Saint George St George Greek Orthodox Church - Piscataway, New Jersey

 

The Sacrament of Baptism

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.

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.

Baptism 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