The Sacrament of Baptism in the Orthodox Church is very important and has a deep meaning. The physical birth of a person is a miracle of God. We know that before a baby is born, it spends nine months in the womb. During this time, it grows, forms, and prepares for life in the air. A small child cannot consciously prepare for the Sacrament of Baptism on his own, so his parents and godparents, who will be responsible before God for proper upbringing baby. Just as a child in the womb prepared for its physical birth, so its parents and godparents must prepare their consciousness for the spiritual birth of this baby. The image of a child in the womb can be compared to our temporary life. When we live here on earth, we do not clearly see our Creator with our bodily eyes, but we can feel his care for us through everything that surrounds us. The Lord created the earth, plants, animals for us, natural conditions. The child in the womb also cannot see her with his own eyes, he only feels her care, love, affection and warmth. When a baby is born, he experiences a lot of stress: for little creature This is a leap into the unknown. The moment a child is born is compared to the death of a person. When a person’s soul is separated from the body, various images appear before its spiritual eyes and are visited by different feelings. For her, especially at first, it is unknown where she will end up. As for small child After his birth, it is important to snuggle up to the body of his own mother as quickly as possible, and it is also important for a person’s soul, after parting with the body, to fall into the arms of the Lord himself. The Creator provided for this; He gave man the opportunity to save his soul, and the first step to salvation and leading a Christian lifestyle is participation in the Sacrament of Baptism in the Orthodox Church. Therefore, the interview before Baptism is an integral part of the preparation for this great Sacrament.
Interview with godparents before a child's baptism
The interview with the godparents before the baptism of the child is usually conducted by the priest himself. During the interview, he talks about what prayers you need to know, what to bring with you, and how to prepare for the Sacrament of Baptism. 
Many priests, during an interview with godparents before the Baptism of a child, not only touch upon those points that are directly related to the performance of the Sacrament, but also delve into how to properly raise a child in the Christian faith. Nowadays, for modern man, thanks to modern technologies Great opportunities have opened up. This is an opportunity to exchange information as soon as possible. Unfortunately, most information - both visual and other - can be harmful to the salvation of a person’s soul. During education godchild you need to try, together with your parents, to protect him from the harmful effects of drugs mass media. To do this, you need to offer the child a worthy alternative. This alternative can be Orthodox books, films and holy iconographic images.
How the church conducts an interview with the priest before Baptism
For an interview before the Baptism of a child, you need to be ready to come at the time that the church tells you. During the interview, the priest may ask for specific information about the child’s parents, the child himself, and his godparents. This information includes the child's full names, addresses, and date of birth. When preparing to go for an interview at a church with a priest, you need to think in advance what questions you have for him. You may want to take a pen and paper with you just in case to write down some points that you might forget. In different dioceses of the Orthodox Church, the requirements for godparents may vary slightly. In most dioceses, godparents before the Sacrament of Baptism are required to know such Christian prayers as “To the Heavenly King,” “Rejoice to the Virgin Mary,” and “Our Father.” Usually the priest reminds the godparents during the interview before Baptism that before performing the Sacrament they need to prepare pectoral cross, christening clothes, a soft towel and possibly a blanket for the baby.
Is it necessary to have an interview?
An interview before Baptism is one of the mandatory requirements for the child’s parents and godparents. These are the Sacrament of Baptism, which is the first step in a child’s ascent up the spiritual ladder. This ladder should lead to the salvation of the soul through correct behavior and Christian upbringing. A child's Christian upbringing should be given by his parents and godparents. 
To do this correctly, you need to constantly compare your views on the principles of education with the teachings of the Orthodox Church. During the interview before the Baptism of the baby, you can ask the priest for advice on what spiritual literature and films you can watch about raising children in the Orthodox faith.
Certificate of completion of the interview.
There are cases when God-parents and the baby’s parents are in different cities on the eve of the Sacrament of Baptism. Since an interview before the Baptism of a child is a mandatory requirement of the Orthodox Church, godparents must undergo an interview in the city in which they are located. After passing the interview, the priest who conducted it must issue a special certificate of completion before Baptism. With this certificate, the godparents come to the city where the Baptism will take place. It will need to be given to the priest who will baptize the baby. The certificate of passing the interview before Baptism may not be issued on the day you passed the interview, but during your next meeting with the priest, because during the interview the priest may tell you to memorize and learn to read some orthodox prayers. During the next meeting you will have to demonstrate your knowledge to the priest. Once he is satisfied that you have completed his task, he will be able to issue you this certificate. To avoid any difficulties during the Sacrament, try to carefully remember where you put it, and do not forget to take it with you during the Sacrament.
I was once present at a baptism, where the priest decided, right before the sacrament, to check the competence of the godparents and some of the adults being baptized. Usually Communion is celebrated after the morning liturgy; the days and times of services vary in different churches. After the Sacrament of Baptism, the child must be given communion. 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 christenings at once... It is not necessary to attend the service with a child, infants receive communion without a queue and only with wine (the Blood of Christ). The priest takes the child in his arms in the vestibule of the temple and signs a cross for 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 being churched.”
Both are permitted 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 Churching in order to carry the boy through the altar and bring the girl to the royal doors.
Some churches have a baptismal chamber or baptistery - a separate room specially designated for the Sacrament of Baptism.
At the end of the ceremony, the priest had a conversation with the godparents; our godmothers were shocked, but they liked it. The child should receive communion regularly, preferably at least once a week. Sometimes the first Communion takes place on the same day, but more often the priest asks you to come the next day or a week later. For male and female infants, the rite of churching is slightly different. Godparents should answer: “I’m compatible.”
Since the child cannot understand the essence of the issues, his godparents make vows for him.
And, turning to his godparents, he asks questions three times, which must also be answered consciously three times.
What questions do you discuss with the priest before baptism?
Of course not. Therefore, during public conversations 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?” Godparents should answer: “I deny.” Amen,” the Holy Spirit invisibly descends on a person and gives spiritual gifts - the gift of prayer, repentance, forgiveness, love, understanding Holy Scripture etc. And this is the Peter who only recently denied Christ for fear of being arrested.
Father will explain who God is, what spirit and faith are, and tell 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 person that he must maintain this purity in the future, and the cross serves as a sign of his faith in the Lord. Next, they read the Creed prayer, which they should learn by heart. For so much significant event It’s inconvenient to come empty-handed.
This is truly 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 care for these gifts.
Water is a very ancient symbol of purification.
The sins of whom you forgive will be forgiven, and those whose sins you leave 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 for him you must do this and this, and only then will we accept you! From the heart. In fact, they try not to schedule baptisms only during Holy Week due to the significance of church services. If we're talking about about the life and death of a child, then all restrictions are completely lifted. The question often arises whether it is possible to baptize a child during Lent. Yes, you can. And the opposite opinion is nothing more than a delusion.
Creation of the world.
When approaching holy baptism, it is necessary to understand the purpose of this sacrament. What do we want from God?
We believe that God is love, but love is not blind, but wise, holy. We believe that the three Persons of God, i.e., Father, Son and Holy Spirit, are united in love into one entity. This is the Christian Trinity. On at this stage it is difficult to understand the idea of the Trinity mentally. God is truly One, but you can only be One with someone. The unity of God implies that He is not alone.
God created the whole world, which can be divided into visible and invisible. The invisible world is the world of angels, who were created as ministering spirits. Visible world this is the human world. God created the world out of the abundance of his love. God was free. He was happy in love even without the material world, but He created the world, trying to introduce it to His harmony and love.
But how can you teach love and harmony to stones and trees? The connecting link connecting the world of soulless matter and the spiritual world was man, who has two natures, spiritual and material. By spiritual nature, man was able to assimilate the light and fragrance of Divine beauty. Through his earthly body he had to establish in the material world the harmony that he knew in God. Man, according to the teaching of the Holy Scriptures, is created in the image and likeness of God. The image of God in man lies in the integrity of his spiritual powers: in the mind, in feeling (in the heart) and in the will. They are given to man so that he knows the highest good and embodies it in his life.
The highest good of the universe is the All-Holy will of the Creator. The likeness of God consisted in the possibility of raising the heart, mind and will into a unity similar to the unity of the persons of the Most Holy Trinity. The first people were called Adam and Eve.
The Fall.
Dennitsa was created by God as the angel of the dawn. He became proud, desiring Divine power and honors that he was not worthy of. He carried away some of the angels and waged war against God, turning into Satan. This is how evil appeared in the world.
Man, as the crown of creation and God’s beloved creation, became the object of Satan’s special attention. Through flattery and deception, he managed to plant a grain of mistrust in their Creator in the hearts of Adam and Eve. Then they fell away from God through breaking the commandment, which forbade eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In the language of Scripture, this means that they wanted to become unique like God. That is, they wanted to have the fullness of life, but without God.
As a result of the Fall:
- Man has lost his sinlessness.
- The man began to suffer.
Man lost immortality and became mortal.
Imagine a deep river that has been blocked by a dam. First, the water comes to a state of rest and turns into a lake. Then this lake begins to rot and turns into a swamp.
Approximately the same thing happened to humanity, which lost contact with God. As a result of the Fall, human nature itself changed, losing its integrity.
The heart became insensitive, and the mind became dull. He turned out to be incapable of insight into the essence of things. The will became so weak that a person, even seeing the terrible consequences of his actions, could not stop and committed sin as if it were slaughter. Thus the image of God in man was distorted.
All mental strength people began to act chaotically and turned into passions. By the way, in Russian the word “suffering” has the etymological meaning of “tribute to passions.”
Let us note that since the Fall, human suffering has been rooted in his very nature.
This state of internal chaos and discord in a person is also called spiritual death.
Man without God is spiritually dead. He can eat, drink, go to the cinema, make plans for the future and not know that he is dead. And even if, by the standards of the average man in the street, the life of such a person is interesting, nevertheless, he does not experience even 0.001 of the fullness that he would have in God. The logical consequence of spiritual death was physical death. At first, the element of self-destruction affects only the soul, then it spreads to the body. The person begins to get sick and eventually dies.
Salvation is only in Christ.
For centuries great amount people tried to save humanity with their teachings. IN best case scenario these prophets and philosophers could alleviate the suffering of people a little. But not a single teaching could heal the very nature of man, delivering him from sin and death. Buddha and Confucius, Muhammad and Epicurus, Lao Tzu and Plato were united by one universal grave of humanity. And although they all had their own special teaching, death still overtook them and united them with the rest of humanity. There is only one person over whom death had no power - Jesus Christ. Who is this man and how did he manage to defeat death?
Remember at the beginning we told you that God is love? And this God's love did not leave fallen humanity in its grief. God decided to come into the world Himself, become a man, share their grief with people and heal human nature. One of the Persons of the Holy Trinity, the Son of God, becomes a very real person, but does not cease to be God. This event in Christian teaching is called the sacrament of INcarnation. This happened in the year zero AD in the city of Bethlehem. A pious Jewish girl named Mary had a child born from the Holy Spirit, and she named her Child Jesus.
At the age of thirty, Jesus went out to preach. He preached the coming of the Heavenly Kingdom and repentance of sins. It must be said that His entire life from beginning to end was the fulfillment of ancient prophecies that were given to people so that they could distinguish the true Anointed of God (Christ) from the huge multitude of false prophets and false Christs. And from these prophecies, people realized that this was not just another preacher of “universal human values.” Before them is God incarnate Himself. The prophecies indicated that Christ would die a painful execution and rise from the dead. Why should he die?
Have you ever wondered why in Christian countries there are no such executions for sins as, for example, in states living according to Sharia law? In Muslim countries, people cut off their hands for theft, and stone them for fornication. Why don't we have this? Do we really not have these sins?
No, we have sins, but all our past and future sins are taken upon ourselves by Christ, who Himself was absolutely sinless. And since He takes away sins, He also takes retribution for them, the most terrible of which is death. The character of Christ’s sacrifice, his complete self-giving shows us the main quality of Christ’s impeccable love - humility. This is the distinctive quality true love from the many seductive pictures of earthly lust. God subjected Himself to terrible shame, allowed Himself to be executed with the most disgusting execution, in order to share the grief of the perishing, in order to release the tortured to freedom.
There is another reason why he had to die. Only the sick can recover. He came in order to defeat death, and this is only possible for someone who is mortal himself. It is appropriate to stop here and be silent for a moment. We are about to examine the most difficult idea of Christianity to understand. Its essence was very aptly expressed by the saints of the early Church: God became Man so that man could become God (by grace).
What does it mean?
We said above that the problem of sin is the destruction of human nature itself. And just as it is difficult to heal bullet wounds with persuasion, it is also difficult to cure a person’s soul with any teaching. The healing of humanity is carried out by God not in the library, but in Himself.
This is why He becomes a Man. As an example, we can recall the feat of a doctor who infects himself with some terrible disease in order to find a means to neutralize it.
Of course this is a dangerous experiment. But if the doctor defeated the disease, then his blood became a real treasure for humanity. Antibodies that resist the disease were formed in the blood of such a person, and he became a donor to thousands of sick people. Our Lord Jesus Christ did something similar to humanity. Only he treated not just a disease, but sinful corruption and death itself. God the Son takes human nature, heals it in Himself, and then returns it to people renewed, purified and united. But this does not happen in blood transfusions, but in the sacraments of the Church.
Saint Cyril of Jerusalem has an amazing image of this miracle of healing humanity from death. Saint Cyril paints before us the image of a rotten, barren tree. It is useless to water and fertilize it, since the very root of this tree is rotten.
And nearby a wise gardener is growing a new tree. This plant is pure and perfect because the root is pure. Next, the branches of the fallen tree are cut, cleaned and grafted onto a new beautiful tree. And now these branches take root, become covered with leaves and begin to bear fruit abundantly.
How can this be understood? The rotten tree is the human race. Its roots are our first parents, Adam and Eve. The wise gardener is God the Father. The root of the new tree is Jesus Christ.
He is our spiritual ancestor, and is called the second Adam. The new pure tree is the new humanity that comes from Christ. This new humanity is also called the Church. Holy Baptism in this image is precisely the miracle of grafting old branches onto the tree of the Church. Nutrition from it with healing juices is life itself in the sacraments of the Church and, above all, participation in the Holy Eucharist.
Of course this is just an image. It only brings us closer to understanding the mystery of salvation. We must understand that the return of a healed nature to humanity occurs as mysteriously as the Incarnation itself. There is a special term for this phenomenon in the literature of ancient Christians: “DEIFICATION.”
How God incarnates among people, being born from Holy Virgin, in the same way people are deified in God, being born from the All-Holy God.
It is difficult to understand this mentally. God becomes incarnate, and people are deified. Both are miracles comprehended by faith. But where can we get such faith? Such faith is born and strengthened in a person when he begins to put into practice the teachings of Christ as set out in the Holy Scriptures. The more intense our spiritual life in the Church of Christ, the more thorough our knowledge of God and the path of our personal salvation. And vice versa: the less a person follows the commandments of the Gospel, the more rudeness, formalism and ignorance in his “theology”.
The practical side of the Christian faith.
Baptism, repentance and the Church.
Fulfilling the commandments of the Gospel leads a person to true knowledge yourself, your weaknesses and passions. This knowledge gives rise in his soul to a feeling of extreme need for a Redeemer.
Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov says that this feeling is the very beginning of a person’s true conversion to Christ. And vice versa, without a vision of one’s own destruction, one’s own apostasy from God, there is no salvation in Christ. “He who is not aware of his sinfulness, his fall, his destruction, cannot accept Christ, cannot believe in Christ, cannot be a Christian. - writes Saint Ignatius, “What is Christ for that person who is reasonable, virtuous, satisfied with himself, who recognizes himself as worthy of all earthly and heavenly rewards.”
From the teachings of St. Ignatius Brianchaninov can draw two remarkable conclusions: Without understanding his inner depravity, a person cannot become a true Christian.
Seeing one's sinfulness precedes faith in Christ.
An adult receiving holy baptism needs faith in Christ. From the words of the saint, we understood that it is impossible for someone who does not have an inner need for a Redeemer, who does not have deep and sincere repentance in his soul, to believe in Christ. That is why the Lord Himself began his sermon with a call to repentance: “Repent and believe in the gospel.”
Translated from Greek, repentance is a change of mind, correction of the foundations of life. IN Orthodox tradition this word has two meanings: Repentance - conversion. This is a kind of internal effort that a person makes in order to be reconciled with God. When a person truly discovers the love of God, he is ready to leave anything and go anywhere for His sake. He is ready to ask God and people for forgiveness, he is ready to change his whole life and fill it with spiritual content. This is an appeal to God.
Repentance is healing. This is a process of soul correction that can take place throughout our entire life. Such repentance is, as it were, a continuation of baptism. It completes the adoption of a person to God, begun in baptism, changes his mind, heart and will, restoring the distorted image of God in a person.
Schematically, this can be depicted as follows:
Court of conscience
repentance-conversion
baptism
repentance is healing.
Let us note that true repentance desires to leave sin as soon as possible and to correct itself. If a person returns to his previous sin again, this indicates that he has not repented.
As mentioned above, baptism is a person’s entry into the Church, as into a new, renewed humanity. Just as a twig is grafted into a vine, so a person is grafted into the Church through baptism. And just as through this grafting the branch is nourished from the root, so through entry into the Church a Christian is spiritually nourished from Christ. A person who lives outside the Church and does not participate in the Church sacraments falls away from the Church, as if he were a barren branch. Such a branch dries up and is thrown into the fire. Being outside the Church, a person is outside salvation.
St. Paul calls the Church the Body of Christ. The head of this body is Christ himself. In it, every Christian is some kind of important organ. Some are the “spiritual eye”, some are the “hand”, some are the “ear”. Tell me, what happens if your finger is cut off and thrown away? That's right, it will fester and die. The same is true for a Christian outside the Church. What connects a person with the Church? First of all, this is the careful fulfillment of the commandments of the Gospel. How can we fulfill these commandments if we have never even read a chapter from the Gospel? Unfortunately, at present, the only connection we have with the Church is Christmas carols and Easter cakes. But did Christ really die for this on Calvary? No, he died so that we could have life and have it in abundance. A person who participates in church sacraments and fulfills the commandments of the Gospel will not only inherit eternal life, but even in this life will have the mercy and blessing of the Heavenly Father.
Invisible abuse.
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor entered into the heart of man, the things that God has prepared for those who love Him.” St. says Apostle Paul. () However, on this path of a believer to God there are obstacles, the passage of which turns the Christian’s effort into a feat. What are these obstacles?
Sinful nature. Although the sinful nature is killed in baptism, this does not mean that it completely disappears. Just as a mortified nerve left at the root of a tooth begins to rot, so sinful nature, left to its own devices, begins to “decompose,” poisoning with its “cadaveric poison” everything it comes into contact with. Outwardly, this is expressed in the fact that former sins (envy, anger, lust, etc.) can awaken in us and act with new force. Confession, repentance and attention to oneself successfully cope with this.
Devil. Satan is the enemy of God and all His servants. He envies people because the closer they are to God, the happier they are. For him, happiness is inaccessible, because this property cannot be had outside of God and His love. Satan has power over those who do not repent of their sins. The Lord taught that this spirit is driven out by fasting and prayer.
World. Satan fights against true Christians through the world. According to the definition of St. John the Theologian, the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. That is, the world is an evil value system that allows unbelievers to exist without God. The same Apostle John the Theologian said that whoever loves the world does not have the Father’s love in him. This means that the principles of the fallen world contradict the commandments of God, so each of us has to choose one thing. It is impossible to serve God and the world at the same time.
Often people who doubt the truth of Christianity ask: “Why does God tempt us by sending us suffering?” To this we must answer that God does not tempt anyone and is not tempted by anything. There are reasons why He will allow temptations to come our way: By overcoming temptations, we are confirmed in goodness and consciously turn away from evil.
Seeing the consequences of sins, we begin to consciously avoid them. In temptations, we better understand the depths of our soul. In suffering we are united with Christ by the bonds of the closest relationship. We share His life with Him, we consider His work to be ours. Without work, we would perceive the path to God only as an entertainment event, as tourist trip. And all the shrines of the Kingdom of Heaven, purchased by the blood of Christ, would be for us nothing more than relics of past eras, cheap souvenirs that are given as souvenirs to bored ordinary people. Trials and tribulations turn our spiritual life into an invisible battle.
This is how St. wrote about it. Apostle Paul: “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in high places. For this purpose, take on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on the evil day and, having done everything, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girded with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; and above all, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery arrows of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and petition, and strive for this very thing with all constancy and prayer for all the saints.” .
What do we see here? What kind of spiritual weapon is this?
1. Knowing your faith. (Belt of Truth). One who does not know the truth is like a warrior who holds up his trousers with his hands.
2. Godly life. (Armour of Righteousness). These are not only good deeds, but also righteous intentions.
3. A good witness to others. (Shoes of the Gospel). St. John Chrysostom says that we should convince our neighbors to be Christians not only with words, but with our personal example. This makes the strongest impression on people.
4. Trust in God. (Shield of Faith). God will always help those who trust Him. Only such a person will be able to resist numerous temptations that are like fiery arrows.
5. Repentance. (Helmet of Salvation). The helmet covers the head just as repentance protects the mind. Of all the armor, the helmet is considered the most valuable. A warrior who goes into battle without a helmet is the first to die. Anyone who does not repent is already dead, killed without ever entering into battle. Without repentance, nothing else matters.
6. Reading Holy Scripture. (Spiritual sword).“It is impossible to be saved without reading the word of God, but with it it is very easy to be saved.” St. John Chrysostom. We strike our enemies with the sword of the Word of God. But in the hands of an inept fighter, a sword is always a disaster. The Word of God is God’s appeal to us, and prayer is our appeal to God.
7. Prayer. In spiritual warfare she appears inner strength Christian. Prayer is God's main blessing. In prayer we cease to be slaves, but, according to the teachings of St. John Chrysostom, priests and sons of God.
Child baptism. What do you need to know about baptism?
What does baptism give a person? If you answer this question, then everyone will be able to make a completely conscious and reasoned choice - whether they should be baptized or not.
Firstly, in Baptism a person is cleansed of all sins, including original sin, which we inherit as a genetic disease (the name “original” has nothing to do with childbirth). This is stated in the main Christian prayer, which is called the “Creed”, and which must be read during Baptism: “I confess one baptism for the remission of sins.” When preparing for Baptism, the “Creed” must be read, understood and remembered, and if suddenly you do not agree with any of its points, then it is too early to be baptized.
Secondly, in Baptism a person is born into a new life, a spiritual life, in which he has completely different, previously inaccessible opportunities: union with God, receiving grace, and in the future, inheriting eternal life.
When is the best time to be baptized?
The question of when it is better for a person to be baptized - earlier or later - was resolved differently in different periods of history.
In favor of later baptisms (in adulthood and even old age) speaks simple logic: in the baptismal font a person is cleansed of ALL his sins - both inherited original sin and those accumulated independently throughout his life before baptism. This means that the later you are baptized, the less mistakes If you manage to complete it in the remaining period of time, the more righteous you will appear at the final judgment.
However, there are several serious flaws in this logic. Firstly, death does not always come in old age and according to a predetermined schedule, and when prudently postponing baptism “for later”, one must remember that this “later” may not come. Secondly, baptism gives a person the opportunity to unite with God here, in this life, in the Sacrament of Communion, and by postponing baptism, we deprive ourselves of this opportunity.
The fashion for late baptisms arises periodically, and each time it causes a discussion around it. In particular, Saint Gregory of Nyssa, in his work with a telling name“Against those postponing baptism” wrote this: “Protect yourself from the impermanence and uncertainty of life. Do not bargain with grace, lest you lose the gift.”
Should infants be baptized?
You can be baptized at any age, starting from the moment of birth. But the question of whether infants should be baptized arises quite regularly. What are the most common arguments against infant baptism?
Argument No. 1: “making a choice in favor of baptism for a child is violence; When he grows up, he’ll figure it out on his own.” Raising children inevitably involves making choices for them. We choose books and toys, mugs and sport sections, school and place of residence. We decide whether to get vaccinated and take antibiotics, we instill in the child what is good and what is bad - and exactly in the form in which we ourselves understand it. In any case, parents strive to raise their children in their own value system - this relates to the issue of children’s freedom of choice. And baptism is not just a change of status in heavenly office, this is primarily the acquisition of new capabilities by a person. And here I would like to quote a fragment of one of the forum discussions about the appropriateness of infant baptism:
“You see, this dispute is meaningless, because at its root lies the question of how parents perceive God. If for them God is the most valuable thing in life, its meaning, truth and love, then mom and dad cannot even imagine leaving their baby without this Gift. If for parents God is only one of the forms of knowledge and communication with the world, part of culture, etc... then, of course, they can postpone the Baptism of the baby with the cold formulation: “When he grows up, he will choose.”
There’s probably just nothing to add here.
Argument No. 2: “There is no need to baptize a child, because until the age of seven he is already sinless.” Indeed, in the Orthodox tradition, children under seven years of age are considered infants who are not fully responsible for their actions, so confession is not obligatory for them. However, they are not free from original sin, as mentioned above. And before baptism they are deprived of many opportunities - they cannot receive communion, celebrate Angel Day (which they simply do not have), they cannot pray for them in the Church - only at home.
In any case, the choice in this matter remains with the parents (namely, the parents, and not grandparents and other relatives, friends and sympathizers).
What is needed for this
In addition to the desire to be baptized, you will need to fulfill certain conditions and accompanying accessories. Necessary conditions may be the following: if a child is baptized, then you cannot do without godparents, and also, in some churches you may be required to attend public conversations. We will probably name all the necessary accessories, but their complete package will depend both on your desire and on the temple where the Baptism is performed.
So, you will need: a cross with a device on which it will be held on the neck, a chain or thread does not matter. If baptized Small child- it makes sense to take a silk or wide satin ribbon so that they do not cut the delicate skin. There are observations that gold and silver chains also do not cause unpleasant irritation to the baby’s skin.
Baptismal shirt - you can buy it in a specialized church, or, if you like difficulties, sew it yourself, the cut is simple, it resembles a nightgown with an embroidered cross on the back. In fact, this is not a mandatory attribute of baptism, but it adds additional sophistication to the event and is consistent with traditional church aesthetics. If you do not purchase a baptismal shirt, you need to stock up on a form of clothing that would not embarrass you and those around you when coming into contact with water. Nowadays, many churches have fonts for complete immersion; accordingly, everything that the person being baptized is wearing will be guaranteed to be wet. But even where baptism is performed by pouring in a small font, you will also be doused with water at least up to your waist.
Candles - they can be purchased directly in the temple where the baptism will take place; they are necessary to participate in the religious procession that takes place during this service. It is worth clarifying how many candles are needed in the church in which you are baptized per person being baptized and godparents, because some of them are given to the altar as a donation.
A towel - but here you understand, the more the better, if someone thinks that a small waffle towel is enough, he will be very jealous of people who are not too lazy to take real bath towels, after all, it’s a wet matter.
A change of clothes - if you don’t have it, then not only until the end of baptism, but also long after it, you will have to experience a number of awkwardnesses and inconveniences about your appearance. As a rule, temples provide a place where men and women can change clothes separately, and for those who are especially chaste, an individual place. However, it will be even better if you inquire in advance whether there is such a place in the church, and if suddenly there isn’t one, and you are going to be baptized there, you can foresee everything in advance; by the way, it is usually necessary to take the baptismal form only before the baptism itself, with the exception legs, but more on that below. Until the very moment of baptism and after it, you can wear casual clothes.
Slippers - you will need them because your bare feet will be needed. As a rule, you will be asked to take off your shoes at the beginning of the service, and in order not to be left barefoot, you can take slippers with you. Most perfect option- slates.
A baptismal certificate may not be available in some churches, so ask in advance whether it will be issued. Now they are of different types: simpler and more beautiful, you can choose and purchase them yourself, or you can rely on the temple where the baptism will take place. In any case, you need to make sure that it is filled out correctly, the full names of the baptized and godparents, the date of the baptism, the first and last name of the priest, the name of the temple, an indication of the heavenly patron and the day of the angel.
A camera or video camera, of course, is at your discretion, but baptism occurs only once in a lifetime, why not capture it. Again, ask in advance if there are any restrictions on photo and video shooting in this temple.
Godparents
In fact, the institution of godparents has now lost its former meaning. It is very rare to find an example of godparents actually participating in the upbringing of their godchildren. Moreover, godparents very often simply live very far away and are physically unable to fulfill their duties. What's the ideal? And ideally, godparents bear full responsibility, along with parents, until their child reaches adulthood for his Orthodox upbringing and education. In fact, they are second parents. This care includes the whole complex activities - from home education, to joint church services and financing of related needs - for example, the purchase of spiritual literature, icons, baptismal crosses, finally.
During the baptism itself, the godparents renounce Satan for the person being baptized and unite with Christ, confirm this desire out loud and receive their child from the font. In a word, they testify to everyone about their own adequacy in the Christian upbringing of their godson. Naturally, according to church opinion, godparents are responsible for spiritual and moral life your child.
This is, of course, an ideal, but we must strive for it. Therefore, select godparents accordingly. Church practice, however, leaves the opportunity for the godson to be less upset and reflective about his failure to fulfill his duties if the godson or his parents do not want this. Here, family peace cannot be tested by the efforts of the godfather if the family is not ready for this. But you need to be reminded regularly. That is why godparents must be included in the baptismal certificate.
Traditionally, a godfather is selected for a boy, and a godmother for a girl, if it is not possible to have both at once. Godparents cannot be directly related to themselves and the person being baptized, for example, husband and wife cannot be godparents friend friend and at the same time with one child to whom they were invited. Other relatives may well be suitable for this role.
Despite all the frivolity of godparents fulfilling their duties, even on name days and other personal and church holidays, simply as a human being, godparents should congratulate their godchildren without depriving them of this communication. And finally, if the parents of the person being baptized disappear, the godparents should take care of them as if they were their own children, even to the point of taking them home, at least as Sirius Black took Harry Potter.
About public conversations, or why are lectures needed before baptism?
Today, in most churches in Yekaterinburg, as part of preparation for the Sacrament of Baptism, attendance at special classes is offered - catechetical conversations. The quantity and quality of them in each church is different, but the meaning is the same - to explain to those being baptized the foundations of the faith that they are going to accept, to talk about the changes that occur in life after baptism. That is, public conversations should promote a more conscious and more serious approach to Baptism.
The catechumen - that is, oral instruction in faith before receiving baptism - this is exactly the new that is well forgotten old. The tradition of catechetical conversations was formed in the Church already in the second and third centuries after the Nativity of Christ. Then the announcement lasted from forty days to three years. Even special catechetical schools were created, which truly became centers of education. For example, in one of the most famous - the Alexandrian Catechetical School - not only theology and philosophy were taught, but also ethics, dialectics and even physics.
The memory of the traditions of the ancient Church has reached us in worship and folklore. Until now, the main church service - the Liturgy (the same one that you can attend if you come to church on Sunday morning) is divided into two parts. The first part is called the “liturgy of the catechumens” - it is attended by the unbaptized, but preparing for baptism, that is, the catechumens. They pray together with everyone, listen to the reading of the Holy Scriptures and the sermon. This part ends with a special prayer - specifically about the catechumens. There are words addressed by the priest to themselves: “Pray, the catechumens, to the Lord,” after which the catechumens themselves must answer, “Lord, have mercy.” And since there were many catechumens in the ancient Church, and they responded with enthusiasm, the saying arose “cry like catechumens.” However, today it is not relevant, since all prayers are sung by the church choir. The second part of the service - the “Liturgy of the Faithful” - begins with the words “Catechumens, come forth.” During the second part of the liturgy, only the baptized remain.
Now in many churches this catechetical conversation is partially restored, although in very different forms. Somewhere, godparents or adults being baptized are required to attend only one conversation prior to the performance of the Sacrament. And in some places you need to attend 12 or 16 classes. Public conversations make it possible to obtain information, as they say, first-hand, and in some way are a unique opportunity for a kind of church educational program.
In any case, you will have to clarify whether the temple you have chosen for baptism has such conditions for its acceptance, and whether you are ready to agree to it. There is always one more proven and traditionally Russian way to solve all problems - to be baptized by acquaintance. Then, as a rule, the familiar priest hopes for your home self-education, and will not torment you with tedious narratives, if this is how you evaluate everything that happened from the creation of the world until the events of at least 33 years from the Nativity of Christ in Palestine.
How does Baptism happen?
Baptism can be performed individually or collectively, depending on your wishes. Again, this issue needs to be resolved the day before. Naturally, individual baptisms will always be preferable, but, unfortunately, not many people know about their right to be baptized in this way, and not wait for one common day. You just need to talk to the priest.
At the beginning of the baptism, the priest will explain where to stand: those being baptized, godparents and sympathizers who came to worry about their loved ones. Also, obviously, explanations will be given for those who take photos and videos. By the way, the best position is in front of the priest and slightly to the side, then you can choose the most successful angle for the main moments.
Baptism begins with prayers of naming, with which those being baptized are assigned their christian names. Also, from this time, a person has his heavenly patron and his Guardian Angel is activated. Sometimes people are renamed if the calendar does not contain the name given to the child by his parents. The priest reads prayers and first makes the sign of the cross to everyone, blessing those who come, and then places his hand on their head, symbolizing church patronage. At the same time, those being baptized will need to loudly tell the priest their names, in the future the priest will slowly remember them.
After this, four rather long prohibitory prayers are read, which prohibit satanic forces and demonic forces from acting on those being baptized. Anyone who has watched Western thrillers and horror films on the topic of exorcism can safely draw analogies, and this is how it is. In the Orthodox process of baptism there is a place for exorcism. As a sign of this, the priest turns to those being baptized and blows three times and a cross in each person’s face, pronouncing the corresponding words of the spell. If worms or cockroaches do not fall out of you, you can consider that you completed the exorcism ritual successfully.
From this moment on, the phase of active participation of the baptized and godparents in the event begins. Everyone turns to face west, as a rule, towards the exit from the temple, and the priest warns that now he will ask questions that should be answered loudly and clearly, preferably in chorus. He himself suggests what to answer along the way, however, if people have attended public conversations, they themselves know. At the same time, as a sign of freedom from the shackles of Satan, everyone raises both hands up, showing that there are no shackles on their wrists. The priest asks twice and three times whether those who have come renounce Satan, to which they answer in the affirmative with the established formulations.
The most active actions in this event are the fulfillment of the priest’s proposal: “And blow and spit on him.” At this moment you need to blow and spit on the floor. The fact is that the life of a Christian begins with an insult, with spitting on the enemy of salvation. Thus, the person says: you and I, Satan, simply have nothing in common, I spit on you - the latter happens literally.
Immediately after renouncing the devil, union with Christ takes place. Everyone turns to face the east, as a rule, to the altar, as they stood, and again answer the priest’s questions, but with their hands down. The priest asks several times about the seriousness of the intentions of those who came, and they also answer in the prescribed form. At this stage, it is good if one of the godparents turns out to be especially prepared and can take upon himself to read aloud the Symbol of the Orthodox Faith. A creed is a set of basic religious truths, or dogmas, that briefly states what we Christians believe. If none of those who come know the Creed by heart, the priest himself can read it, and the rest will try to understand at least something. Ideally, every Christian should not only know it by heart, but also have the opportunity to comment on it, why it is this way and not otherwise. But, usually, this is your first task of self-education. It is easy to find the Creed; it is in any Prayer Book or in a book that is simply necessary for everyone and which is called very familiarly: “The Law of God.”
After reading the Creed at the end of all questions, the priest teaches those who came how to cross themselves and bow correctly, meaning how to make the sign of the cross. In addition to the fact that we fold our fingers in a certain way during baptism - the thumb, index and middle fingers together, symbolizing our faith in the Trinity, and we bend two fingers to the palm - the ring and little fingers, as a sign that Christ was both God and Man, we overshadow them yourself like this: on the forehead, on the stomach, on the right shoulder and on the left, completing the sign of the cross with a slight bow. We thereby invoke God’s sanctification on all our thoughts, feelings and actions. And we are baptized from right to left in honor of the prudent thief, who was crucified at the right hand of Christ, and did not swear at Him along with everyone else, but simply quietly asked that the Lord remember him in the Kingdom of Heaven.
It is at this moment that one should change clothes, taking on the actual baptismal appearance. Just before immersion, the priest will anoint you with holy oil - oil that symbolizes the Grace of God. He will anoint the forehead, chest, ears, arms and legs.
Usually, they are baptized according to seniority, starting with the youngest, but this is up to the priest to decide. Needless to say, you should take a good shower the day before.
You will be immersed in water three times, and if this involves diving, calculate in advance how much oxygen you will need. Try to dive, but not swim, because with a large pool it will be difficult to catch you right away. While you are being immersed or doused, the support team prepares a large towel, and photo reporters do not leave their cameras idle. Immediately after baptism, you should change clothes, but your legs should still remain free.
Then it comes to crosses. If you purchased them in a church, they do not have to be consecrated, but if this is an item from a store, you should ask in advance to have the cross consecrated for you; this can be done here, at baptism.
The priest himself puts crosses on everyone, which should be immediately removed behind the collar, since it is not for a shirt or a necklace, but for the body.
Sacrament of Confirmation
After this, the Sacrament of Confirmation is performed. You will be anointed with holy oil again, but this time it is not oil, but holy Chrism. In this Sacrament, a person is given the gracious Gifts of the Holy Spirit for leading a Christian life. And this Sacrament is so important that it, like baptism, is accepted by a person only once (the second time in life they are anointed only upon ordination as a bishop and upon accession to the royal throne, hence the expression “anointed to the kingdom”). The priest will anoint the forehead, chest, lips, eyes, nose, ears, hands and feet.
Holy Chrism (from the Greek μύρον “fragrant oil”) is a specially prepared and blessed fragrant oil. IN Orthodox Church Miro is prepared on the basis olive oil with the addition of white wine and many aromatic substances (this includes aloe, incense, rose petals, violet, spicy and galangal roots, nutmeg, rose, lemon and clove oil - about forty ingredients in total). The abundance of components symbolizes the diversity of Christian virtues.
Myrrh is cooked by the Patriarch, on Holy Week in the Small Cathedral of the Donskoy Monastery (in Moscow), where a special oven was built for this purpose. It is consecrated on Maundy Thursday (the last Thursday before Easter) in the Patriarchal Epiphany Cathedral in Yelokhov, and from there it is transported by bishops to their dioceses. This is where the saying in Russian comes from: “everyone is smeared with the same brush.”
Previously, baptism was performed quite rarely in churches, because they were waiting for the graduation from the catechetical school and a general parish celebration was held. And they celebrated in the following way: they made a small religious procession to some famous place that was located not far from the temple, or they walked around the temple itself and sang songs of the newly baptized, in which they glorified the event that had taken place. And so, you will also be invited to take part in the procession of the cross, which, as a rule, now takes place around the font where the baptism took place. To do this, you will need candles prepared in advance, one for each person. During procession, also, you will be invited to take part in general singing, and this opportunity should not be missed. Especially if everything is recorded on a video camera.
Immediately after Baptism and Confirmation, a person makes the first, at least in his baptized life, grateful sacrifice to God. And such a sacrifice is none other than his own hair, that adornment that crowns the most wonderful part of our body. Your hair will not suffer; the priest will cut your hair three times very modestly and tastefully, in the form of a cross on your head.
Baptism ends with prayers of churching, while men are led into the altar - the most sacred place of the Temple, and they are read to women in front of the icon Holy Mother of God.
And then you yourself are already the masters of the gift that you just received. Again, ideally, it would be a good idea to take this change seriously and begin your own religious life. Find out what prayer is, try to attend Saturday and Sunday services in church, confess and receive communion at least once a month, and so on, but this is worth talking about in more detail and in detail separately. In any case, baptism makes everyone more his own to God than he was before. Baptism is the birth of a new person within oneself. And each of us knows very well that it is not easy to give birth to a person, but it is even more difficult to raise him.
Symbol of faith
I believe in one God the Father, Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, visible to all and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only Begotten, Who was born of the Father before all ages, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, uncreated, consubstantial with the Father, and by Him all things were. For our sake, man and our salvation came down from heaven and became incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became human. She was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried. And he rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures. And ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father. And again the coming one will be judged with glory by the living and the dead, His Kingdom will have no end.
And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Life-Giving One, who proceeds from the Father, who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who spoke the prophets.
Into one Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.
I confess one baptism for the remission of sins. Tea of the resurrection of the dead. And the life of the next century. Amen.
The Creed is divided into three parts: the 1st conversation is devoted to the 1st and 2nd members of the Creed, the 2nd conversation deals with 3-7 members, and the 3rd conversation deals with 8-12 members.
FIRST PUBLIC CONVERSATION
The conversations to which you are invited are called public conversations. Announcement- This is a very ancient practice of the Orthodox Church. Already in the 4th century, people who came to be baptized, so to speak, “at the call of their hearts,” were first taught the basics of the faith (and this was usually done by the bishop himself), and then they were baptized. And the Church, during all these days of preparation, prayed in a special way for everyone who was preparing for baptism.Why was this and why are we now reviving this ancient tradition? Because baptism is a very important and responsible step in life, and it is necessary that a person approach the baptismal font not only by feelings, guided even by the brightest feelings, but also by realizing to whom he devotes his life, with whom he “combines.” This word is not accidental. In the rite of baptism, the priest asks the person being baptized the following question: “Are you compatible with Christ?” and the person being baptized answers: “I am combined.” Then: “Was it compatible with Christ?” - “It was combined.”
What does it mean to combine? This word means some very deep and mysterious degree of closeness between two personalities. To combine means to become one. We know the modern expression “to be united in marriage” or marriage. Can we imagine, for example, that a bride, not knowing anything at all about her groom, would still say “I’m going together?” Of course not. That's why during public conversations we will talk about the main thing - about Christ the Savior himself.
Unlike other teachings, Christianity is based not simply on the system of views and commandments of its founder, but on the experience of constant living communication with Himself. Who is He, why billions of people all over the earth call Him their God and Savior, what does He save us from, and why Christians at all times preferred to die a cruel death rather than renounce Him.
We will look for answers to these questions gradually, relying on the small text that lies on your desks. It is called the Creed. "Symbol" means a summary of a creed. In ancient times it was even shorter. On the day of baptism, the person simply said that he believed in Jesus Christ as Lord, and he was baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Later, more detailed “symbols” were developed in different Christian communities - although they differed in wording, they were the same in content. And it turned out to be possible in the 4th century at two Ecumenical Councils, the first of which took place in Nicaea, and the second in Constantinople (Constantinople), to approve a single Creed for all Christians. Therefore, it is sometimes called Nikeotsaregradsky. It is this Creed that is now included in the modern rite of baptism and, of course, the person being baptized must pronounce it himself. Therefore, during the time that public conversations are going on, you need to try to learn this text by heart and master it so that not a single word remains incomprehensible.
So, the first words of the symbol tell us about faith in God. It seems that everyone who has decided to be baptized already has some rudiments of faith - at least that God exists. There really is no way to do without this. The Apostle Paul says this to Christians: “He who comes to God must believe that He exists and is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” However, how many people answer the question “do you believe in God?” They answer: “Yes, of course, I feel that there is something there, something higher.” The conviction that there is something higher, reverence for this higher, a craving for it, is in the heart of every person, it is like an innate instinct. He is so strong that if a person does not find the true God, then he is ready to worship anything - the sun, rain, a wooden idol, some great person - just to satisfy this desire to serve something higher than himself.
But this, as you understand, is not at all the faith that our Symbol speaks of. This is very clearly seen again from the rite of baptism. The priest asks the person being baptized about Christ: “Do you believe in Him?” Not “into Him,” that is, into His existence, but to Him. And the person being baptized answers: “I believe in Him as a King and God.”
For a Christian, God is not a faceless cosmic energy, but a living Person. And therefore a person can communicate with God, communicate very closely. It is impossible to love cosmic energy, it is impossible to pray to it, in fact, it is absurd to believe in it. After all, if we say to the person sitting in front of us, “I believe in you,” what will that mean? It’s the same as us saying: “I believe in your strengths, in your talents, in your kindness, that is, I trust you.” Therefore, believing in God means, first of all, trusting Him - trusting His word, His commandments, His providence for our lives. Believing in God ultimately means believing in His love. One of the characters in Dostoevsky’s novel “Demons,” who declares himself an atheist, once admits: “And I would like there to be a God.” “Why?” - his friends ask. And he, as a person who has experienced many disappointments in his life, answers: “Because God is the only being who knows how to love forever.” From this feeling a person’s desire is born to call God Father. As the psalmist David says, “My father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will receive me.”
In the history of ancient Israel there was a man named Abraham, whom the Apostle Paul later called the father of all believers. God appeared to him and commanded him to leave his homeland and go to the land that He Himself would show him. Abraham accomplished all of this. He went into absolute obscurity, relying only on God. “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness,” says the Apostle Paul. Abraham's feat of faith lies not in the fact that he recognized the existence of God - he had no doubt about this before - but in the fact that he trusted God, surrendered himself to the will of God. One night, as Abraham looked at the stars, the Lord told him that he would have as many descendants as there were stars in the sky. The descendants of Abraham are all those who, over the centuries, believed God and did His will.
Abraham essentially began the faith in one God that our Symbol tells us about. But not only Christians, but also Jews and Muslims believe in one God, also calling themselves the true spiritual descendants of Abraham. Therefore, it is very important for us to dwell in more detail on the meaning of the word “one” in the Christian Creed. The first meaning lies on the surface: single means one of a kind, unique, i.e. Besides Him there is and cannot be another god. But it is also revealed to us that God is love, that is, He is the source of love, He has love in Himself, regardless of man or any other creature. After all, when creation did not yet exist, love already existed. How does it feel to have love in Yourself? After all, love is always a relationship, a relationship with someone else, with another person. So Christianity reveals to us an amazing thing: One God is Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. These are three Persons living in the fullness of love. The fullness of love is unity. In fact, this is the greatest mystery and we can only know about it what God himself revealed to us.
There was such a case with the famous Christian philosopher Blessed Augustine. He was brilliantly educated and when he came to Christ, he decided to write a book about the Holy Trinity so that everyone who read it would immediately understand how “God is one in Three Persons.” Thinking about the book, he walked along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and suddenly saw little boy who dug a hole in the sand, pours out water from the sea with a spoon. "What are you doing?" - asked Augustine. “I want to scoop up this sea and place it in this hole.” “You won’t succeed!” And then the boy replied: “I would rather scoop up this sea and place it in this hole than you would exhaust the mystery of the Holy Trinity with your mind and place it in your book.”
One of the most ancient examples of the mysterious revelation of the Trinity is again associated with Abraham. One day God appeared to him in the form of three strangers and Abraham ran out to meet them, bowed to the ground and said: “Lord! If I have found favor in Your sight, then come into my house...” Abraham sees three, but worships as one and speaks in the singular - “lord.” This very episode, when three wanderers come to Abraham’s house, is depicted on the icon St. Andrew Rublev "Trinity". They say in Soviet times, when few people dared to openly preach Christianity, it was Andrei Rublev who turned out to be the most active missionary, because when people are not even in church, but in Tretyakov Gallery saw his “Trinity”, this icon became for them a real revelation of God’s love.
Exactly belief in God the Trinity distinguishes Christianity from others monotheistic religions . That is why, in the rite of baptism, even after the recitation of the Creed, after the person being baptized has confirmed that he has been united with Christ and the priest gives him the command: “And worship Him,” the person being baptized says: “I worship the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Trinity Consubstantial and Indivisible " By this he once again confirms his faith in the mystery of the Holy Trinity, which is not the mystery of reason, but the mystery of love.
What does the word Almighty mean? He holds everything, that is, without His will not a single hair will fall from a person’s head. There were philosophers during the Enlightenment who said: “Okay, we agree that God created the world. But He wound it up like a clockwork, gave it all the necessary laws - physical, chemical, biological, even spiritual - and pulled away from the world.” But we know that this is not so. God not only created the world, but also takes care of his creation every moment.
God the Creator of heaven and earth. The earth is the physical, visible world, and the sky is the spiritual, invisible world. It is important for us that the spiritual world and the angels and demons living in it were also created by God. Modern people often reason like this: there is good and evil in the world, God and the devil - and it is still unknown who is stronger and who is better to turn to for help. But we know that the devil is just a fallen angel, just a creation of God, he cannot be equal to God in power. The devil causes evil to a person only when the person himself opens himself to influence dark forces- either sins and does not repent, or directly turns to them.
On the day of baptism, a person takes a decisive step not only towards God, but also against the devil. It is no coincidence that before the sacrament itself, a renunciation of Satan must be pronounced. The man, turning his face to the west, says: “I renounce Satan and all his works and all his angels (i.e., demons).” The priest asks to confirm his renunciation with the action: “And blow and spit on him.” That is, a person insults Satan’s pride - he spits on it and thereby acquires an enemy and is called upon to fight him. In one of the prayers at the rite of baptism, the priest calls the person being baptized “a newly sealed warrior of Christ.”
Further, the Creed tells us about the second Person of the Holy Trinity: I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ. The only begotten Son of God. “Jesus Christ” is now a completely familiar combination for us; we perceive it as one name, but in fact it in itself is already a confession of the Christian faith. Jesus is an earthly name, human name our Savior, which was given to Him on the 8th day after His birth, as common in Israel as, for example, John and James. But Christ is a special word, a special title - “God’s anointed,” “Messiah” is not just one of many, but the same Messiah, the only one who was predicted by all the prophets as the Savior and Redeemer, who was expected for many centuries. Therefore, when we say “Jesus Christ,” we mean that Jesus is the Christ, that the Messiah has come, that what the prophets predicted has come true.
Understanding Who Jesus Christ Is is the Root of the Christian Faith. That He is historical figure, is no longer in doubt. But the atheist will say: there was such a good man, he taught people to love each other, but, unfortunately, He was crucified. The Jew will say: there was such a false messiah, a blasphemer, and we executed him. A Muslim will say: there was such a great prophet Isa (peace be upon him!). But for Christians, He is not just a prophet or a brilliant preacher, but God Himself, who became “our man for the sake of salvation.”
And now we come to the most important question: why the Savior? After all, only those who die need a savior. What is the essence of our destruction? What did we need to be saved from?? Yes, from sin, from death, from evil.
But where did evil come from? After all, what was man created for? You and I know that God is love and therefore He creates in order to give His love to His creation, in order to share with it the joy of being, eternal bliss. This is very important to remember: both man and the rest of creation were created not just for some temporary joys, but for eternity, for eternal bliss next to their Creator, in communication with Him, in the knowledge of His love. But now we do not have not only eternal bliss, but also temporary one. Why? Couldn't Almighty God protect his creation from evil and death and give that eternal bliss for which we are all destined? And this question will cause bewilderment as long as we think that evil comes to us from somewhere outside. Yes, we know that the first people were tempted to sin by the devil, but they made the choice themselves. In the wise words of Dostoevsky, “the devil always fights with God, and the battlefield is human hearts.” And it is ultimately left to the individual to decide who wins. This is very important to understand - a person always has a choice.
After all, what does God expect from man? God loves a person and expects from him what we all expect from the people we love - mutual love. And love can only be free. Only when a person freely says: “Yes, Lord, I love you, I want to be with you, I want to fulfill your commandments,” guided not by fear of punishment or desire for reward, but only by filial love, will this be truly valuable before God .
So, the first people were created free, and in paradise they were given the commandment not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They violated the commandment, they tasted, and this event is not just some external act, it is the result of an internal spiritual choice: Adam and Eve became proud, they imagined that they could achieve eternal bliss without God, they believed Satan, who promised them : “You will be like gods.” Satan told them that God was deceiving them, that they would not really die, and they believed it. By this they had already betrayed God, even before they had tasted the fruit.
Man is a complex creature - spirit, soul, body - like a three-layer sponge. If you drip dirt on top, the entire sponge will become saturated. The Fall began with spiritual sin - pride, self-sufficiency, rejection of God. Then it passed to the spiritual level, mind, will, feelings - everything in the person became darkened. Remember, when the Lord calls: “Adam, where are you?”, Adam hides from God in the bushes - that is, his mind has become darkened. How can you hide from God - He is omnipresent. Then sin moves to the physical level: the person begins to get sick and die. God told the truth: having eaten the fruit, people received two deaths: bodily - separation of the soul from the body and spiritual - separation from God.
This was original sin - not just a formal violation of the commandment, but an internal revolution. And that's when the disaster happened. Man has changed, human nature, created by the Creator for eternal bliss, has become distorted, damaged, as if sick with sin - and man simply could no longer be near the Creator. Adam and Eve leave God, and this is where earthly history begins. From that moment on, a gap arises between God and man, which man himself cannot overcome. It's not that God rejected them and cursed them. No, he forgave them immediately because he loves them. They just couldn't change themselves.
In the 3rd part of the Creed we read: ours for the sake of salvation. This refers to all people in general, the entire human race. Is all of humanity dying? Yes, because we are all children of Adam and Eve, we are all bearers of their nature damaged by sin. And this is not the fault of their sin, this is precisely the original damage of our nature, illness. And the most terrible consequence of original sin is not temporary earthly suffering or even physical death, but separation from God. Just think, before Christ, not a single person could unite with God even after death - everyone remained in Sheol (in Hebrew, “a place devoid of light,” hell), all the prophets, the righteous who fulfilled the commandments and loved God with all their souls. The gap between God and man was insurmountable.
And Christ comes to save us from this, comes to cure us of original sin and unite us with God again. Next time we will talk to you about how our salvation was accomplished in earthly history - about the life of Jesus Christ, about His preaching, about His death on the cross and resurrection.
SECOND PUBLIC CONVERSATION
Today we will talk about how the work of our salvation was accomplished in history. These events are described in the Gospel, but they are not so important to us historical facts, how much their spiritual meaning is and how these events relate to each of us.The very first event is the Annunciation. On this day, the Archangel Gabriel appeared to the Most Holy Theotokos and said that she would have a son who would be the Savior of the world. She was afraid because she had taken a vow of virginity, she did not have a husband, and she did not know how this would happen. The Archangel told her: The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you and the baby will be the Savior of the world. And then the Mother of God agreed with humility and said: I am the servant of the Lord, let it be done to me according to your word. What is important for us here is that the Most Holy Theotokos gave an answer on behalf of all humanity. We know that God never does anything by force. He had to ask all of us if we wanted Him to take on our human nature. And He chooses the best representative of humanity among all past and future people and asks her. If she had answered: “No, Lord, we are fine without you, we ourselves know how to live,” then He would not have become incarnate. But she answered: “I am the servant of the Lord,” and as soon as she agreed, the greatest event in the history of mankind occurred. Even more significant than the Nativity of Christ. At this moment, the Holy Spirit descended on the Mother of God and united with human nature. And in her womb the God-man was born. At first He was like a small cell, then He developed according to all the laws of physiology and was finally born. The first step towards our salvation has been taken. After all, Christ came to unite God with man. And first of all, He united them in Himself, united them not temporarily, but forever. Christ forever remained the God-man, so that we would always have the opportunity through Him, or rather in Him, to draw closer to God.
When He was born, a unique personality appeared in our world - the God-man. He combines both divine and human qualities in a striking way. Here He lies in the arms of the Mother of God. As a man He occupies a certain space, as God He is omnipresent. As a man He was born in time, as God He is eternal. As a person He is still weak, dependent on his mother for everything, but as God He is omnipotent. As a man He still needs to grow and learn, as God He is already omniscient.
Until the age of 30, He lived in absolute obscurity. He grew up in obedience to his named father, and studied carpentry. At the age of 30, He came to the banks of the Jordan to John the Baptist to be baptized. What kind of baptism was this that John the Baptist performed? This was not a Christian baptism, but a baptism of repentance. People went waist-deep into the water, confessed their sins and plunged, as if wanting to be freed from these sins, wanting to leave them in this water. And after all of them, Christ comes - pure, sinless, He had no need for repentance - and He enters this water of the Jordan, into this accumulation of sins and plunges. For what? He thereby shows that He takes upon Himself the sins of all people.
And at that moment when He, having been baptized, comes out of the water, the first open appearance of the Holy Trinity to people occurs: God the Father as a voice from heaven, the Son stood on the banks of the Jordan as a Man, and the Holy Spirit descended on Him from heaven like a dove.
After this, Christ goes through the cities of Israel to preach. What is He telling people? Yes, He speaks about repentance, forgiveness and love, but all this could be spoken about through the prophets. Most of all, Christ speaks about Himself - that He is the Son of God and only through Him can one come to the Father. And the Israeli society was divided into two parts: some accepted Him, others did not.
Who took it? Simple people, those who were aware of their sins, repented of them, were burdened by them, wanted to get rid of sin and get closer to God. They felt that they needed a Savior - and therefore they accepted the Savior and changed their lives. After all, repentance opens spiritual vision and helps to see the truth.
Who didn't accept Him? Scribes are those who devoted their lives to the study of Scripture. They counted all the letters in the Holy Scriptures and even performed a trick: they pierced the scroll with a needle and could tell which letters were on the holes. Naturally, they knew by heart all the prophecies about Christ: when He was to be born, where, what He would be like, but this knowledge did not help them, because it was dry knowledge, without love for God and, most importantly, without repentance. They were very proud of this knowledge.
The Pharisees are righteous people who observed absolutely all Jewish laws: they fasted correctly, prayed correctly, paid tithes, kept the Sabbath, and so on. But they were very proud of this righteousness of theirs and did not notice what was inside them - envy, anger, cruelty. They thought that fulfilling external law was enough. And pride closes a person’s spiritual vision. That is why Christ said: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick, and I came not to bring the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Whom does He call healthy? Not those who are actually healthy (after all, we know that everyone is infected with original sin and there are no healthy people in the spiritual sense), but those who consider themselves healthy and therefore do not believe that they need salvation.
The Pharisees and scribes hated Christ and were jealous of Him: firstly, the people followed Him, and secondly, He denounced them and told His disciples not to follow their example, not to be hypocrites. In the end, the hatred of the Pharisees brought Christ to Calvary. But we must remember that His death on the cross was not a tragic accident. As God, He decided on this even before the creation of the world. But now He became a man, he still had a human will, and He had to decide on this also with a human will. He did this during prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. He prayed to God the Father like this: “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from me, so that I do not drink it.” And it is said in the Gospel that drops of his sweat were like blood dripping onto the ground. “My soul is mortally sorrowful,” He said. It turns out that as a person, He was very afraid of upcoming death. Why? Because death is a consequence of sin, and He is absolutely pure, sinless, and therefore death is unnatural for him. He might not have died, but He voluntarily, now by his human will, chooses death for the sins of people. “Not my will, but yours, be done,” He says to the Father. And after He decides to do this, Judas comes and kisses him, the guards come, He is taken into custody, He endures ridicule, bullying, and in the end goes to Calvary.
About the Crucifixion. The historical form of the cross on which Christ was crucified is an eight-pointed cross. Vertical pillars always stood on Calvary - there was a usual place of execution, the condemned man carried the horizontal beam himself, the slanting beam was a footrest and at the top there was the inscription “Christ of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” Christians began to venerate the image of the cross only from the 4th century, after Queen Helen, the mother of Tsar Constantine, found the original cross of Christ. There were several crosses in the ground. How could one accurately determine which one was the one? It happened that not far from Golgotha there was a funeral procession. They began to apply crosses to the dead, and from the touch of the Cross of Christ the dead were resurrected. Now the Cross is kept in Jerusalem, but small pieces of it have been dismantled all over the world. In our church, on the large image of the cross, you can see a round insert - there is a piece of the Tree of the Cross there.
We honor any image of the cross and reverently depict the sign of the cross on ourselves and on other objects, thereby sanctifying any thing. We cross ourselves during prayer, before leaving the house, before meals, we cross food, and at night we consecrate the corners of the room and the bed with the cross. The cross in the hands of a believer has enormous power. The devil is afraid of the cross, because he death on the cross Christ defeated the devil and disgraced him.
Execution by crucifixion in the Roman Empire was the most terrible, not only in terms of physical torture, but also the most shameful. This was an execution for plebeians - noble people were not crucified on crosses. And it was customary for everyone to mock the helplessness of people hanged on the cross. Christ was also mocked in this way.
We know that two more thieves were crucified next to Christ. The one who was left side, mocked Christ: “They say that you are a miracle worker, so save yourself and us,” and the one who was on the right side reproached his accomplice, saying: “We suffer for our actual crimes, but this man is sinless.” And an extraordinary change happened to this second robber. Already suffering on the cross, he repented of his previous sins, and repentance so cleansed his soul that he became able to see the truth. He was able in Christ - this humiliated, bloodied, barely alive man - to recognize God - merciful and forgiving. The thief turned to Christ with the only request: “Lord, remember me when you come into Your kingdom” - do not save, do not forgive, but simply remember me. And Christ answered him an amazing thing: “Truly, truly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” But at that time paradise was empty, there was no one there! All the righteous were still in hell. And the first to enter heaven was the thief - not a righteous man, not a prophet, not even John the Baptist, whom Christ Himself called “the greatest of those born of women” - but a thief. How much the Lord values repentance!
Christ suffered on the cross for many hours. At the limit of His suffering, He exclaimed terrible and incomprehensible words to us: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?” How can God say this to God?
The Father cannot leave the Son, this cannot happen in the Trinity! We know that Christ said this according to His humanity. For us, He experienced not only physical torment, but also moral torment, including the most terrible consequence of the Fall - separation from God. He experienced a feeling of being abandoned by God. To destroy the gap between man and God, He had to first look into this gap...
And when He was dying, He said: “Father, into Your hands I commend My Spirit.” At the moment of Christ's death, the sun darkened, although it was still day and there was an earthquake. And another very significant event happened. We know that in Jerusalem at that time there was a huge and only temple in the whole world dedicated to To the One God. It had three parts: the courtyard where all the people prayed, the sanctuary where the priests made sacrifices and the Holy of Holies - the farthest and most inviolable part of the temple. Only one high priest had the right to enter there once a year. The Holy of Holies was separated from the Sanctuary by a huge curtain made from the skins of pure animals. It was so heavy that on that one day of the year, about a hundred people moved it. It precisely signified the separation of God from man. And at the moment of Christ’s death this veil was torn in two! That is, it did not just fall from the earthquake, but opened up, showing that the barrier between God and man no longer exists - the death of Christ destroyed it!
Christ died as a Man: the Soul was separated from the Body. His disciples wrapped His body in a shroud and placed it in a coffin - i.e. into a small cave for burial. And His Soul went the same way as everyone else had gone before Him - to hell. But we know that when the divine and human natures were united in the womb of the Most Holy Theotokos, they were no longer separated, and therefore Christ could not descend into hell with just one human Soul. The Divinity came with Him - and from this presence hell collapsed! After all, it was a place devoid of light - and suddenly the Light came there! Christ brought from there the souls of all the righteous who were waiting for His coming, and they entered heaven and can now be close to God. The traditional icon of the Resurrection of Christ is precisely the icon of the “Descent into Hell.”
The body of the Savior, as we have already said, was wrapped in a shroud and placed in a coffin. The Pharisees took special care to ensure that the disciples did not steal the Body at night and spread rumors about the resurrection from the dead - they sealed the huge stone at the door of the tomb with a seal and asked to place a Roman guard. However, when the myrrh-bearers, after the Sabbath, on which, according to Jewish law, nothing could be done, came to the tomb early on Sunday morning, they saw that the guard had fled, the stone had been rolled away, and an angel was sitting on the stone and said: “Why are you looking for the living among the dead?” ? He's not here. He has risen! They immediately ran and told the apostles. And when the apostles entered the tomb, they saw an amazing picture: on the stone where the Body lay, one shroud lay like a cocoon, and inside was empty. Christ, when resurrected, passed through this fabric! And now we have stunning material evidence of the resurrection of Christ - the Shroud of Turin. It miraculously captured the image of Christ and all the details of His suffering and death. But this is still evidence of the resurrection!
The sermon of the apostles then began exactly like this: “Christ is risen!”, and then everything else. And ap. Paul says: “If Christ has not been raised, then your faith is in vain!” Christianity is a religion of resurrection. After all, the fact that Christ was resurrected means that He conquered death forever and that we too will be resurrected. There is no hell, there is no death. We see that after the resurrection Christ becomes different. He can pass through closed doors, suddenly appear, suddenly disappear. But at the same time, He is not a ghost, but a real person of flesh and blood. To convince the apostles of this, He even ate in front of them on purpose. It’s just that His Body after the resurrection became new, spiritualized, capable of living in eternity. We will be like this too after the resurrection.
The last event of the Savior's earthly life is the Ascension. Within 40 days after Easter, Christ met with his disciples, revealed to them the secrets of the Kingdom of God and then led them to the Mount of Olives and there they saw Him ascend and disappear. What does the Ascension of Christ into the spiritual world, to the throne of God, mean? After all, as God, He never left this throne. And now He goes there as a man, lifting His human nature to the throne of the Trinity. As Lossky said, “it is a great joy for a Christian to realize that in the depths of the Holy Trinity a human heart beats”!
This is very important for us: after all, if He is there as a person, then we, people, can be there. He paved the way for us to heaven. Look, here is the icon of the Trinity. On three sides of the throne are the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and the fourth side is facing us: our calling is to be there.
And at the end of this part of the Creed it says, “sitting at the right hand of the Father.” It means “at the right hand of the Father.” Of course, in the spiritual world there are no such spatial concepts - right, left. This figurative expression. To sit at the right hand of someone means to share power with him. As God, Christ always had this power, but now He shares it with the Father and as a man.
THIRD PUBLIC CONVERSATION
Today we will talk about the Church and everything connected with it. What is the Church? This is not a building, not a temple, it is all of us - that is, a community of believers. From the Greek word “eklessia” - a meeting of citizens of the polis. A person who is baptized and enters the Church also acquires a special, heavenly citizenship. The Apostle Paul said this to people who had just been baptized: “You are now no longer strangers and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household.”There are many images of the Church in the New Testament: a flock of obedient sheep and a good shepherd, Noah’s Ark (those who are in it are saved, and those outside of it are destroyed), the vine is Christ, and we are all branches. But the image closest to reality is found in the apostle. Pavel. “The Church is the body of Christ. Christ is the Head, and we are all members of the Church.” That is, the Church is not a formal earthly organization, but a single living organism.
From here it is clear that it is not the Christian who wears a cross and has a certificate of baptism, but the one who lives in this Body of Christ, who is its living cell. Each cell has its own respiratory and nutritional organs - each Christian has his own prayer, his own relationship with God. But every cell is part of some organs, and so a Christian lives in a society of believers.
This is where our attitude towards each other follows: “a hand cannot tell a leg that I don’t need you, or an eye cannot tell an ear: I don’t need you.” We are all very different in the Church, but we are all nothing without each other. There is such a good proverb: “They go to hell alone, but they go to heaven only all together.”
From here we understand that we all influence each other: a sinner seduces everyone around him, just as a sick cell infects healthy ones, but a righteous person, on the contrary, sanctifies and heals everything around him. As our Russian saint said Venerable Seraphim Sarovsky, “acquire a peaceful spirit and thousands around you will be saved.”
But here's the question. What gives life and nutrition to all organs in our body? Circulatory system. The Church also has its own circulatory system. This is the sacrament of Communion.
The sacrament of communion is the most important sacrament of the Orthodox Church. The apostles took communion for the first time at the Last Supper in Jerusalem. This happened on the eve of the Jewish Passover. Christ already knew that He would face suffering and death, and arranged a farewell dinner for the disciples. After dinner, He took bread, broke it, distributed it to the disciples and said: “Take, eat, this is My Body, which will be broken for you for the remission of sins,” and then gave a cup of wine and said: “Drink from it, everyone, this is Blood.” My New Testament, poured out for you and for many for the remission of sins.” And at the end he added: “Do this in remembrance of Me.”
And since then, this sacrament, this miracle, has been performed in our churches every day. We take ordinary earthly products, the fruits of our labor - bread and wine - and offer them to God as a bloodless sacrifice. And through the prayers of the entire Church at the liturgy (in Greek “common cause”) a miracle occurs: the Holy Spirit descends on these gifts, and the bread becomes the Body of Christ, and the wine the Blood of Christ. And everyone who partakes of the Holy Gifts is the same as being present at the Last Supper and receiving communion, i.e. has a part with Christ, will be united with Him. We accept into ourselves His pure, untainted by sin, resurrected, transformed, human nature capable of living in eternity. Nothing can unite us more with Christ than communion.
And, of course, for such a meeting with Christ, you need to adequately prepare. Therefore, before communion, confession is required so that Christ enters a pure heart, and according to the custom of our Church, before communion we fast for at least 3 days. Fasting can be physical - i.e. we abstain from eating animal food and from marital intimacy, if this is possible on the part of the spouse, and there is a spiritual fast - abstaining from unnecessary entertainment and empty activities that weaken us spiritually. These days we must try to read the Gospel and spiritual books more, pray more and carefully prepare for confession. On the evening of the third day you need to be at the evening service, confess and read special prayers for communion. And in the morning come to church on an empty stomach, pray at the liturgy and receive communion.
You need to receive communion constantly. We know that the heart has beaten more than once in its entire life, poured vitality throughout the body and stopped. No, it knocks all the time. And we constantly need repentance and cleansing. So the usual rhythm of spiritual life is confession-communion, confession-communion. It is impossible without this. You can at least pray, read the Gospel, you can become a great theologian, but without confession and communion all this is useless.
Now let's return to the Church. Now it is clear that we, who partake of one Body and one Blood, become one not only with Christ, but also with each other - we are half-brothers and sisters.
So, the Creed indicates 4 properties of the true Church - one, holy, catholic and apostolic. Unique means, firstly, one of a kind. Indeed, Christ is one, and if the Church is the Body of Christ, then she is also one. Therefore, various religious organizations that call themselves “churches” have no moral right to this name. And secondly, the church is united within itself. There are many local (i.e. independent in governance) Orthodox churches - Russian, Serbian, Jerusalem, Greek, etc. But in a spiritual sense, this is one Church, because I can, for example, go to Greece, go to a church there and take communion. The unity of the Church is determined by the unity of the sacrament. And historical unity: the Church includes all Orthodox Christians who have ever lived on earth and even those who lived before Christ - all the prophets, saints, the Mother of God and even angels - all make up a single living organism. Therefore, we pray for our departed - after all, when they die, they do not leave the Church. And therefore we turn to the saints for prayerful help - they are not strangers to us, they are our “fellow citizens”.
Why is the Church called holy? After all, it consists of us, sinful people? But the word “holy” does not mean “sinless.” Holy means separated and sanctified from God. We are separated from the rest of the world (it is no coincidence that the antonyms “secular” - “ecclesiastical”) and are sanctified by our Head. Therefore, nothing unclean can enter the Church, and if a person sins and does not repent, then he invisibly falls away from the Church. It is no coincidence that in the prayer before confession the priest says: “Lord, accept them and unite them with Your holy, catholic and apostolic Church.”
Why is the Church called cathedral? Sobornost is unity in plurality. We do not have sole power, like Catholics: the Pope said - and this is not discussed. No, with us everything is decided collectively. There is even such an expression - “conciliar reason”. We know that when believers gather together and pray, the truth is revealed to the collective mind. At the Ecumenical Councils, all the main dogmas and this Creed were approved.
Why is the Church called apostolic? There are a few points here. Firstly, it was founded by the apostles, and it was thanks to their preaching that it multiplied. Secondly, our priesthood has what is called “apostolic succession.” Christ gave His apostles special power and special grace - the grace of the priesthood, the power to perform the sacraments and be shepherds for the believing people. “Whose sins you forgive, they will be forgiven; those whose sins you retain, they will remain,” He told them. And the apostles could pass on this gift through the laying on of hands to other worthy Christians. They became bishops and in turn laid hands on others in prayer. And this is how the priesthood has reached the present day through the chain of ordination. That is, our priests did not appropriate this power to themselves, but it was given to them by Christ Himself. And thirdly, Apostolic Church called because she is still called to continue the apostolic mission - to preach Christ to those people who do not yet know about Him. “Go and teach all nations, baptizing them in Him, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,” Christ commanded not only the apostles, but also all of us. This, of course, does not mean that we, as Protestants, should pester people on the street. But first of all, we must preach by life - live in such a way that people want to be Christians. After all, as Christ says: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Further, the Creed talks about the sacrament of baptism. This is the first sacrament that opens the door to all others. The main action of this sacrament is immersion in water (in Greek “baptizo”). Water is a very ancient symbol of purification. Immersion in water is a symbol of death, rising from water is a symbol of resurrection. Before the person being baptized is immersed, he is always asked: “Are you compatible with Christ?” and if he says “yes” and “I believe Him as King and God,” then he, together with Christ, dies and is resurrected, and through this they gain a new birth - birth from above, birth into eternal life. A person emerges from the font absolutely clean, like a baby. All the sins he had committed before are washed away from his soul. In addition, he acquires a heavenly patron saint, in whose honor he receives a name.
In the Orthodox tradition, after the sacrament of baptism, another sacrament immediately follows - Confirmation.
We know that the Church, like any living organism, has a birthday. This happened on the day of Pentecost, i.e. 50 days after the resurrection of Christ. When Christ ascended into heaven, He commanded the apostles not to be separated, to remain in Jerusalem and await the descent of the Holy Spirit. And so, when they gathered for common prayer in the same Zion upper room where the Last Supper took place, they suddenly heard the stormy breathing of the wind and saw a tongue of flame above each of them. So, in the form of tongues of fire, the Holy Spirit descended on them, united them into a spiritual unity - the Church and gave them great spiritual gifts. When the Apostle Peter then went out to preach, his preaching had such power that on that day three thousand people were baptized. And this is the Peter who only recently denied Christ for fear of being arrested. The Holy Spirit gave such power.
At first, the apostles transferred these gifts of the Spirit to other people after baptism, also through the laying on of hands, and then they blessed a special oil - myrrh, through anointing, with which this sacrament began to be performed. Now, when the priest smears the ointment on a person with the words “seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit. 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. But these gifts are not given by force. They are sown like seeds in the ground, and it depends on the person himself how he will care for these gifts. Will he loosen, water, i.e. work on these gifts, or the next day he will forget that he was baptized and anointed.
The reasons why people decide to baptize their children sometimes turn out to be very original in the sense that they have nothing to do with the Church.
Baptism can be perceived as following a family structure:
« Our family follows the tradition of baptizing children. And I don't want to give up on her“, says one of the users.
Sometimes baptism is perceived as a national tradition:
« I won’t call myself a churchgoer; for me it’s more a question of continuity and some kind of identification: a Russian person is an Orthodox Christian».
This statement is accompanied by a lengthy justification:
« People (for the most part) profess (feel a sense of belonging) to the religion that has historically developed on the territory of their state. Hindus do not convert to Christianity, the Japanese do not strive for Judaism, and Iranians are indifferent to Zen. Everyone minds their own business».
Sociological surveys reveal from two-thirds to 80% of such non-church people, “Orthodox by culture”, in Russian society. We even like to appeal to this number on occasion. But it seems that it is with these people that when they go to church, wanting to baptize their children, what happens is greatest number misunderstandings, sad and comical situations, the essence of which is the same: they don’t really know what they are asking for, but they definitely demand that they do what they ask.
Godparents without “fanatical piety”
« I baptized two of my children and an older relative, and everything was easy, sincere and festive...
Now the priest sternly asked me when I confessed and received communion in last time, how often I go to church and which one, what prayers I know. I am not different from many of my compatriots in my overly fanatical piety, so I honestly answered that I do all this at the behest of my soul, not rarely, but not every day. I received the answer: “I’m tired of baptizing atheists!»
The commentator was offended. But how can I explain to her that baptism is not just a “holiday”, and Christianity is not only “God in the soul”?
Another case:
« Our godfather was a relative’s brother. He’s generally a hard-working guy, from the village, all the women there come to him for help, and he doesn’t take a penny from anyone, he’s always happy to help. He also turned out to be unworthy».
Are godfather and “good man” the same thing?
« A friend asked me to be her baby's godmother. I prepared thoroughly - I bought everything I needed at the Baptism store, got myself mentally ready, and now I read about the interview and was upset. I don't really follow Orthodox customs, what if the priest won’t allow me to see this sacrament?».
Obviously, in the minds of such people, baptism is just a beautiful rite. So complaints are flying across the Internet about the refusal to “perform the ritual.” Or that for some reason the “ritual” was carried out not individually or in the main church (which was chosen by the applicants for being beautiful and ancient), but in a small baptismal church (or even in a separate baptismal room), where the photographer and camera operator could turn around normally.
Is church just beautiful?
Baptize... without an interview
However, the main wave of indignation is caused by the requirement for parents and godparents to undergo public conversations. As the main argument against them, participants in online discussions cite the practice that existed in the Church in the 1990s, when everyone who came was baptized upon first conversion.
However, let’s figure out what public conversations are in general and why they arose.
Introduction to Church Practice preparatory conversations for those being baptized themselves (in the case of adults being baptized), as well as for parents and godparents (in the case of infant baptism) is regulated by the document “On religious, educational and catechetical service in the Russian Orthodox Church,” which came into force on December 28, 2011 .
It says, in particular:
« It is unacceptable to perform the Sacrament of Baptism on adults who, not knowing the basics of faith, refuse to prepare to participate in the Sacrament.”
“The Sacrament of Baptism cannot be performed on a person who denies fundamental truths Orthodox faith and Christian morality. People who wish to be baptized for superstitious reasons cannot be allowed to participate in the Sacrament of Baptism.”
That is, the main purpose of the conversations preceding baptism is not at all to conduct a “test for a good person,” as the authors of some of the above entries considered. Their goal is to explain to a person the basics of the religion to which he converts himself or converts a child.
At our request, the cleric of the Church of St. Nicholas at the Straw Gatehouse, Priest Dimitry Turkin, comments on the situation:
For many years, priests had to baptize almost everyone who asked for it. Very few baptized people became parishioners. Sometimes people who were very far from the true faith and did not seek to know this faith were accepted into membership of the Church. There is hope that this situation has passed forever.
So, you need to accustom yourself to the idea that you need to prepare for baptism, and if there is objectively no such readiness, then there will be no baptism.
Currently, preparation for baptism consists of listening to lectures mainly by future godparents. Of course, like any new business, it is not without its shortcomings. Essentially, we are trying to revive the practice of catechumens before baptism. This is an obvious benefit for the Church, so the world does not want to accept it.
The mistake of those who critically evaluate our attempts to resist formal attitude to the Sacrament, lies in the fact that it seems to them: we are trying to force someone to teach something. In fact, we are still trying, forgive the rudeness, to simply filter out those who do not want to learn anything themselves. Believe me, they do not need either Christ or His Church.
It is very good that someone declares: “the baptism of a child is the reason to start going to church.” Attending preparatory lectures is precisely the beginning of going to church. In addition, this is also a way to begin to understand something in church life. But we can no longer count on “suddenly they will start.”
Imagine the feelings of a priest forced to baptize everyone who comes for years. Believe me, it is very difficult and painful for the soul to pray with and for those who themselves do not want anything and simply indifferently defend the time of the Sacrament.
In fact, we don't turn anyone away. If a person has completed the preparation, then he is allowed to be baptized. It’s just that those who have decided for themselves that they don’t need anything from the Church other than the fact of baptism do not come to our conversations and therefore do not come to be baptized or baptize their children.
There were many different cases of baptism, but I don’t remember a single one when a person who initially showed indifference became a parishioner.
In general, over the time that has passed since the introduction of public conversations into church practice, the attitude towards them has become calmer. However, the phrase in the title of this section still occupies a leading place in the list of search queries.
Interview stumbling blocks
In addition to the very fact of their holding, public conversations also cause whole line questions.
Firstly, at the very beginning of the conversation, apparently, they were carried out, as they say, “with zeal beyond reason.” The correspondent knows of a case when several years ago in the summer an Orthodox couple from Moscow tried to baptize their third child in Vologda with their parents.
After sitting through a two-hour lecture with three children from zero to four years old in her arms, the mother then tried to talk to the priest about “mitigating the procedure.” To which I received the answer: “ Either sit through two more meetings, or go to be baptized at your place of residence».
In Moscow, after asking the same couple a few questions, the priest told the parents to prepare for communion. The child was baptized on the next convenient day for them.
Priest Dimitry Turkin comments:
The participation (NB, not the presence) of godparents and (or) parents is mandatory in cases where they are not churchgoers or are not parishioners of a given temple. If parishioners who confess and receive communion in church ask for baptism, they receive permission without preparation.
If these are people from another parish, then in a short conversation they must show their degree of church membership and, then, based on the results, they will either receive permission to be baptized, or they will be offered to undergo preparatory conversations.
Cases of a routine attitude towards catechesis (both on the part of participants and on the part of organizers) were also noted in online records:
« It's just something like a lecture. I went for three Saturdays. Dad was sitting with the baby. I don't regret it. At least I took a little nap».
In other cases, the very content of the conversation raised questions. The Regulations “On Religious-Educational and Catechetical Ministry” provide for:
“The catechumen of adults involves several conversations, including the study of the Creed, selected passages of Holy Scripture, the foundations of Christian morality, including ideas about sins and virtues, and an introduction to the liturgical life of the Church.”
The official document prescribes: when necessary, there should be at least two conversations, but their content and duration are determined by the catechist “with love and prudence.” However, life practice can often differ significantly:
« I went last year, and they gave me videos on my laptop to watch with speeches by clergy about the benefits of the very talk I came to.».
Sometimes the meaning of the conversation, according to the testimonies of those announced, came down to maintaining superstitions associated with baptism:
« The interview was more like a conversation about life. The main thing that worried them was whether we were dating our godfather, whether we were living together as a man and a woman, or whether we were getting married...»
In other cases, the content of the conversation itself is generally difficult to understand:
« The inappropriate lady who conducted this interview took it upon herself to tell why small children die, but there was no logic in it».
Sometimes those who came were clearly not ready for the teaching to move “to a practical level.” Although, perhaps, the tone of the conversation was not entirely correct:
« The abbess of the church (I could be wrong) conducted a monologue about what irresponsible, sinful, low people we all are.
There were a lot of godparents and parents, some tried to ask questions, to which they received short answers in the style of: “There’s a book, everything is written there, what’s not clear?»
True, our godfather, convicted of fornication by the whole crowd (he had already been living with a girl for a long time), got married. Perhaps we are not Orthodox and should not be baptized, but this is not the way to convey it.”
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