the questions asked by the listener is much more productive than an abstract story of a priest on practically the same topic.
The situation is somewhat different with people who did not read the Holy Scriptures before the conversation with the priest. It is difficult for them to explain certain dogmatic provisions of the Orthodox faith. As a rule, such "interlocutors" are mostly silent, with difficulty trying to digest what the priest said. A great achievement in a conversation with such listeners is any question asked on the topic of the conversation. Although, it happens quite the opposite. I remember a young man who came for a conversation with his fiancée. He did not read the Gospel, he also did not have any special knowledge in the Christian doctrine. The girl, unlike him, had some idea of the Orthodox Church and its dogmas. For two hours I told this couple about Christ, about His atoning sacrifice, about the Church and its sacraments. For two hours, the young man cleverly nodded his head at my words. I was even delighted and at the end of my story asked if they had any questions on the topic. And I heard: "Tell me, is it true that the Templars were warlocks and for this they were burned at the stake?" Needless to say, in my story I did not in any way touch upon this Catholic order of knights and its history.
There is another small category of people attending public talks. These people draw "knowledge" about God from any sources, except for the Holy Scriptures and Orthodox literature. A person who knows about the life and preaching of the Savior from tabloid newspapers and magazines, or, even worse, atheistic books, has a wrong idea of the doctrine of the Orthodox Church. Such people have a very vague concept of the Holy Trinity, they often confuse the concepts of God that are present in various religions, attribute to Christ qualities that are alien to Him as a God-man. Sometimes even frankly occult concepts are mixed with this confused knowledge. As a result, we get some kind of explosive porridge, made up of completely contradictory concepts, and which, by the way, does not stand up to criticism.
We also have to meet people who believe in the Higher Reason - an indefinite abstract substance that rules the universe and periodically reveals its secrets to humanity. I also met people who piously believe that the world is ruled by extraterrestrial beings - aliens, such green men from the neighboring galaxy, who are much smarter than all of humanity put together. Well, and they have humanity like guinea pigs. True, at first it was completely incomprehensible to me the desire of people who believe in such nonsense to accept the sacrament of Baptism. It turned out that God is at the head of this "green Martian brotherhood". And my offer to read the Gospel and the Law of God once was followed by: “And for what it is needed, I already know what it says there. And in general, they used to baptize without any Gospels, and nothing. " After long and vain attempts to explain that God has nothing to do with the Martians, moreover, from the point of view of Orthodoxy, these very green men are demons and their intrigues, and Christ is the incarnate Son of God, I had to deny this person Baptism. In general, this category of people is the most difficult to work with. The conversation does not go well from the very beginning, tk. these people demand to be accepted into the bosom of the Church as they are with all their errors. Moreover, they often try to impose their opinion, to make adjustments to the "wrong Christianity", motivating their conjectures by the need to revise the dogmas of the Orthodox Church in the light of various pseudoscientific studies, sectarian delusions and a perverted concept of God. It is not possible to accept them into the bosom of the Orthodox Church due to their unwillingness to part with their convictions.
There is another category of people who come to be baptized because of various pagan and occult beliefs. For example, there is a very widespread magical belief that he too will be baptized, then all damage "will be removed as if by hand." Often, such "knowledge" is obtained from other figures in the occult sciences or from occult books. We have to explain that visiting occultists is turning to the devil, which is undoubtedly a grave sin. There is no way to combine life in Christ and serving the devil. Some of these people, after detailed explanations, repent of their deeds and subsequently quite consciously accept the sacrament of Baptism. Most of those who came just leave after talking with the priest, preferring to reflect on their desire to be baptized. The rest remains unconvinced, placing the opinion of the occultists above the authority of the Church.
One day I had to face a young woman who wanted to be baptized at all costs in order to get rid of the damage allegedly imposed on her. At first I began to explain the consequences of her visiting occultists and being rooted in their delusions. It had absolutely no effect. Moreover, the woman began to reproach me for not wanting to help her get rid of the damage. Then persuasions and entreaties were used, it came to offering a certain amount of money in exchange for admission to baptism. Of course, I refused her, no longer trying to explain something. As a result, the woman left with nothing. Well, she made her conscious choice.
Such different people come to be baptized. Conversations with them also have to be conducted in different ways. It is enough to talk to someone once and understand that a person has a sufficient stock of knowledge and firm faith in God to receive the sacrament of Baptism. With others, you have to conduct more than one conversation until you convey to them the basics of the Orthodox faith. There were a couple of people who came to me for several months. But now I constantly see these people in the temple.
Unfortunately, there are those who simply attended the conversations, taking little of them for themselves. What can you do, all people are different. But most of all I remember one incident. One day a young man approached me, who for a month diligently attended all the conversations, while reading the Bible at the same time. He was very active in asking questions about what he had read. The day before he finished reading the Holy Scriptures, about which he joyfully reported almost immediately, as soon as I entered the classroom. When, after the conversation, I was about to leave, he stopped me, clearly trying to say something very important. I stopped to listen to him. The guy was beaming with joy, and I was curious to know what such a joyful event happened to him. Here's what he said to me: “Father, yesterday I finished reading the Bible, I read everything from cover to cover. Now I know for sure that Christ is God who came to save the world from sin, and I believe in Him with all my heart. " All that remained was to be glad for this young man. Obviously, my efforts were not in vain. Probably the best reward for a priest is that the person to whom he told about Christ believed in Him with all his heart. Thank God for everything!