I was recently baptised in the Orthodox church and I would like to share the experience here rather than in the Orthodox Christianity section because there are many people on this forum who are enquiring about Orthodoxy and many catechumans who have yet to be baptised. I would also like to mention that I was also baptised as a protestant before I was a teenager out of my own free will so to talk about this on the general Christianity section is a better option.
So at a young age I already had a desire for God and I never knew about Orthodox or any other churches besides the ones I grew up in, so I decided to get baptised, in case you are wonderin why I got baptised again in the Orthodox church I will explain.
One of the many reasons why I joined the Orthodox church was because I realized that there is only 1 church and I wasnt in it, to become Orthodox you first become an enquirer, then when you decide that this is for you then you become a catechuman and this process can take 1-2 years, some people longer, Jay Deyer for example was a Catechuman for 10 years. At the end of this process you finally get baptised and you are allowed to partake of the Eucharist (Holy Communion) and you are officially part of the church, so its not something you can microwave yourself into. As my priest explained, the Orthodox baptism is not to undermine or disrespect my first baptism but to complete what was left out.
Before the baptism date you have to find someone who will be your Godfather, this is important because once that person is your God father you are tied into them for life and you have a relationship with them so you need to take your time and chose wisely, the person you ask might also say no, you also need to have a patron saint assigned to you and usually you will get a 2nd name after your patron saint or if you have a saint that has the same name as yours like in my case then you retain your name. In the Orthodox church baptism first starts out with an exorcism outside the church doors, then the baptism is a triple immersions into the Trinity in something that looks like a giant champaen glass bath tub but made of steel or other material, then a Chrismation takes place where you get annointed with oil for the reception of the Holy Spirit, you also get a baptismal cross thats blessed etc, many other little things hapoen like the cutting of some of your hair as an offering to God, the entire baptism process lasts about 45min and its involves many things, ID books, birth certificates, you get registered with your arch Bishop and you even get a baptism certificate, its a pretty big deal and I didnt really know what to expect until a few days before my baptism so it was all a suprise to me. When you go home after the baptism you cant just take a shower you have to bath is a tub and collect all the water because of the blessed oil, you cant let it run into the sewers you have to pour the bath waters into the ground and even the clothes you were in must be washed this way and you not really supposed to wash your hair for 3 days after the baptism.
The experience I can liken to my wedding day or when my children were born, you know that these things are great blessings and I knew that baptism is a great blessing but you still trying to grasp what actually happened to you.
People who were present took some photos and even made me an album, I actually wish I dressed a bit better on the day but all I was thinking about was the actual baptism not all the other stuff. After the baptism we all went out for lunch for my family to meet my Godfather and to celebrate, I was baptised during lent so we were all still fasting but it was great that I got baptised during lent, during the Pascha season, I didnt plan it this way its just worked out this way, I disnt want to delay my baptism because its something I really wanted and there was a sense of urgency to me so rather sooner than later.
So at a young age I already had a desire for God and I never knew about Orthodox or any other churches besides the ones I grew up in, so I decided to get baptised, in case you are wonderin why I got baptised again in the Orthodox church I will explain.
One of the many reasons why I joined the Orthodox church was because I realized that there is only 1 church and I wasnt in it, to become Orthodox you first become an enquirer, then when you decide that this is for you then you become a catechuman and this process can take 1-2 years, some people longer, Jay Deyer for example was a Catechuman for 10 years. At the end of this process you finally get baptised and you are allowed to partake of the Eucharist (Holy Communion) and you are officially part of the church, so its not something you can microwave yourself into. As my priest explained, the Orthodox baptism is not to undermine or disrespect my first baptism but to complete what was left out.
Before the baptism date you have to find someone who will be your Godfather, this is important because once that person is your God father you are tied into them for life and you have a relationship with them so you need to take your time and chose wisely, the person you ask might also say no, you also need to have a patron saint assigned to you and usually you will get a 2nd name after your patron saint or if you have a saint that has the same name as yours like in my case then you retain your name. In the Orthodox church baptism first starts out with an exorcism outside the church doors, then the baptism is a triple immersions into the Trinity in something that looks like a giant champaen glass bath tub but made of steel or other material, then a Chrismation takes place where you get annointed with oil for the reception of the Holy Spirit, you also get a baptismal cross thats blessed etc, many other little things hapoen like the cutting of some of your hair as an offering to God, the entire baptism process lasts about 45min and its involves many things, ID books, birth certificates, you get registered with your arch Bishop and you even get a baptism certificate, its a pretty big deal and I didnt really know what to expect until a few days before my baptism so it was all a suprise to me. When you go home after the baptism you cant just take a shower you have to bath is a tub and collect all the water because of the blessed oil, you cant let it run into the sewers you have to pour the bath waters into the ground and even the clothes you were in must be washed this way and you not really supposed to wash your hair for 3 days after the baptism.
The experience I can liken to my wedding day or when my children were born, you know that these things are great blessings and I knew that baptism is a great blessing but you still trying to grasp what actually happened to you.
People who were present took some photos and even made me an album, I actually wish I dressed a bit better on the day but all I was thinking about was the actual baptism not all the other stuff. After the baptism we all went out for lunch for my family to meet my Godfather and to celebrate, I was baptised during lent so we were all still fasting but it was great that I got baptised during lent, during the Pascha season, I didnt plan it this way its just worked out this way, I disnt want to delay my baptism because its something I really wanted and there was a sense of urgency to me so rather sooner than later.
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