The baptism of a child is one of the first holidays in his life. Some parents strive to baptize their baby as soon as possible, placing him under the protection of the Savior. Others scrupulously choose the day of the sacrament so that it falls on a significant date or church holiday for them. In this regard, many people have a question: is it possible to baptize a child before Easter, is there a ban on these days?
Baptism age
At the dawn of Christianity, the sacrament of baptism was performed on major church holidays - Easter, Christmas, Epiphany. The ceremony was attended by adults who independently came to faith, rethinking their lives. This was largely due to the persecution of early Christians and the danger that existed for them.
With the spread of Christian teaching, the age of baptism began to rapidly decrease. Now it is considered necessary to baptize the baby as early as possible, immediately after the fortieth day from the moment of his birth, introducing him to the faith. Parents choose spiritual mentors, the temple in which the ceremony will be performed, and the date, based on their own considerations. In some cases, parents want to carry out baptism on church holidays, feeling a special spiritual state and wanting to pass it on to their child.
Lent and festivities
Easter is one of the brightest and most life-affirming holidays in Christianity, which is preceded by Lent, lasting 48 days. During this period, the body and soul of a believer are cleansed.
The last week before Easter - Holy - is intended for a believer to spiritually rethink his life and prepare for the Great Holiday. IN Holy Week The church does not advise organizing celebrations or feasts; on the contrary, it is strictly recommended to abstain from rich fatty foods and alcohol, pacifying the desires of your body. Based on these requirements, clergy do not recommend performing the sacrament of baptism during the fast before Easter.
Are children baptized during Lent?
Sometimes the choice of the date for the baby’s baptism is dictated by external circumstances, and the date of the ceremony may fall during Lent. Are children baptized during Lent? Despite certain objections from some clergy, the church does not have the right to refuse parishioners to perform the sacrament on these days and there is no direct prohibition.
But parents of the baby need to remember that it is inappropriate to have noisy fun accompanied by the consumption of fatty foods, meat foods, and alcohol. It is advisable to set the table with Lenten dishes, celebrating the baby’s churching.
If parents decide to hold a baptism ceremony during Lent, believers are advised to choose a day for this Maundy Thursday. This day is dedicated to the cleansing of a person’s material world - his body, his home. Therefore, holding the sacrament of baptism on Maundy Thursday is symbolic - Epiphany water washes off the baby original sin, cleanses his soul, and he will be able to celebrate Easter in spiritual purity.
Are children baptized on Easter day?
Easter Sunday is traditionally associated with elation, a feeling of the rebirth of the world and man for a new better life. The sacrament of baptism can also be performed on Easter; there are no direct prohibitions on this. A problem may arise with finding a clergyman who will agree to perform the ritual, because each of them is actively busy during Holy Week and on the Saturday before Easter in divine services.
Pros and cons of baptizing babies during Lent and Easter
Before deciding to baptize a child during Lent or on Easter, parents need to weigh the pros and cons.
“For” baby baptism during Lent and Easter
- Original sin will be symbolically washed away from the crumbs during the period of general Christian cleansing of soul and body.
- At this time, many experience a special state of mind associated with spiritual rebirth. Perhaps this will help the child undergo the baptism ceremony without tears and worries.
- Baptism on Easter is an additional reason to gather the whole family at one table and celebrate the birth of a new life in faith.
“Disadvantages” of baptizing a baby during Lent and Easter
- The main problem is to find a priest who will agree to perform the ceremony. During Lent and Holy Week, many long services take place, so the priests try to find time for the sick - unction and communion, offering to postpone the baptism of the baby to a later date.
- Before Easter, and especially on Easter Day, churches are filled with parishioners. The baby may react poorly to large crowds of people, become nervous and capricious during the ceremony.
- It is advisable that festive table consisted of lean dishes, which some of the guests may not like.
Having decided to baptize a child during Lent or Easter, parents need to:
- choose a temple, a priest and make a preliminary agreement with him, taking into account his workload in the days leading up to Easter;
- think over the holiday menu taking into account existing restrictions;
- if possible, confess yourself and ask your chosen godparents to do the same.
There is an opinion that the baptism of a person during a major church holiday brings additional spiritual protection to his life. Perhaps this is why parents should make special efforts and go through certain restrictions in order to give their baby these additional spiritual powers.
Baptism is one of the 7 Church Sacraments; it is after it that the convert becomes Orthodox Christian. Carrying out the ritual itself is no different. As a rule, the child is immersed in blessed water (or doused with it) three times, and at this time the priest reads certain prayers.
Since the time of the first Christians, baptism itself and preparation for it have been treated responsibly and thoroughly: they studied church rules, learned prayers and the sequence of worship services. In those distant times, adults were usually baptized, because Orthodox faith was not widespread and, moreover, it was believed that a person should make such a decision consciously. Preparation for the ceremony included fasting, which was required to be observed for 40 days by both the person wishing to be baptized and the entire community. Today you can even baptize a baby who is a few days old, but whether it’s worth doing this - we’ll figure it out further.
With the onset of the forty-day fast before one of the main Christian holidays Many parents have a question: is it possible to baptize children in the Temple at this time. The answer to it is exclusively positive, as any clergyman can confirm. On Lent, as on any other day, baptism can be performed to introduce a child to the church, but only by prior agreement with the priest.
The clergy believe that the best day to baptize a child is Maundy Thursday. On this day it is also customary to take communion and clean up your home. All these traditions have one thing in common: to celebrate the bright Christ's Resurrection a true Christian must be in complete purity, both material and spiritual.
Having decided to be baptized in the days before Easter, be prepared for refusal, which may be due to the following reasons:
Priests usually do not refuse the request of parents in the days before Easter and conduct the Sacrament.
But parents should think about whether the baby will withstand a long enough service that should be defended? Are they ready to give up noisy celebration of the event, drinking alcohol and eating non-lenten food? If you want to celebrate the event on a grand scale, then it makes sense to postpone the Sacrament to another day.
Is it worth baptizing during Lent?
Of course, if you wish, you can baptize children on absolutely any day, having agreed in advance with the priest in the church where you want to conduct the ceremony. But for the most part Orthodox people they themselves try to move the date of the event to the days after Easter, since before the holiday they diligently prepare for it.
If you decide to baptize children just before the festival, then it is necessary to comply with some requirements.
- During the forty-day fast you must abstain from drinking alcohol.
- It is allowed to eat only lean dishes.
- No noisy celebrations are allowed.
By the way, during the entire fast, especially at Holy Week, alcohol consumption is strictly prohibited. Self Lenten menu as strict and limited as possible. It is recommended to avoid noisy parties and merry feasts.
But there is an exception to this rule: after the Sacrament of baptism, all relatives and friends are allowed to organize a modest celebration. Naturally, there should be no dancing, excessive noise, or loud music, but you are allowed to drink a small amount of wine and eat tasty (but lean) food. During the feast, worldly thoughts are allowed, but under no circumstances should you plot or think about evil.
Should you baptize your own children before Easter? Only the child’s parents themselves and future godparents can give a definite answer to this question.
If it is possible to prepare thoroughly for the ceremony, the clergy can devote time to you, and you are ready to refuse to hold a noisy feast in honor of the event, then, without hesitation, agree on holding the Sacrament during Lent.
Easter week is considered one of the holiest of the year by the entire Orthodox world.
It is on these days that miracles of healing are performed and sacred sacraments are revealed to ordinary people.
So is it possible to baptize a child on Easter?
Or should I wait?
The sacrament of baptism: is it possible to baptize a child on Easter?
Today all Orthodox world strongly recommends that all new parents baptize their children in the first year of the baby’s life, preferably immediately after the fortieth day from birth. Why such a rush? After all, before, under a totalitarian regime, children were not baptized at all?
Parents are in a hurry because society has developed a superstition that if a child is not baptized, then he is vulnerable to evil forces. In fact, most parents have no idea what baptism means for a person.
A baptized person falls under the protection of the Orthodox egregor. Egregor is the one orthodox power prayers and offerings, which have accumulated over centuries, and it is she who comes to the protection of the child. In the old days, it was customary to name babies one name and baptize them under another. It was believed that if dark forces If they don’t know the name of the baptismal baby, they cannot harm him.
Today, many occult practitioners consider these statements to be true, but insist that when parents independently baptize a child at an unconscious age, they are making a lifelong choice for him. The sacrament of baptism is performed without the conscious permission of a new person who has recently come into this world. But the customs and traditions of society are difficult to overcome, so the only thing left for parents is to choose suitable date for baptism. Is it possible to baptize a child on Easter, is it a suitable day for this? We will answer this question below.
Is it possible to baptize a child on Easter? What difficulties may arise
Easter is one of happy days a year for Orthodox believers, even because they are coming out of Lent and can afford a lot. On this day, families celebrate the Resurrection of the Lord and services begin in all Temples on Saturday night. Many parents who would like to baptize their child on this day are faced with the refusal of clergy to provide such a service.
Parents may be refused entry into the Church, arguing that it is not appropriate to baptize a child in Great holiday. In fact, all the Holy Fathers know that you can baptize on any day, it’s just that the Temple’s work schedule may not allow this to be done fully on Easter Sunday.
But why might there be a refusal? It’s worth imagining for a moment the scale of the Easter celebration. All the churches are packed with parishioners, who even stand on the street, waiting for their turn to illuminate the Easter products. All the Holy Fathers are fully involved, so they simply physically do not have time to conduct baptisms.
Of course, if in church shop parents will be refused permission to perform the baptism ritual, citing a banal lack of time - this will cause indignation on the part of people. Therefore, it is easier to say that it is not allowed. In many Temples, Saturday is chosen for the sacrament. On Easter week This is also a very convenient day, because it is on Saturday that you can take a break from the cleaning of Maundy Thursday and the troubles of Good Friday.
Saturday is the pre-holiday day and is considered Easter, which is why many clergy choose it as optimal for carrying out the baptism ritual. So, when wondering whether it is possible to baptize a child on Easter, parents should know that it is possible only if they can convince Father of this.
The difficulty is that in many cities the Church has become a commercial organization and in order to conduct rituals on the holiday, clergy begin to ask new parents for double the fee for performing the ritual.
But many esotericists and ministers of the Church believe that it is worth it. The ritual of baptism, performed on a major church holiday, gives additional protection and strength to the child. This may seem quite contradictory, but there are a number of arguments for such a statement.
Is it possible to baptize a child on Easter: arguments for it
So, Easter is a holiday dedicated to the resurrection of Jesus Christ after his crucifixion. On this day, there is an activation of myrrh-streaming icons; water consecrated on this day retains its properties for a long time. It is believed that miracles happen on Easter day, so you should pay close attention to all events and signs during this period.
Is it possible to baptize a child on Easter? It is possible, because the child will be baptized with blessed water, which has the most powerful energy per year. This will allow you to wash away all the sins of past lives from the child’s soul and gain a boost of health. Even for parents, this day will be doubly special, since Easter day fills the hearts of many with hope and faith, and this is so lacking in modern society.
If parents can convince clergy to perform the ritual on this day, then they will be able to profitably combine Easter service Sunday with a wonderful ritual of baptism of your child. Thousands of parishioners’ prayers on this day will protect their child and their family. The sacrament will become significant, and it can be celebrated not only on the day of christening every year, but also on the day of Easter.
But, if parents doubt the correctness of choosing the day for such a significant and significant ritual, then they should not be convinced of this. Everything has its time. Many parents are more oriented in matters of baptism not on the Great Holidays, but on the days of angels, and they are also right. Each family has the right to choose the day of baptism to their taste. But it is worth remembering that when asking the question whether it is possible to baptize a child on Easter, they will be given a clear answer “it is possible.” And then the choice is up to the family. The most important thing is to have a festive and positive attitude under any circumstances. Peace and tranquility in the soul.
It is possible already from the eighth day of his life, although more often this event is scheduled after 40 days after the birth of the baby. What to do if these deadlines (and they are very important for true believers parents) fall on long church holidays? Or they find themselves “close to” them. Is it possible to baptize a child on Easter?, for example, or the idleness of his christening during the days of Lent, on the Nativity of Christ and on Christmastide? (see Orthodox calendar)
Terminology Issues: Baptism and Christening
To answer such a serious question for many, one must understand the meaning of the celebrations. So, what is baptism and how does this event differ from christening?
. The sacrament of baptism is a rite of recognition of a baby by God, a ceremony of introducing a new little person to the society of believers (who are under the protection of Heaven).
Christening is a celebration of the anniversary of a ceremony.
Respectively, Christening on Easter It will be possible to celebrate only on the condition that the ceremony itself took place on the day of the great church holiday, the Resurrection of Christ. As for the possibility of baptism on one of the days so important for the Orthodox Church, there are no prohibitions here.
According to the Charter, this ceremony can be held on any day of the year: and on Easter are possible, but there are several important clarifications here.
Baptism and christenings on Easter
The Feast of the Resurrection of Christ is one of the two most important, significant dates for the Orthodox Church. On this day, in all churches without exception, long services are held, which require considerable expenditure of strength and energy from the clergy. Conducting after them an equally important rite, which is always Baptism, is quite difficult.
Therefore, the ministers of Moscow churches themselves do not prohibit parents from scheduling a ceremony on this important day, but they strongly recommend:
Very much in advance (at least 2-3 months in advance) agree with the priest about holding the celebration;
Specify in detail the time of the ceremony;
Describe the reasons that force parents to schedule the ceremony on such a busy day for the Church.
Some churches may prohibit filming in the Church on this holiday. This point should be discussed separately. If the parents have in mind an experienced professional who has already worked in various churches in the capital (including on major church holidays), he will certainly tell you how to better organize everything.
But that's all about Baptisms on Easter, the question with Christenings is simpler. Since there is no need to celebrate it every year in the Church, agreeing with the same photographer to photograph the first Christening (in a park, cafe, at home) is not a problem. The last point: it is also better to agree on the work of a photographer or resolve the issue of video shooting in advance. For him, Easter is also a holiday, a day off.
Baptism and christening on the bright day of the Nativity of Christ
Is it possible to baptize a child on Christmas?, the issue is resolved: according to the rules, it is possible, but in reality, you need to take care in advance of finding those who agree (temples, clergy and a photographer). With the involvement of an experienced cameraman or photographer, however, difficulties will definitely not arise on this holiday. Christ's Birthday is a holiday that many people like to shoot with a professional camera, so on this day (and throughout the week of Christmastide) good photographer doesn't sit at home.
Another question is whether the baby will like to celebrate when he grows up. Christening at Christmas? Is it worth combining these important events- the day of his coming into the shadow of Heaven and the Birth of the Son of the Lord? For some, this coincidence of dates is the reason to schedule Baptism at this time (after all, it is a high honor to be baptized at such a time). memorable date). And yet, not everyone sees the situation this way, so there is something to think about here.
5Dbabtism
Services: Baptism at Easter and ChristmasDescription: Christenings and baptisms on church holidays, baptism at Easter and Christmas
The sacrament of baptism is most often performed in infancy. The child is baptized as a small child so that he finds his guardian angel as soon as possible. Believing parents who regularly attend church understand that baptism is not a tribute to fashion or tradition, it is truly a sacrament that is performed out of deep and sincere faith.
However, not everyone knows all the church rules, so people often doubt whether it is possible to baptize a child on a given day. The main holy holiday, Easter, has a special position in the Orthodox Church. How does it relate to baptism? On what days after Easter can a child be baptized? Let's try to find out.
Is it possible to baptize a child on Easter?
Easter is great Orthodox holiday. It starts back with Saturday evening when people come to the temple for night service. Afterwards the morning service is held. Thus, all church employees, including the priest, will be extremely busy on this day. And even after the morning Easter service, when it is theoretically possible to baptize a child, the clergy will be busy with other concerns, and their fatigue after a sleepless night can affect their well-being.
This is why most often the church refuses parents who want to baptize a child on Easter. Nevertheless, Orthodox canons it is not prohibited. Baptism can occur on absolutely any day during the year. Moreover, the ancient church used to call Holy Saturday on the eve of Easter the best day for baptism. Today, performing the ritual on this very day is problematic, primarily from the practical side of the issue. But if you have a great desire and an adequate explanation of why you chose this particular day, the priest can meet you halfway.
What days after Easter are suitable for baptism?
The week following Easter is called Bright. These days, Orthodox Christians do not work hard, are happy and visit each other. These days, the baptism of a child will be very appropriate. Yes and Orthodox Church does not prohibit people from baptizing their children on any day of the year.
Bright Week ends with Red Hill. On this day they remember the dead, go to the cemetery, clean the graves and decorate them with flowers. Baptism on this day is also not prohibited, but most often believers themselves do not like to choose the day of remembrance of deceased ancestors for such a joyful event.
For clarification of all questions concerning religion, Orthodox Christians should turn to Holy Scripture. The Bible does not prohibit baptism on any day. Another option is to ask the priest who serves in your church for advice.
It turns out that after Easter you can baptize a child absolutely any day. But it is best to go to the temple to the priest who will perform the baptismal ceremony. Churches usually have their own schedule that designates when and what activities take place. You can negotiate with the priest individually if you need to perform the ceremony on a specific day after Easter.
