How to Organize an Adult's Baptism: 5 Attributes You'll Need

Usually in our time people undergo the Sacrament of baptism in childhood. Everyone strives to baptize their children as soon as possible after birth. This is how it is accepted in Orthodox society. But the consequences of many years of enslavement to Socialism are still affecting us. Then people were taught that the Orthodox faith was a deception, “the opium of the people.” In Soviet society, baptism of a child was punished quite harshly. Therefore, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, people were baptized in large numbers as adults. We will take a closer look at how the baptism of an adult takes place in this article.

Pros of baptism as an adult

Firstly, a person consciously undergoes the Sacrament, voluntarily renounces Satan and all his works and unites himself with God. He will no longer be able to say that he was forced to accept faith. And then the chance of changing religions is reduced to a minimum.

Secondly, he does not need godparents to vouch for him. He himself is able to utter words of renunciation. Usually, the search for godparents lengthens the preparation time for the Sacrament and complicates it.

It is also easier for the priest performing the Sacrament, because he will not scream loudly, like babies when they are dipped into the font.

Announcement

Before reading the clarification prayers, the priest performs the following sacred rites: he blows three times into the face of the person being baptized, this is symbolically connected with the moment of the creation of man, when God took man created from the dust of the earth, and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul (Gen. 2; 7).. Then the priest blesses the person being baptized three times, and placing his hand on his head, begins reading prayers.

After reading prohibitory prayers (prayer for banning evil spirits), a ritual of renunciation of Satan is performed. The person receiving Baptism turns his face to the west - a symbol of darkness and dark forces, the priest will ask him questions, and he must consciously answer them. After renouncing Satan, the baptized person confesses allegiance to Christ (is united with Christ), now facing the east, as in the previous rite, and answers questions repeated three times. Then the catechumen reads aloud the Creed - one of the main Christian prayers, containing in brief the entire Orthodox doctrine. This prayer must be known by heart. After reading the prayer, questions from the priest follow, this is repeated three times. Now the catechumen is ready to receive Holy Baptism.

The process of Baptism begins with the blessing of water. Before this, the priest dresses in white robes, a symbol of the new life brought to earth by Jesus Christ. Candles are lit if godparents participate in the ceremony, which is also acceptable for adults; candles are also given to them. The consecration of the water is followed by the consecration of the oil; the person being baptized is anointed with it: his forehead (forehead), chest, back between the shoulder blades, ears, arms and legs, this is the meaning of anointing. to sanctify a person’s thoughts, desires and actions. entering into a covenant with God.

After anointing, baptism is performed by three times immersion in the font, with the utterance of the secret words, that is, the baptismal prayer. But upon leaving the font, the new church member is dressed in white clothes from the baptismal set - a symbol of purified, renewed human nature.

For men it is a baptismal shirt, for women it is a long shirt, like a nightgown, always with sleeves, or a baptismal gown. Baptismal clothing must be new, pure white.

The priest puts a pectoral cross on the newly baptized person’s neck, saying a special prayer. After this, the Sacrament of Confirmation is performed. Then the priest with the newly baptized person walks around the font three times, which is a symbol of eternity. After the solemn chants, the Epistle of the Apostles and the Gospel are read. At the end, the ceremony of cutting hair takes place, this is a sign of the Christian’s surrender to the will of God.

How to prepare for baptism as an adult

A person planning to receive the Sacrament of Baptism must be fully familiar with the dogmas of the Orthodox faith. He must not be a heretic or someone who accidentally entered the temple.

For better preparation, there are preparatory interviews . A priest or other blessed person explains to people what the Orthodox faith is, who Christ is, and what the meaning of this Sacrament is. Those who wish to receive Holy Baptism need to know all this.

Previously, such people were called “catechumens.” They were not allowed to attend the most important part of the liturgy - the Liturgy of the Faithful, when the Eucharistic canon is served.

A person who is about to be baptized must know by heart the Creed and the Lord's , because this is what he will have to read aloud at the Sacrament.

Also, the catechumen must have basic concepts about Christ, the Most Holy Theotokos, and some saints. About why Christ came to earth, from whom he was incarnated, for what he died on the cross, on what day he was resurrected. It would be a good idea to study the general rules of behavior in the temple .

The catechumen must be ready to renounce Satan , blow and spit on him, without laughing, and treat this with all seriousness and responsibility. From this moment on, the devil becomes his enemy for life, he will take revenge on this person and try to seduce him from the true path. But at the same time, the priest reads a prayer of prohibition, in which he forbids the devil to possess the soul and body of the catechumen, asking God to protect this newly baptized person in everything, to protect him from the devil’s slander.

Before Epiphany

An adult who wishes to be baptized must have an understanding of the most important components of the Orthodox faith. It is necessary to read the New Testament, and also know the main part of the dogmatic teaching about the Holy Trinity, about the Incarnation of the Son of God, His Sacrifice on the Cross and Resurrection, about the Church of Christ, about the Sacraments - Communion, Baptism, Confirmation.

In many churches, public conversations are held, and those who sign up for Baptism are required to attend them. If the temple does not have such a practice, you can talk to the priest and find out everything you need about the rite of Baptism. You will need to study the basics of Orthodox doctrine on your own. In addition, those who wish to be baptized must know by heart the most important Christian prayers - the Creed, the Lord's Prayer "Our Father", and "Virgin Mother of God, Rejoice". These prayers are in any prayer book.

For an adult, it is advisable, if possible, to prepare for the rite of Baptism by fasting for three days, that is, by refusing to eat meat, dairy, eggs, alcoholic beverages, or smoking. Before proceeding to the Sacrament, Christians, according to the word of Jesus Christ, must make peace with everyone with whom they were in a quarrel. Fasting also means giving up entertainment and watching entertainment television. Married persons must renounce marital relations during this period.

What not to do

The catechumens need to know what not to do during preparation and at the Sacrament itself:

1. Women are not allowed to undergo the Sacrament in uncleanness.
2. You cannot enter into intimate relationships on the eve of the Sacrament.
3. Women should not put a lot of makeup on their face because it will run when immersed in water.
4. You cannot overeat and smoke before the Sacrament.
5. You cannot come in a drunken state.
6. Women who have recently given birth should not receive the Sacrament before forty days after giving birth.
7. You cannot be baptized in a swimsuit or underwear.

What's next? Spiritual preparation

1. It is necessary to go to morning services (Liturgy) several times; it is very useful, because, for example, on the day of Epiphany, most likely, the priest will tell you about the need to attend the service first.
2. Prepare all your sins on a piece of paper and testify of repentance to the priest.
3. Buy a prayer book and ask the priest to explain how to use it, talk about the nuances and meaning of prayer in principle.
4. Buy the Law of God and begin to study the basic principles of the Orthodox faith, part of our site is built on the principle of “introduction to the Orthodox faith.”

With a competent and serious approach, any priest will “torture” you for a long time, as it may seem to you, with formalities, but in fact, all this is necessary, it just may seem complicated, but in reality everything is simple.

On the day of Baptism, you need to come to the morning service, and immediately after it the priest will perform the Sacrament of Baptism and Confirmation, after which he will administer Holy Communion.

After performing the sacrament, it is important to understand the need to live with God. I hope the priest will explain to you all the nuances of spiritual life.

If you have recently been baptized or want to join the church, but have nowhere to turn, come to me, I will try to give you tips on the issues that you need to know on the threshold of the Temple and when taking your first steps towards God. Accordingly, we offer advisory assistance in churching to those whom we baptize.

How many times will you have to talk with the priest?

In fact, there are no strict rules governing the number of interviews. Each servant of God determines this at his own discretion. But there are psychological norms that say that it is difficult to discern a person the first time. Any priest is a specialist. But he is careful not to make decisions right away. After all, he will bear responsibility before the community and the Lord for the newly converted. Therefore, it is common practice to conduct at least three interviews. These are leisurely conversations about God, his place in life, the habits and worldview of the person himself, his aspirations, and so on. You should not immediately ask how much baptism costs. By the way, some churches have price lists. Everything is written there. In others, you can find out this delicate issue from the ministers or from the priest himself. But this is not done immediately, but when he decides that the person can be baptized. Then, by the way, ask what clothes should be for baptism. Unless, of course, you yourself figure out the spirit of the conversations.

The purpose of Baptism is to save your soul, to save yourself; if this desire is not there, there is no need to be baptized

After much hesitation between our pagan faith and Orthodoxy, I decided to convert to Christianity. In the temple I was sent to public conversations. The young man who was leading them, unexpectedly for everyone present, suddenly began to prove that we do not need to be baptized.

After much hesitation between our pagan faith and Orthodoxy, I decided to convert to Christianity. In the temple I was sent to public conversations. The young man who was leading them, unexpectedly for everyone present, suddenly began to prove that we do not need to be baptized. He asked: “Why do you want to be baptized? For what?" People answered differently. Some said it was for health, some said it was to make life easier with God’s help, some hoped to protect themselves from the evil eye and damage, some wanted to improve. But not a single answer satisfied our teacher. He began to prove that one should not be baptized with such thoughts and... PROVED. I decided not to be baptized. And yet the worm of doubt remained in my soul. Maybe it was necessary after all? Although I still don’t know the correct answer to the question: “Why be baptized?” They couldn’t explain this to us during the conversations. Maybe you can try? Raisa.

Dear Raisa, having received your letter, I immediately remembered the “favorite list of baptized people” of the wonderful priest Dmitry Smirnov: Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Adolf Hitler, Vladimir Lenin, Felix Dzerzhinsky, Lavrentiy Beria...

Father Dmitry says: “If you believe in the Holy Trinity and want to become a member of the Church, then you must be baptized, because this is realized only through the sacrament of Baptism.” Baptism means new life, because the Holy Spirit descends on a person, the priest explains and very harshly formulates: “Baptizing a person who does not understand this is the same as baptizing an unreasonable animal. If we baptize a baby, then adults must understand and raise the child accordingly. After all, the godfather, on behalf of the child, promises God that this little man will grow up to be a Christian.”

Therefore, Raisa, it is wonderful that you think about the essence of the sacrament, about how it should affect your life. And I hope these thoughts will lead you to the temple.

But I also realized who is really “to blame” for the fact that some people in Yakut churches were dissuaded from being baptized.

Back in 2002, cassette tapes with recordings of public conversations of Father Mikhail Zaitsev, who then served in the Kazan Church in Neryungri, reached Yakutsk. I asked him: is it possible to decrypt these films and use them for printing? After all, everyone whom Father Mikhail stunned with his strange statement for a priest, by the end of the conversations understood that without God and the Church they could not do it... But the priest did not bless. “You see,” he explained, “I never repeat myself in conversations. It all depends on who is sitting in front of me, what kind of people they are, how educated they are, how they are configured, etc., and depending on how they react to my words, I build my speech. You should never adopt a pattern. Without proper filling, it still won’t work.” Apparently this is what happened. The scheme didn't work.

But maybe the interview we recorded with Father Mikhail on this topic almost ten years ago will help you, Raisa.

Don't you need to be baptized?

In the sacraments of the Church, God brings to man grace (a special Divine power), which people themselves are not able to acquire in any other way - neither by prayer, nor by reading the Bible, nor even by great feat - he brings it as a gift, through the substance of this world: the waters of Baptism, bread and the wine of the Eucharist, the Chrism of Confirmation. The Sacrament of Baptism, as it were, reveals this ability in a person - to accept the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Christ says: “...Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God: That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be surprised at what I said to you: you must be born again” (John 3:5-7).

But many complain that when they receive the sacrament of Baptism, they do not feel any grace. And sometimes they feel nothing at all except irritation, as if the person was promised something very important and was not given. Why does this happen? Why does spiritual birth not take place? Or does it actually happen, but remains unnoticed, and the person who is baptized only thinks that he continues to live in the old world, but in fact a completely different reality opens up before him? What is required from a person for Baptism to become for him not only an external, but the deepest internal event? We asked priest Mikhail ZAYTSEV to answer these questions.

– Father Michael, I listened to your public conversations (that is, conversations in which Christian doctrine is communicated to those entering the Church before performing the sacrament of Baptism) and I was shocked. At the very beginning, you repeated the same phrase in different ways: “There is no need to be baptized.” Well, this is somehow strange to hear from a clergyman...

– Yes, I immediately ask: “What prompted you to Baptism? You answered yourself: why am I being baptized, why is this necessary? There is no need to be baptized without an answer to this question. It won't be good. Baptism is a special covenant with God, a special relationship with Him, which can have various consequences for a person: either peace and prosperity, or... completely the opposite.

You can clearly see the state of our society - the decline of morals, the violation of morality, physical, intellectual, and spiritual degradation, rampant crime, etc. This is even more terrible from the point of view that now 70% of our population are Christians. And, excuse me, all of them managed to be baptized in the last ten to twelve years, during which this wild fall of man occurred.

Scary statistics, right? Crowds came to Christ - and lied. The crowds lied to God! We get what we deserve, and everything that happens around us is very logical: even lying to a person is not good, let alone lying to God! It's clear how it should end.

- Why is this happening?

– From my experience, conversations with people going to baptism, I can state that the vast majority have little idea why this is necessary and what to do next. Moreover, the purposes for which people receive baptism are often the opposite of why this sacrament was given to a person in the first place. The majority do not go for what they need to look for in the Church.

– I wonder what they usually answer your question?

- “To have better health”, “...Well, to improve financial matters”, “In general, some life has become difficult”, “Something is not working out with someone”, “The child needs to be baptized so that he does not get sick,” God forbid, they will jinx it...", etc. and so on. There is no need to go to Baptism with this. For what? Such questions should be resolved in a different order: do you want health? – go to the clinic, look for a good doctor; do you want money? - we need to work better; Damage, the evil eye - this is also not from the realm of religion. It is very rare that you get the right answer.

Correct answer

-What is he like? Tell!

– You need to be baptized in order to become a Christian, to live as God taught, to save your soul. Maybe I can help others along the way. This exhausts the purpose of our baptism.

Everything else is secondary. There will be earthly blessings, there won’t be - we don’t know. Maybe, on the contrary, it will become much worse. This is a second order question. The important thing is that we have to die, give an account to the Lord about our deeds and receive either complete happiness in Eternal Life, or completely polar.

The purpose of Baptism is to save your soul, to save yourself. If you don’t have this desire yet, you don’t need to be baptized. It’s worth thinking more, speculating, trying to feel.

That is, if a person is not looking for God, but a way to receive benefits from Him, there is no need to be baptized, repeat the experience of millions of unfortunate people who deceived themselves (God cannot be deceived). They are baptized, they think that now everything will be fine with them, but the opposite happens, because they lied to God, and they receive the corresponding echo.

If a person is not looking for a personal meeting with God, if God is something distant and incomprehensible to him, there is no need to be baptized, it’s too early. If you are not confident that the child you are about to baptize will live in at least some contact with this idea - “the search for God”, if you are not ready to show him the path to the Church with your love and example, then don’t either rush, nothing good will come of it.

Now, if I am looking for God, if I myself want to be like God (and this is precisely the goal of Christianity - deification!), then everything is wonderful, then I need to go to be baptized and then live accordingly. If there is no thirst for God, no desire for Him, no desire to live, fulfilling the will of the Lord, according to His commandments, there is no need to be baptized - you will lose the latter, life practice shows.

– This happened to me, and only much later did I understand why life after Baptism “collapsed” on me like that.

Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh never tires of repeating that in Orthodoxy (unlike paganism) there is no magic, which he defines as “the violence of human will, human arbitrariness over nature and over another person,” that a sacrament is not a ritual. The sacrament of the church is “the direct actions of God, which through the matter of this world somehow convey to us, bring some spark of the life of God Himself.” But it is very important that the sacrament is performed by God over a person not without the person himself.

Is it possible to say that those who rush to the Lord during Baptism, God accepts into His abode, gives help and consolation, and those who rush in a completely different direction, He does not hold back by force, He releases them into those graceless areas of the spirit, being in which a person (no matter what material goods he acquires) is open to the influence of “spirits of evil in high places”, and therefore is unhappy?

– Whether a person feels it or not, he opens up to a new Divine reality, which will henceforth determine his life until his death and, most importantly, after.

I can say not only from my own experience, but the Holy Scripture speaks about this: a person who lives in peace with God, in harmony with Him, is protected from many troubles. And so protected that no evil can break through this protection. The righteous have a special place with God and are under special protection. The righteous is the one who seeks God’s truth, not to satisfy his selfish, earthly needs, but to satisfy God. These people, of course, are under the special protection of the Lord, this applies to all aspects of life - physical, intellectual, financial, social, and political. Christ Himself teaches us not to worry and not to say, “What shall we eat?” or what to drink? or what to wear?”: “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:31-33). The entire history of man shows that when people are close to God, life normalizes; when relationships with the Creator deteriorate, everything falls into decay.

The main thing is to understand: how a person comes to Christ, how and why he comes. If God for him is only a means to solve earthly problems, what kind of transformation can we talk about?

Nothing is given to the hands folded behind the back.

– So, it’s all just a matter of our internal readiness?

- Not only. Suppose that a person is ideally prepared, has gone through the institute of catechumens (at least listened to those conversations that are now held in churches), suppose he has become a church member. What issues does he prioritize after baptism? Everything depends on this.

And one more thing: we were baptized in the name of the Holy Spirit, but why is He not in us? Here we must remember that we are created in the image and likeness of God. There is an image. Similarity must be achieved. Sometimes the Lord gives unearthly joy at baptism, but it is fickle, due to the fact that we are not yet fickle in Christ.

We certainly receive everything we need in the sacrament and feel it one way or another, but this state becomes stable after we have gone through our personal path. Yes, they gave me everything for the journey, they equipped me with everything at baptism. But then you have to go, and not sit on these knots with good equipment.

– My little godson, when he was baptized, heard the ringing of bells, which in fact did not exist.

– Yes, I have encountered such things more than once when people experienced some kind of revelation at the moment of baptism. But all I knew was just a sign. We need a way. In faith, to put it mildly, there is no dependency. The Lord does not allow us to do this. Grace is given when it is needed, when it creates. The Lord gives into outstretched and greedy hands. He will not give anything to his hands folded behind his back. You have to wish and ask, and everything will be given.

– Don’t you think that there is one more point? I was baptized alone, and it was so mysterious and even scary, but most of my friends and my mother were baptized among a large number of people - and this, to some extent, interferes. No?

– Of course, the very rite of performing Baptism is very important. At our church in Neryungri we have a group of young people, believers, who want to do a little more than just go to church. And unchurched people who are just entering the Church can be sent to them. People come from all different backgrounds. One young man, for example, was literally obsessed with aliens. A kind guy, thinking, searching, he came to God through communication with this group of Christians. Or another - a musician, serious, sensible, educated... It was a revelation for him how his peers treated him: they talked about Christ, about the Gospel, about Truth and the path to God, about the divine dignity of man, and he discovered this for himself. They were ordinary people, but he saw in them the fire that had not yet been ignited in him.

Many others (you can’t tell about them all) were not lazy about going to church for a month or two, talking with parishioners, looking for the essence of Orthodoxy, looking for Christ; let them ask absolutely terrible questions at first, but they asked them. Moreover, no one rushed them to baptism. They also said: “Wait, think carefully about whether you need this.” When such seriously prepared people sincerely came to faith and felt that they needed Baptism, I baptized them one by one, and in the liturgical rite, very early, at five in the morning. Imagine that only the priest, the one who is being baptized, and his guarantors are present in the temple. The candles are lit, we perform the liturgy, we baptize the person, and immediately give him communion - this is for life.

Of course, we cannot baptize everyone the way it was in the ancient Church, when the person being baptized felt that at this moment in his life he was the center of the entire community. The problem is technically difficult to solve, given how many people go to churches today with the desire to be baptized. It’s good that if a person is burning during the celebration of the Sacrament, he won’t even notice any external inconveniences, but the majority of people rush to Baptism unprepared, in a state of some daydreaming, and these people need to be helped to feel Christ.

I think that Christ is next to everyone at Baptism.

– What would you say to those who received Baptism?

– You have passed the minimum, then a lot depends on you. You can learn more about faith, about Christ, about the Church. You can do more for yourself, for your loved ones, for your brothers in spirit, for all people for the glory of God. Or you don’t have to do this - it’s your choice, we are not responsible for it.

In any case, Baptism is only the beginning of a path that consists of many, many steps, discoveries, falls, and uprisings. But this is the path of transformation, when each time over a period of time we discover in ourselves more and more new facets of God-likeness. It is joyful to realize who I was and how my soul was renewed. This is happiness.

Evenkia Orthodox

Preparation period

Adults apply to the Russian Orthodox Church for baptism.
Therefore, preparation for baptism differs significantly from the ritual for infants, because the parents make important decisions for the child, and the formed personality itself is responsible for its actions. The clergy are not indifferent to knowing what is behind a person’s desire to be baptized. In the old days, people who turned to the church with a request for baptism were declared catechumens. Their preparation for the day of baptism lasted more than one day . During this period, they read a lot, attended church, and studied the basics of Christianity. And only the clergy decided whether a person was ready to perform the ritual. In essence, the catechumens were gradually introduced to the life of the church.

Today, priests also carry out preparatory work with those who have expressed a desire to undergo the sacrament of baptism. When people ask questions: “How to carry out Baptism?”, “What is needed for the rite of Baptism of an adult?”, “Is it worth being baptized if the wife wants it?”, there can only be one answer: “You need sincere and firm faith.”

How an adult man baptizes a girl in church

There are some characteristic features when baptizing representatives of the fair sex that you should definitely know:

• Girls and women should cover their heads with a scarf as a sign of humility before men and the Lord.
• For the sacrament of baptism, discreet clothing is chosen; it should be washed and ironed.
• You cannot use cosmetics or wear jewelry on this day.
• It is unacceptable to perform the ritual on the days of menstruation. First, a woman must calculate the days of her cycle by choosing a suitable date.
• Girls should also remember that their shirt will get wet during baptism and will fit tightly to the body, emphasizing all the curves. To avoid an awkward situation, wear a swimsuit underneath.

The ritual of women's baptism differs in different churches. For example, in some churches it is customary to fence off the font using a screen; the girl must take off all her clothes, and only her head will be visible to the priest. But usually women still get baptized in a shirt or long shirt.

Important! When you sign up for baptism, be sure to check all the nuances of the sacrament in the place you have chosen.

What you need to have with you

For baptism you will need certain attributes, namely:

• christening shirt;
• towel;
• pectoral cross;
• open slippers;
• dry clothes to change into.

Clothes and towels must be white. Men buy a long shirt, and women also buy a long shirt, very similar to a nightgown or dress, but always with sleeves.

Interesting! After the sacrament, you cannot wash clothes or wear them in everyday life. She is credited with the amazing power to heal a baptized person if he falls ill with a serious illness, for which the patient needs to put on her.

A frequent topic of discussion about baptism is what should the pectoral cross be - gold or regular? There are no special restrictions here, but the priests advise you to opt for a silver or ordinary wooden product. If you want to purchase gold jewelry, it is better to consult your confessor.

It is important to buy open slippers like slates for the baptism of an adult: so that the feet are visible throughout the entire event.

A tribute to fashion or the dictates of the heart

If for some reason a person was not baptized in infancy, then at a conscious age, sooner or later this problem begins to bother him. It is important to figure out whether he needs to be baptized or not. And if so, then why ?

Often in conversations at the everyday level you can hear questions: “Is baptism so important?”, “Is it really impossible to communicate with God without it?”

Returning to the origins of Christian teaching, it is worth remembering what the Lord bequeathed to the apostles before ascending to heaven after the resurrection: “... go and teach the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”

If people want to be Christians, they must comply with the will of the Savior. After all, it was he, the son of God, who lived among people, took upon himself the sins of the human race, suffered severe suffering on the cross, died, was resurrected and ascended to God. With his life, he showed people the path of salvation, the path along which they can come to God. But for this you need to die and rise again with Jesus. The sacrament of baptism symbolizes precisely these actions.

Whether to be baptized or not is the choice of an adult. No one can force him to do this. It is important that a person does not succumb to the temptation to “be like everyone else,” without having in his soul the desire to subordinate his life to serving God.

The priests claim that it is possible to perform the ritual without the person being baptized believing in God, but it will not cost anything. If after baptism a person does not live according to Christian customs (reading spiritual literature, attending divine services, observing fasts and church holidays), the grace of God will quickly disappear, and the atheist will not be able to enter the Kingdom of Heaven after death.

It is no secret that some people undergo the rite of baptism to acquire, in their opinion, certain benefits for themselves. For example: improve your health, improve your financial situation, protect yourself from damage and the evil eye. This is absolutely unacceptable. After all, the essence of baptism is to give yourself to God completely and limitlessly, and not to wait for “manna from heaven” from him.

Reward for Receiving God's Grace

Temples do not charge fees for rituals. There is only a donation for the needs of the church , which is collected in special boxes. Its value depends on the desires and capabilities of people; it can be pennies or thousands. Details can be found in a candle shop or from church workers.

But this does not happen everywhere. Some churches have price lists with fixed prices for various services. You can find out how much the required procedure costs. Trading in churches is not encouraged by the Bible, but in order to survive in difficult times, clergy have to turn a blind eye to this unpleasing business. Although the funds collected mainly go to helping the poor, repairing church buildings, and building new churches.

Content

• 1 Compound of the Valaam Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery
• 2 Metochion of the Optina Pustyn Monastery
• 3 Holy Cross Cossack Cathedral
• 4 Baptismal Church in honor of John the Baptist of the Holy Trinity Alexander Nevsky Lavra
• 5 Spaso-Pargolovskaya Church
• 6 Cathedral of the Theodore Icon of the Mother of God
• 7 Church of St. Spiridon of Trimifuntsky in Lomonosov
• 8 Naval Cathedral of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Kronstadt
• 9 Temple of Blessed Xenia of Petersburg
• 10 Ioannovsky Stauropegial Convent