The baptism of adults: a reason “why you need something” we face so far

Why come to be baptized are adults, what is the meaning of confessional conversation, and which accidental meetings take place near the mystery says the priest Andrey mizyuk.

VK / Simbirsk Archdiocese

  • Baptism or attraction?
  • The baptism of a child: rules, tips, and practical issues
  • Baptism – why?..
  • Baptism, Dostoevsky and the girl with the baubles
  • Chinese Boris and miracles after the baptism

To be baptized come to different people

The Priest Andrey Mizyuk. Photo:Ivan Privalov / eparhia-saratov

For, like, eight years I will serve in large mass baptisms of adults. The Baptismal service of the Liturgy, was once introduced with Metropolitan Saratov and Volsky Longin lent before the Liturgy of great Saturday and exists today. However, being not only baptism on Great Saturday, but 1-2 times a month in the regular Sabbath days.

Most often these baptisms are held in the Cathedral, where adults baptizes Metropolitan, at the end of the rite of baptism all the newly baptized, go to Church, where we participate in the Liturgy and Holy communion.

To be baptized come to different people. Age does not matter here, although more children are still baptized in the old regular, the usual rite in parish churches, and come to us are adults. Most often it is people from 25 to 40 years, although, of course, be baptized, and teenagers from 13 years old, well, older people.

My objective is to commit on the very eve of the Baptismal Liturgy, the Rite of announcement and confessional conversation. That is the usual Rite of the sacrament of Baptism is seemingly divided into two days. In the evening is that the part where the baptized called names, read the prayers of the prohibition, a renunciation of Satan and the combination of Christ is a confessional conversation with those wishing to be baptized. I must say that it is not a simple test for me.

The confessional interview is not a confession, but it is a Frank and honest conversation in which the person’s life, and there is also the opportunity to understand what a person means the Baptism was, and why he decided to be baptized.

Would be better if mom and dad allowed them to decide

There is a perception that all those baptized in the years of Soviet, christened in the 90s, when in the temples too, was a mass baptism. However, it is not so. Unfortunately, 25-30 years ago, a mass baptism was a kind of a tribute to the then interest in the life of the Church, they were made, as in the Soviet years, at the request, no small talk before the baptism and especially some of the training certainly was not, but was not prohibited, and therefore, that was why you need something. With this problem, when the “why you need something”, we are confronted until now, when coming to baptize their children, people have a negative attitude to the need to pass catechetical conversation. And, of course, baptized in those 90 years, not all.

Very often, talking with an adult, a Mature man who is over forty, I know that he did not want those years to go to be baptized only for the reason that “I’m Russian, and it means that the baptized and Orthodox,” so for someone not at mass was the argument, and Vice versa, even repelled.

The younger people, who only were born in the 90-ies and have not been baptized in infancy (usually more), also grew up in families where the attitude towards faith was often indifferent and sometimes negative. These adult children are sometimes baptized with their parents.

And then there are children of mixed marriages, where the parents were and are representatives of different ethnic and religious traditions. Believers was not there either, but parents often leave the right to choose and to decide in religious traditions to their children when they already grow. I must say that this is a very good and wise decision.

Sometimes in our “Christian” families knowledge and understanding of the meaning of the sacrament of Baptism is such that it would be better if mom and dad allowed their children to decide what and how to believe them.

It’s better than making Baptism an occasion for get-togethers in a cafe or a gathering of many relatives, and especially much more honest than to invent an entirely unthinkable reasons like “to be healthy, to dark and afraid to sleep”.

Baptism has never been and never will be a box for notes with wishes. On the contrary, such an attitude to the Sacrament often ends 15 years from the enraged teenager comes to the temple and asks him raschistit, because he doesn’t need any of Christianity and his opinion was never asked. Such cases are, unfortunately, also not uncommon.

…And comes back to shore a different person

We hold a small conversation, get acquainted, it is sometimes difficult conversation, because even past the mandatory interview is not always himself fully aware of the reasons and the goals, sometimes frankly admits that his wife, or mother, or sister would like. And then a pertinent question about what would the man himself and whether he is ready to bring God’s promise of a good conscience. Sometimes a person makes a decision what Baptism is to be postponed or moved to another time.

The next day, if this baptism is not in the temple, we gather again and go for the city, where early in the morning on one of the city’s beaches, when almost no one is here, we make it is the Sacrament of Baptism and confirmation.

The priest, wearing the epitrachelion, cuffs and phelonion, goes into the water, and followed by those who are baptized.

Pronounce the baptismal formula and returned to shore a different person.

After washing the world and the tonsure hair band baptized people on the bus going to the temple to participate in the Liturgy. After the Liturgy the newly-enlightened Christians are waiting for the meal, and handing out certificates of baptism.

The baptism of the Volga are made for several years. And, by the way, in such baptisms are taking part most of the people tend to forty people, and sometimes more. So this year in the Sacrament of Baptism on the Volga was attended by 39 people. But, probably, for the first time in all these years this event was for me filled with many wonderful and unexpected meetings, which I saw again the very simple and so often forgotten by us in everyday life the truth about the randomness of accidents.

They were all from the same Cup and the same spirit

There are people with whom I studied almost 20 years ago in one school, in parallel classes, and with whom all these years we haven’t seen. How and why it happened that in these circumstances, we met again and by the way, got to know each other – is known to God alone. However, it turned out that it’s not a simple case of those which are the most common. Alexander had recently given birth wife, and his newborn twins are in intensive care.

For many years without children inspired the man to rethink his life, his baptism was the result of a long journey of reflection, of doubt, of searching. A few days after his Baptism we baptized his boys in the perinatal center.

One day almost fifteen years ago, my wife, only votserkovitsya, gave the cross its nekrashenaya classmate at the University. And, as it turned out, Sasha, her classmate, also baptized at this time, and put on her just the same, once upon a time gifted to my wife, the cross. And soon we will baptize already Sasha’s daughter. Surprisingly, this is the cross, a quiet and modest gift, went through all these years together with this girl long before I met my wife as ordained as Sasha, through many trials and even obstacles, I decided to take this important step.

And this time baptized the husband of our parishioner Mary. Six years ago she was widowed, her first husband died, and this loss was just like a heavy blow. I still remember those hard and long talks of the cold and grey winter, the silence that we sometimes just sat on a bench in the temple, how it was shared together with her the pain her mother. Then there were months and years of living and making, and yet God has not left our prayers and sorrowful sighs, and changes in life happened.

From someone I heard that Mary married a second time, but still it was amazing to meet her in a Church among many people and to hear today that baptized her husband. So with the birth of a new man appeared and new small Church, and really want to get this wonderful dispensation of life came suddenly and another about complacency. The one that comes to many who were baptized out of ignorance or by some his own, some completely different than from the gospel, the purpose. Not in eternal life and the remission of sins, and “that was to fulfill…”.

And next to the temple on a bench sat a woman, which I didn’t ask the name, and it is not important, in General, because it is almost here right on the eve of the birth came to support her husband, who that day were baptized. And also after years of reflection, choice, doubts and many questions, and now just realizing and knowing why. And all these people were in the same Cup, they were all of one spirit.

And I came home, I thought about that tell me someone twenty years ago that I’d be a priest, and I will baptize a man from a parallel class, his children and a classmate of his future wife, then perhaps I would have thought that I someone accidentally confused.

Accidentally. But I suspect that accidents have ceased to happen in my life exactly to the day when I was in the two years christened in the Church, where after a quarter century later I was ordained and I began to baptize people.

Don’t know whether by accident…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.