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The
Sacrament of Baptism
(
Click Here to Download the Baptism Form - Petition )
A
person receives it once in his/ her life. Through Baptism the person
is cleaned from the curse of the fore-fathers sin and start a new
spotless spiritual life by becoming a member of the Holy Body of
Christ according to the teachings of the New Testament and Saint
Paul's teachings. "As many you are baptized in Christ you put on
Christ".
The
Sacrament itself has 7 parts and in order to have a Sacrament of
Baptism performed you need an orthodox in faith God Parent. The
God Parent must be Orthodox in faith, because he/ she gives his/
her faith to the new comer to Christian Orthodoxy. The Orthodox
God Father or mother has the right to put oil on all those who are
going to be baptized and those same persons have the right to receive
the newly illumined persons from the Baptismal Fond.
"Forefather
sin: According to Genesis when Adam and Eve disobeyed Gods' Will
they were punished by a curse that all generations from Adam and
Eve to bear that sin of disobedience.
"With
the Baptism of the Son of God Jesus Christ in Jordan River by Saint
John the Baptist that curse was erraced in the face of Jesus Christ
and all those who are going to be Baptized in the Name of the Holy
Trinity.
The
parts of the Baptism are:
- The
exorcism, which takes place at the Narthex. The Narthex is the
outside part of the Church. The God- Parent on behalf of the person
who is going to be baptized, denies Satan and all his works and
joins him/herself with Jesus Christ. The God - Parent recites
the Creed and bows down towards the Church saying: " I accept
Jesus as King and as God." The first part concludes by the priest
the Godparent and the person who is going to be Baptized proceeds
to the front of the Church the part called solea
- The
priest incenses the Baptismal fond and the people all around and
starts the Sacrament of Baptism which has the following parts
- Petitions
- Exorcism
prayers and Blessing Prayers of the Water
- Putting
the oil on the body on the Person who is going to be baptized
- The
Baptism of the Person in the Name of the Holy Trinity
- Another
Sacrament (performed during Baptism) that we receive once in life
is THE SACRAMENT OF
THE HOLY CHRISMATION, which is put in different parts of the
body of the newly illumined person. The priest every time that
makes the sign of the Cross in different parts of the body with
the Holy Chrismation says:" the seal of the Holy Spirit".
- The
cutting of the hair. The priest in the Cross signs cut from 4
parts of the head the hair and puts it in the baptismal fond.
- This
signifies that person offers his highest part of the body to Christ
as member of His Body.
- Then
is the dressing of the first cloths that will touch that new body,
which is out of sins. The priest who says separate prayers for
each item gives the cloths and the gold cross.
- The
person is given to the helpmates to dress him/her. The cloths
have to be white color symbolizing purity and the whiteness of
the Cloths of Jesus Christ when He was transfigured on Mount Tabor.
The Baptism is a Transfiguration for the person who was baptized.
As Saint Paul says:" we take off our old selves, which is bearing
the scars of sins and put on our new selves with the Baptism".
- Hymns
are chanted, the Priest and the Godparent wash their hands in
the baptismal font in order not to have any sign of oil on them.
When every body is ready the God parent holds by hand the newly
illumined person and a large candle and the priest incense them
by going around the Baptismal Fond and singing: " As many are
Baptized in Christ, they put on Christ Alleluia". This also expresses
the joy of the Church and dances that received another member
in her bosom.
After
that the Epistle and the Gospel is read and the priest gives
THE SACRAMENT OF THE HOLY COMMUNION,
to the newly illumined person. This Sacrament is given many
times during the lifetime of the faithful, but for the adults
there are rules of preparation in order to receive Holy Communion.
- After
some prayers and petitions the parents are called at the front
to venerate Jesus Christ's Icon and the right hand of the Godparent
and receive their newly illumined son or daughter. So with a closing
prayer the sacrament concludes.
DIRECTIONS
FOR BAPTISMS
Important: Before finalizing plans with the Reception Hall, please
confirm your Baptism date and hour with the Church.
You
will need the following items to perform the Baptism:
- A
very large white towel
- Two
white hand towels
- One
(1) ivory soap bar
- One
small bottle of pure olive oil
- A
gold cross with chain
- One
(1) white sheet
- White
underwear and an all white suit
- Two
(2) white Easter candles
- One
(1) large white decorated candle
Parents
and Godparents have to be current members of the community. One
of the parties can be a member of another Orthodox Church.
THE
RESPONSIBILITY OF THE GODPARENTS
- The
Godparent must be of Orthodox faith
- The
Godparent should be a member in good standing in the Orthodox
Church
- A
person can not serve as godparent if his/her marriage has not
been blessed in the Orthodox Church or; if civilly divorced, he
or she has not been granted ecclesiastical divorce; or of any
reason he or she is not in communion with the Orthodox Church.
- If
He or She is a member of another community, they must provide
the current membership card and a letter of good standing from
the Pastor of the community from which they belong.
- He
or She should know and be able to recite the "Creed" in English
or in Greek.
- For
two consecutive Sundays, the Godparent has to bring the newly
baptized child to the Church to receive Communion. They should
also bring the candle that should be lit prior to receiving Communion.
- The
parents should not bathe the child for three days following the
Baptism, because the newly illumined has the Holy Chrismation
on him/her, which is the "Seal of the Holy Spirit". It is a custom
to have a vigil light (with oil) lit at the house for these three
days if there is no vigil light already burning at the home's
icon shrine (econostasion).
On the third day, the Godparent goes to their Godchild's home
to bathe the newly illuminated in a basin before sunset and wash
all the items that the body of the child touched. The water is
kept in a bucket. Then again with very warm, hot water this time,
in the basin they wash all the sheets, pillow cases, towels and
underwear that the baby was using. These buckets of water have
to be thrown into a river, ocean or in a wooded place under a
tree that nobody steps on, it consists of Holy Chrismation.
Baptisms
CAN NOT be performed
- From
Christmas Day to January 7.
- February
2
- During
Holy Week
- Ascension
Day
- Pentecost
Sunday
- August
1 to 15
- August
29
- September
14
Baptism
Links:
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