Orthodox believers know about the seven Christian sacraments, one of which is baptism. The teaching says that every Orthodox Christian needs to be baptized in order to save his soul and gain the Kingdom of Heaven after physical death. God's grace descends on those who are baptized, but there are also difficulties - everyone who accepts the ceremony becomes a soldier of God's army, the forces of evil fall on him. To avoid misfortunes, you need to wear a pectoral cross.

The day of baptism is very important for the believer - it is, as it were, the day of his second birth. This event must be approached with all responsibility. Let's talk about what the baby needs to perform the sacrament, what to buy and take with him, what the godparents should do, how to celebrate this holiday at home.If part of the organization of the ceremony is taken over by the receivers (godparents), it will be right. Preparation for the holiday is carried out by all its participants, especially the family of the baby.

It is believed that wearing a pectoral cross protects a person from the forces of evil, and also strengthens his spirit and directs him to true path. Appearance or the cost of the material of the cross does not matter at all - if only the cross was precisely Orthodox, and not pagan

When is the best time to baptize a baby?

According to custom, the baby is baptized on the 8th or 40th day after birth. There are circumstances that can affect the term of baptism infant: if the baby is sick, the disease poses a threat to life, you can christen him earlier. Orthodoxy says that after christening a person has a guardian angel, who is always behind his right shoulder. He will protect the baby and can save him. It is believed that the more prayers are addressed to the angel, the stronger he will be.

Some people prefer to wait until the little man grows up and becomes stronger. The other side of the coin is that while the child is nursing, he sleeps in the arms of the godmother and calmly endures the sacrament. The older he gets, the more difficult it is for him to stand quietly in the service. At 2 years old, the baby spins, wants to run, go out into the street. This creates difficulties for the priest and godparents, because the action can last more than an hour. To bathe in a font is also easier for a nursing baby.

The first thing that mom and dad do before the sacrament is to choose a spiritual name for the baby. In our country, a tradition has developed to call a baby in the world by the wrong name that is given to him when he is baptized in the church - this is a custom justified in Orthodoxy, since it is believed that only a mother and father, a priest and successors can know the church name.

Then the little man will be more protected from the hardships of life. In the church, you can agree that the baby is named after the saint, on the day of which the baby's date of birth fell.

Recommendations for preparing for the baptism of a small child

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This article tells about typical ways of solving your questions, but each case is unique! If you want to know how to solve your particular problem - ask your question. It's fast and free!

How to organize a christening of a child? It is necessary to visit the temple in which the procedure will take place. In the church shop, you can ask your questions. The church attendant in the shop will invite you to read the baptismal brochure, which describes all the rules. The date of birth of your baby will be written down, they will also ask the desired church name of the baby, the names of his godparents. For the ceremony, a voluntary payment is made in the form of a donation, which goes to the needs of the temple. How much should you pay? The amount of donation may vary from church to church.

Before the sacrament of baptism, the godparents must be sent for an interview with the priest. If the baby's mom and dad come with them and take part in the conversation, this will only be a plus. The priest will tell you how the baptism of a young child is performed, what you need to take with you. He will certainly ask during the conversation whether the mother and father and the child's recipients have been baptized. If not, then the unbaptized should be baptized prior to the sacrament of the infant. During the conversation, the priest will give recommendations to the family of the baby, appoint a day and time when the baptism of the child will take place. On this day, you should come in advance in order to have time to orient yourself in the situation, to prepare. Many parents invite a photographer to the christening of their child, take photos and videos. You need to know that in order to record videos and photographs, you need to ask permission and blessings from the priest.

The priest will be able to tell more about the sacrament and instruct the godparents, with whom a preliminary conversation is required. The parents of the baby can also come to it.

Who should be chosen as godparents?

Usually people of the same sex with the baby become godparents: for girls - a woman, for boys - a man. You can also invite two godparents of different genders. Then the baby will have a spiritual father and mother.

The question of who is worthy to become your baby's godfather is very important. The godparents become the second parents of the baby. Think about who treats the little man better, who is ready to bear responsibility for him, to give him a spiritual example, to pray for him? Most often, relatives and friends of the family become the recipients.

It is best if a person who is deeply religious, who knows and observes church traditions and laws, becomes a godfather. This person should often visit your home, since he is responsible for the upbringing of the little man, first of all - spiritual. He will be with your baby all his life.

You can choose as a godfather the sister or brother of mom and dad, a close friend or family friend, grandmother or grandfather of the baby.

The recipients must be baptized themselves - this must be done in advance. Parents need to understand that the issue of choosing godparents must be taken very seriously.

Who Can't Become a Godfather?

The laws of baptism in the Orthodox Church are such that they cannot become godparents:

1. atheists or gentiles;
2. monks and nuns;
3. mentally ill people;
4. children under 15 years old;
5. drug addicts and alcoholics;
6. promiscuous women and men;
7. spouses or sexually close people;
8. the parents of the baby.

Brother and sister cannot be godparents to each other. If you are baptizing twins, you must not do it on the same day. The twins' godparents may well be the same.

If twins are growing up in the family, then they need to be baptized in different days, but one more pair of godparents is not needed for this - it is enough to find two reliable and pious people

Memo for godparents

• Appearance. The recipients of the baby should come to church with their pectoral crosses around their necks. If it is a woman, she puts on a skirt below the knee and a jacket with sleeves at the temple. A headdress is required for the godmother. The rules of being in church also apply to the clothes of a man: you cannot expose your knees and shoulders, that is, even in hot weather you will have to give up shorts with a T-shirt. The man is in the temple with his head uncovered.
• Shopping and payment. It is often asked who should buy a cross for the baptism of a child? Who pays for the procedure? There is a certain procedure for the baptism of a newborn child and preparation for it.
  1. He assumes that the godfather buys a cross for the godson, and also pays for the baptism. The godmother buys a cross for her goddaughter. It is best to choose a cross made of regular metal or silver. It is not customary to use a golden cross at the ceremony. When choosing a cross, pay attention to the fact that he cannot injure the baby, let the cross have oval edges.
  2. In addition to the cross of the godmother, you must buy a towel, a baptismal shirt and a sheet in advance. She buys a kryzhma - the fabric in which the baby is baptized. Caring mothers keep materia for many years, as it helps to heal the child from illness. The sick little man is wrapped in a kryzhma, and he will begin to recover. It should be stored in a place hidden from prying eyes, since it is believed that through it it is possible to damage the baby.
• Training. People appointed by spiritual parents are obliged to prepare themselves for the baptism of a small child. The preparation includes a strict fast, starting a few days before the event, refusal of entertainment and pleasures. On the eve, it is not bad to take the sacrament in the church, before which to go through confession. You must take your baby's birth certificate with you to church. You can watch the video from the baptism in advance in order to roughly understand the sequence of events.
• Prayer. Recipients are required to learn the Creed prayer. This prayer is read three times by the priest during the sacrament of the baptism of the child; she may be asked to recite the godfather by heart.

The nuances of christening

• The little man can be christened on any day of the week - on holidays and weekdays, on fasting and on a regular day, but most often christenings take place on Saturday.
• The receivers are supposed to pick up the baby from the parents in advance and go with him to church on the appointed day and time. The parents follow them. There is a sign that the godfather should chew a clove of garlic and breathe in the baby's face. In this way, evil forces are driven away from the baby.
• Only the closest people are present at the ceremony in the temple - the parents of a boy or girl who receive the sacrament, maybe grandparents. The rest can come to the house of the baptized person after the ceremony and celebrate this event at the festive table.
• Infant baptism does not always take place in the church itself. Sometimes the priest conducts the ceremony in a specially designated room.
• If necessary, parents can arrange a ceremony at home or in the hospital. To do this, you need to agree with the priest and pay all his expenses for organizing the sacrament.
• The priest reads prayers and anoints the newborn. Then he cuts off a lock of hair from his head, as if making a sacrifice to God. Then the baby is lowered into the baptismal font three times, the priest says: "Here is the cross, my daughter (my son), carry it." Together with the priest, the godfather (s) says: "Amen."
• The child's parents also come to church, observing Orthodox customs. They dress as is customary in the temple. During the ceremony, the mother can pray for her child. Such prayers will surely be answered.
• In the evening for the holiday, relatives and friends come with gifts. Their choice depends on wealth and imagination: toys or clothes, baby care items or an icon of the saint - the patron saint of the baby.

Traditionally, baptism takes place on the premises of the temple, however, in some circumstances, parents may ask for an exit ceremony - for example, at home or in the delivery room

Features of christening boys and girls

The christening of a girl and a boy differs little. During the ceremony, the godmother carries a male toddler at the altar, but the godmother does not carry a female child there. The christening of a newborn girl presupposes the presence of a headdress, that is, a headscarf is put on her. When a little boy is christened, he is in the temple without a headdress.

If both godparents participate in the ceremony, then first the godmother holds the boy's child, and after bathing in the font, the godfather takes him in his arms and carries him at the altar. Only the godmother holds the girl in her arms. This is the main difference in the ritual for children of the opposite sex.

If the order of the baptism of a small child is observed, the blood and spiritual parents of the child will prepare for the christening, the child will grow up healthy and cheerful. When he grows up, he will become a highly spiritual person, striving for a righteous life.

Clinical and perinatal psychologist, graduated from the Moscow Institute of Perinatal Psychology and Psychology of the Reproductive Sphere and the Volgograd State Medical University clinical psychologist

Most modern parents want to baptize their baby, and do it as early as possible. Baptism is one of the most important events for Orthodox Christians. The Church says that a child is born already sinful, so he needs cleansing so that God and his guardian angel take him under their protection and care. The baptized baby acquires a church name, which he must carry through his whole life. He becomes more calm, obedient, gets sick less.

When can a child be baptized?

There is no exact age and specific dates when the child should be baptized, but it is believed that it is better to do this after forty days from the date of his birth. This is due to the fact that a woman has not yet cleansed herself after childbirth until forty days, and her presence during the ceremony is necessary for both the baby and his mother. Given the physiology of the child, it is recommended to baptize him at the age of 3 months to six months. He will not be capricious, calmly endure the sacrament.

They used to believe:

According to old beliefs, a baby should not be shown to strangers before baptism.

How to prepare for your baby's baptism?

You should visit the Icon Shop in advance, where they will give detailed information about the procedure for the ceremony, and take the data of the child, godparents.

Currently, many significant events are trying to capture on camera. If you intend to do this, you must receive the blessing of the priest.

Organization of the rite of baptism of the child. Godparents mom and dad

• New white clothes are put on the baby, the girls in mandatory you need to cover your head with a cap or scarf. During the ceremony, it is not forbidden to drink and feed the child.
• It is recommended to choose close people and relatives as godmothers and fathers. When choosing, you cannot be guided by their financial situation. Only the moral qualities of these people and their faith in the Almighty should play a role. They will become second parents for the child. Godparents (receivers) must be baptized people who are at least 12 years old. If a person is asked to baptize a child, he has no right to refuse. Recipients take responsibility for the baby before the Lord. Godfathers should pray for him, ask the Lord for health for him, not only on the day of the ceremony, but all his life. Frequent visiting of the godson and giving him gifts - also becomes their duty.
• Recipients cannot be husband and wife, lovers, strangers, women during menstruation. A pregnant woman also cannot be invited to be godmothers.
• A cross (silver recommended) for the baby must be purchased by the godfather. He also pays for the ceremony. The duties of the godmother include buying towels and undershirts, which must be stored after the ceremony, without washing. If the child gets sick, they cover the baby with them.
• Without faith, you cannot baptize a baby. This applies not only to the recipients, but also to the parents.
• It is desirable that the day of the sacrament does not coincide with strict fasting, important church holidays.
• Only those closest to you should be present at christenings. Women's clothing should be strict - a skirt or dress below the knee, the head should be covered with a headdress. Men wear formal suits. Clothing may be dark, but not black.
• The name for the baptism of a baby can be left mundane, if it is also Orthodox. The name for the baptism is usually the one that pleases the parents. You can choose a patron for the baby, and name the child in honor of him. Often they choose another option - they baptize under the name of the Saint, whose day falls on the date of the ceremony.

How does the baby baptism ceremony take place?

• The duration of the ceremony is approximately 1.5 hours.
• The child, wrapped in a towel, is carried into the church by the recipients - the boy is held by the godmother, and the girl is held by the godfather.
• The ceremony begins with the pronunciation of the baptismal vows of the godparents. Instead of the kid, they answer the father's questions.
• After the recipients say the prayer ("The Symbol of Faith"), he lowers the child three times into holy water. The ceremony is accompanied by prayer.

Prayer "Symbol of Faith":

I believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth, of everything visible and invisible. And in the one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only Begotten, born of the Father before all ages: Light from the Light, true God from true God, born, not created, one being with the Father, by Him all was created. For the sake of us people and for the sake of our salvation descended from heaven, and took flesh from the Holy Spirit and Mary the Virgin, and became a man. Crucified for us under the Pontic Pilate, and suffered, and was buried. And rose again on the third day, according to the Scriptures. And ascended into heaven, and sits on the right side of the Father. And again coming in glory to judge the living and the dead, His Kingdom will have no end. And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, who gives life, proceeding from the Father, adored with the Father and the Son, and glorified, speaking through vices. In one, holy, catholic and apostolic church... I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins. I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the century to come. Amen

• Then the priest applies myrrh to the baby's body, depicting a cross.
• Then they change the baby into a shirt, put on a cross. Girls wear a cap. It is believed that if the youngest child is baptized in the clothes in which his brother or sister was baptized, they will always be friendly.
• As a token of gratitude to God for new life the child's hair is cut crosswise.
• The final stage is the rite of churching. Girls are brought to the image of the Mother of God, and boys are carried to the altar.
• This concludes the church ceremony.

Beliefs and signs associated with the baptism of a baby

Baptismal water can only be poured under a tree, and, in no case, into the sewer.

If a child cries during the ceremony, then it will be happy.

The first glass during the celebration of the christening of the baby should be thrown into the ceiling. Then the child will grow up tall and healthy.

The ringing of church bells before the ceremony is a messenger of happiness for the child.

The wedding of a young couple before the christening is a good omen. But the funeral service for the deceased is bad.

You cannot bring a baby to someone else's house before christening.

The name given to a child at baptism should not be known to outsiders.

Receivers must stand the ceremony without sitting down.

You cannot change the date assigned for the ceremony.

It is advisable to baptize only one baby per day.

On the day of the ceremony, you can not do any business.

On the way to church, they do not speak out loud about where they are going or where they are going. Even if everyone around you knows about the upcoming event, no one should voice it.

A woman's first godson should be a boy, men a girl. Otherwise, their personal life will not be arranged.

Relatives and loved ones who remain at home should not open the door to anyone until the baptized child returns home with his parents.

To fall in the rain on the day when the ceremony is performed is to great joy.

Cannot be served near the baptismal.

At the end of the ceremony, you need to go home, without going anywhere or stopping by, even if the event will not be celebrated at home.

If the father chose a name for the child, you cannot argue with him and demand to change it.

The holy water should dry itself on the baby's face, you do not need to wipe it off.

Celebrating the baptism of a child

It is customary to celebrate the christening of a child in the house where he lives. Many modern parents prefer to celebrate an event in a restaurant or cafe. In this case, you need to order a separate banquet hall, where it will be possible to give the child sleep, rest, because this is his holiday, and he must be present at it.

Wherever a holiday is celebrated, the room should be decorated in white colors with golden elements. These colors symbolize purification, warmth, light. The room can be decorated with a poster with a painted sun with a photo of the hero of the occasion pasted into the center. On it you can depict angels, church domes, doves. The background of the poster must be white, and most of it must remain clean. During the celebration, guests will be able to take a marker and write their wishes for the baby on it.

Close people are invited to the holiday, and there must be a cheesecake (if a boy was baptized) or a casserole (if a girl was baptized) on the table as treats. Inalienable dishes for such a table are cereals, flour dishes (except for pancakes), as well as poultry meat. You cannot eat pork dishes at the festive table on the day of christening.

According to tradition, the mother of the baby should surprise the guests with a dish prepared with her own hands, unknown (perhaps according to an old family recipe, or according to a popular recipe, but modified or supplemented by the hostess).

For a child to be rich, godparents must taste all the dishes that are served on the table.

In the old days, a special porridge was prepared for the child's father - bitter, very salty, spicy. In a modern celebration, such a tradition would be quite appropriate.

If children are present at the party, they need to be served sweet treats. Christenings have long been considered a children's holiday, therefore, the more children are present during the feast, the better. For entertainment, they can be provided with coloring pages, preferably on a biblical theme. When the children leave, you need to give them some sweets with you so that they remember the baby's baptism.

Both children and adults can be presented with sweet surprises in baptismal bonbonnieres. This tradition is modern, but it is always a pleasure for guests to receive such gifts. They should be made in the appropriate style - with the image of angels, crosses, in soft colors.

Drinking alcohol during the celebration is permitted by the church, but only in very limited quantities. It is desirable that it be church wine. Particular attention should be paid to prayer. Guests, together with parents and supporters, should pray for the child and his health.

You can say a prayer so that the child is healthy

Prayer for baby's health:

O Most Merciful God, Father, Son and Holy Soul, worshiped and glorified in the Inseparable Trinity, look upon the blessed one on Thy servant (s) (name of the child) to the sickness of the possessed one; release to him (her) all his (her) sins; give him (her) healing from the disease; return to him (her) health and bodily strength; Give him (her) a long-lived and prosperous life, Thy peace and great blessings, so that he (she), together with us, bring (a) grateful prayers to Thee, the All-Bounteous God and my Creator. Most Holy Theotokos, with Thy omnipotent intercession, help me to pray to Thy Son, my God, for the healing of the servant (s) of God (name). All saints and Angels of the Lord, pray to God for His sick (sick) servant (name). Amen

Music during the celebration should not sound too loud.

Godparents should be the last to leave the holiday.

How to celebrate christening at home? Christening contests and entertainment

1. You need to prepare in advance a box with a small hole at the top, markers, sheets of paper. The guests are given markers and paper, it is proposed to write the wishes for the child on it, and put them in the box. The baby will have to open it when he grows up.
2. A large white sheet of paper and a marker are prepared in advance. The guests are told that the baptized child is a white, blank sheet of paper. They take turns inscribing on it the qualities that the baby should have. This leaf is also preserved for many years.
3. The godparents are given an exam on the knowledge of fairy tales. They gather on command and arrange competitions. The team that remembers more fairy tales wins.
4. Without disbanding the assembled teams, you can arrange for them to compete in solving riddles. Basically, these are children's riddles or related to the upbringing and development of children.
5. Teams in the same roster (rosters can be changed if desired). Toys are scattered around the room, the teams race to collect them.

During the celebration, godparents can be solemnly presented with memos about their new responsibilities - to visit the godson (goddaughter) more often, remember to give him gifts, always be ready to help him, be friends with his parents.

In contact with

After the birth of a child, parents think about christening. It is clear that it is necessary to prepare for this ceremony in advance, since there are many nuances. You can find out about everything from friends who have already baptized their child or from a priest in church. And we will try to be useful to you and provide you with the necessary information on how to baptize a child correctly, when it is best to do it and what needs to be prepared for this ritual.

Why baptize a child?

Baptism is one of the important events in the life of an Orthodox person. The fact is that thanks to this sacrament, there is an adherence to the faith of Christ, a connection is established between man and God. In addition, baptism means cleansing from original sin. During the ceremony, the child is given the Christian name of one of the saints. So the baptized one has a guardian angel who will protect from invisible dark forces and guide him to the true path.

What time is the child baptized?

"Can a child be baptized immediately after birth?" - this question very often worries young parents. According to church canons, baptism can be carried out on the 8th day from birth, if the child is weak and very sick. But the mother will not be able to attend because she is considered "unclean." After 40 days from the mother's birthday, a special cleansing prayer is read - the Fortieth Day Prayer. Only then can mom attend an important ceremony. But if the newborn is weak or sickly, baptism is carried out in the first days after birth.

What days are they baptized? Can a child be baptized while fasting?

Baptism can be performed on any day - regular, fast, or festive.

Sometimes it is necessary to decide where to baptize a child. Your choice can fall on any church, but if you are a parishioner of a particular temple, baptize your baby in it. Occasionally, baptisms take place at home - if the child is seriously ill.

How to choose godparents?

These should not be casual and unfamiliar people, because the godparents will become the spiritual mentors of your child and will take an active part in his life, since they will give the godson a promise to lead a Christian lifestyle. Please note that future godparents must be baptized themselves, not engaged to each other or not married.

Sometimes parents do not find worthy "candidates" for godparents and are interested in whether it is possible to baptize without godparents. Unfortunately, this is impossible, since the baby does not have his own faith, and it is the godparents who are his recipient. One godfather will be enough: the godmother for the girl and godfather for boy.

What to prepare for christening?

Candles and a towel can be purchased in advance or in a church shop. It is important to consider in what clothes the child will be baptized. God-parents... It should be a new bonnet and white shirt. It can be decorated with lace or embroidery. A pectoral cross, a chain and an icon are traditionally given by godparents.

Rite

At the beginning of the ceremony, the godparents renounce three times for the child from Satan and all his deeds, then three times confirm the desire to unite with Christ. Then the godfathers recite the Symbol of Faith prayer. After lighting the water in the font, the priest will anoint the baby with oil (ears, forehead, chest, hands, feet). The child is undressed and brought to the font. The priest will dip the child in the font three times or sprinkle it with holy water. After this, the child is given to the receiver, who receives him with a towel in his hands (the girl is the godmother, the boy is the godfather). A baptismal shirt and a cross are put on the baby, and chrismation is performed. Then the baptized child and his godparents walk around the baptismal font three times. Next, the priest washes the ointment and cuts off the hair of the baptized child and gives him communion. The boy is carried into the altar. Children of both sexes are put on the icons of the Savior and the Mother of God. The clothes in which the child was baptized are preserved, since they can serve as protection during illness.

Everyone now knows that in the big religious holiday Baptism of the Lord is customary to dive into the ice-hole for souls and bodies. We are told about this in the press, shown on TV.

But the traditions don't end there. There are rituals for Baptism at home. They are not for show, but for the soul, so to speak.

Why Baptism

Of course, there is nothing wrong with mass bathing. But this is not suitable for everyone. And not everyone wants to share the sacrament of communication with the Almighty with outsiders. Agree, this is a kind of intimate moment.

It is necessary to advise those readers who are not particularly keen on folk traditions: Baptism is a special day.

At midnight, the heavens open above the earth, and the Lord's purest energy covers the earth.

Believe it or not, it doesn't matter! This phenomenon does not depend on your ideas.

These streams permeate everything around, filling space, people, water, plants and earth with life-giving power. It is a sin not to take advantage of this grace.

At least once try to let this stream into your destiny. And there is no need to prove its existence.

Anyone who has felt it turns into a supporter. This person necessarily conducts at least one ceremony for Baptism at home.

It is also worth noting: it is advisable to prepare for this time. After all, light does not penetrate into the cluttered space. Therefore, your energy should not be entirely, let's say, black.

Fast, so that the body is freed from the captivity of voluptuousness. But the main thing is to watch your emotions.

Try to spend the entire Christmas period in a good mood.

Do not succumb to the provocations of evil aggressors. And they, by the way, are fierce at this particular time. They probably feel that they will soon have a hard time.

Be warned, it is long. Therefore, you will have to call home for help. Let some of them pour holy water over the rooms, the second reads a prayer.

It is necessary to go around the house three times in the morning.

And also light candles in all rooms. Let the evil spirits drive out. In this case, the bells are not only recommended, but obligatory.

Include their ringing as much as your busyness and other business allows. And if guests come, make sure to make the sound of the bells a highlight of the cultural program.

The desire to christen your child the Orthodox Church is welcome in any case. But today we all often lack knowledge about church rites in general and about the rite of baptism in particular.

Rather, having decided to baptize a newborn, we adhere to family traditions, not fully realizing the importance of this rite, that it is the second birth of a baby, spiritual: his rapprochement with God Himself, who from now on will guide the fate of our son or daughter ... Hence, there are many questions to the clergy that arise from almost all parents. And one of them is not unimportant - is it possible to baptize a child not in a church, but at home?

Can a child be baptized at home?

V Orthodox Church there are no special canons prohibiting baptism at home. And in past centuries, especially in rural areas, much more often than now, the ceremony took place at home. And there were reasons for this. We know that peasant families were almost everywhere with many children, and babies were often born one after another. The mother's body did not have time to recover after childbirth and younger children were born much weaker than their older brothers and sisters. Some of them were simply not viable or were born prematurely. In such cases, when the road to the temple could turn into a deterioration or death for the baby, the priest was called to the house.

Baptism in a hospital or maternity hospital

It is since then that the condition for baptism outside the church has remained in our church, under which priests baptize at home or in a hospital premature babies born with pathology or sick and significantly weakened babies. The ceremony is performed without immersion in water, which is replaced by sprinkling the crumbs with holy water.

The second moment when baptism at home is permissible is the absence of conditions for baptism in a temple or a temple located very far from the place where the family lives. Of course, the organization of both the arrival and the departure of the priest in such a situation is undertaken by the parents or godparents. Of course, in this case too, due to the lack of a baptismal font, immersion is replaced by sprinkling.

Baptism of boys outside the temple

It should be noted that although baptism at home is permissible, the clergy strongly recommend that everything be done to ensure that it is carried out in the temple. Especially if it comes about a boy: boys, unlike girls, are also carried around the altar three times during the ceremony, and only in this case we can talk about full compliance with all the conditions for the baptism of an infant.

Baptism, where there are no Orthodox churches

The question of baptizing an infant at home is very closely related to the question of what to do if the family of a newborn lives in a place where there are no Orthodox churches at all? For example, abroad? And is it possible in this case to baptize the crumb ourselves?

It's good if the family has a grandmother who knows the main prayers and is able to read them over water, which she will then sprinkle on the baby's head, having read at least the main ones again. Orthodox prayers: "Symbol of Faith", "Our Father" and "Theotokos, Virgin, rejoice." If this is not possible, this function should be taken over by an older family member or an outsider. The necessary prayers can always be found on the Internet and be sure to memorize them. But in any case, if the family ends up in a place where there are no Orthodox churches (there are such cities, for example, in the USA, Mexico, North Africa etc.), later, even after years, the rite of baptism must be supplemented by a clergyman in accordance with church canons.

We are talking specifically about its addition, and not about a second baptism, which cannot be carried out. And for this, parents, future godparents, or, if the person is already an adult, the person being baptized himself needs to meet first with the priest and describe the situation to him in detail. If the family still lives in the far abroad, it is necessary to find out exactly where in this country there are Orthodox churches. In particular, in the same America, they are and most often are located in the suburbs of large cities - for example, in the suburbs of Chicago, where you can go as soon as the baby grows up enough to be able to endure a long journey.

Baptism for the second time is prohibited

And we emphasize again: the second baptism of a person by the church is prohibited. You can be born spiritually - just like physically - only once! Our Creed clearly and clearly says: "I confess one (one) baptism for the remission of sins ...". If you were baptized in infancy and, having become an adult, you want to become a Christian consciously, you just need to remember that you are a baptized person and try to live as the Orthodox Church expects of us.

Svetlana Kostitsyna.