Most often, baptism occurs in infancy, when the issue of faith is decided for the child by his parents. They thereby bring him to church and ask the Lord God to protect their child. Less often adults come to be baptized. But if this happens, then. The man seriously and firmly decided that he wants to become an Orthodox Christian. This is the main condition for performing the sacrament.
It is worth communicating about your desire to be baptized to the priest himself or other church workers. There is a compulsory conversation before baptism. It is advisable to come to it with future godparents, although they may not be. This is not necessary now. In the conversation, the priest will tell you how to lead an Orthodox life, what it means to be a real Christian, how the sacrament of baptism is going on.
You will first need to purchase the things necessary for the ceremony. A list of them can be obtained at a specific temple. As a rule, it consists of a baptismal shirt (women must wear something opaque under it), a cross, candles, and towels.
Another important point is the choice of your future church name. It can coincide with a worldly name or be tied to the day of baptism and the celebration on this day of the memory of this or that saint.
The sacrament of baptism itself lasts about half an hour. In the course of the action, the priest tells the participants what to do and how. In some churches, people are still baptized by immersion in an hour with holy water. But more often partial ablution is performed, without immersion.
Why is a parental blessing needed?
Parental blessing in the church life is just a pleasant custom. When it comes to weddings, no blessing is required. What matters is only the desire of two people who have decided to unite their destinies. They voluntarily can ask their parents for blessings.
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Parental blessing itself has recently become something of a tradition. It reminds a person of his connection with his ancestors. This tells him that he is not alone.
Kind words of parting words from parents help us to start something easier, to go to something. Especially when the mother and father play a big role in the lives of their children, they are respected and honored. It does not matter at all whether the parents themselves are baptized or Orthodox people. If so, it is good, even if they rarely go to church or prefer to pray at home. When they are not baptized, but simply say a kind motherly and fatherly word to their children, this also means a lot.