The most basic facts about baptism are reported in the Gospel. It is about the preaching of the forerunner of John to the Jewish people who come for baptism on the Jordan River. But the baptism of John was significantly different from that which was later carried out by the apostles, or which is now carried out by bishops. John called sinners to repentance through his preaching and baptism. When Jesus himself was baptized, the ceremony took on a completely different essence.
The sacrament of holy baptism opens the human heart for the acceptance of the Savior, and the baptism of John the Baptist prepared the human soul for the acceptance of the word of God and faith in the coming Christ.
The naming of the baptized person with an Orthodox name
Before the ceremony takes place, a person is given the name of a canonized saint. The baptized person can choose a name he likes, if it does not contradict the church rules.
How to choose the right Orthodox name?
It is not at all necessary that the name chosen for Baptism be the same as the civil name. It so happens that the name given to a person at birth is not in the lists of the canonized saints of God. The most important thing is to feel in your soul how close in spirit this or that saint, whose name a person will bear after receiving Baptism.
You can choose the saint whose day is celebrated first after the birthday of the person being baptized, or you can consult a priest on this issue. After the Orthodox name has been chosen, the priest makes the sign of the cross three times. He asks the Lord Jesus to bestow mercy on the person.
Sacrament of Holy Baptism
Baptism takes place near a previously prepared baptismal font. It is in it that the baptized person will be dipped three times. The sacrament of baptism begins with the priest's prayer to the Most High, in which he asks the Lord Jesus to cleanse the heart of the baptized person from all defilement, from an unclean and wicked spirit. The priest prays to the Lord to add a new son or daughter to the Holy Church. The one who is baptized, in return promises to become a faithful son of the Church of Christ, to serve the Lord Jesus, to renounce the evil one. He confirms his faith and vows by overshadowing himself with the sign of the cross three times, thereby accepting Christ as Savior in his heart.
A baptized person spits three times as a sign that he despises Satan and denies him, refuses to serve him. At the Baptism of an infant, this ceremony is performed by his / her recipients. After that, the minister of the church turns to the Lord with a prayer for the consecration of the water in the font. He overshadows her three times with the sign of the cross, and then - with holy oil. Following this, he anoints the one who is baptized with holy oil. The water in the font should become, for the one over whom the sacrament is performed, a symbol of a new spiritual life, which will lead him to salvation and eternal bliss. The priest, invoking the Holy Trinity, immerses a person in consecrated water three times.
At the end of the ceremony, a pectoral cross is put on the baptized person. It symbolizes the sign of faith of the already baptized person in the Savior Jesus Christ. Then white clothes are put on him, as a symbol of the purity of the soul of a new son or daughter of the Holy Church.