On an Orthodox forum, Muslim Sabrina says that she wants to become a Christian and asks: how to convert to Christianity?
Question from a reader on the website foma.ru
Similar questions are asked by other people who do not identify themselves with any religion. Only the Lord can tell them how to become a Christian, but how to be baptized can be learned from any Orthodox priest.
At the same time, it is necessary to study in advance the history of Christianity, the branches that it forms, as well as what rituals a convert must undergo in order to become an Orthodox Christian.
The meaning of Christianity is that it is a revealed religion
Christianity is a revealed religion that professes one God in Three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The Apostle John the Theologian testifies:
1 John 4:8
"God is love".
The Christian religion is a religion of sacrificial love. In order to save people and everything, the Savior Jesus Christ came to earth. He was crucified, but He rose again.
Baptism of Prince Vladimir. Victor Vasnetsov. Fragment of the painting of the Vladimir Cathedral. In order to be saved and establish a connection with God, a person must undergo the Sacrament of Baptism
Thanks to this atoning sacrifice, a new agreement (Covenant) between humanity and God was established. Moreover, in order to be saved, each person must, of his own free will, establish a connection with Christ. It is called the Sacrament of Baptism.
In order to support and strengthen this connection, there is the Sacrament of Communion or the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Everyone who wants to accept Christianity should know these basic provisions of the doctrine of Christianity.
The connection with Christ is established only through the Sacrament of Baptism.
Laws of Christianity from the Creed
Other laws of Christianity are contained in the Creed. This document was adopted at the First and Second Ecumenical Councils. It says that:
The text of the “Creed” with explanations on the website pravoslavie.ru
- that God is the Creator of all things;
- the Third Person of the Holy Trinity, the Holy Spirit, actively takes part in the affairs of human salvation;
- there is a single Universal Church, coming from the Apostles;
- at the end of the History of the world, all the dead will rise and the Last Judgment will come;
- that after everything there will come a blissful eternity - “the life of the next century”, in which all those faithful to Him will find a place in communion with the Lord.
The Zion Upper Room is considered the first Christian temple
The Upper Room of Zion or the Upper Room of the Last Supper is recognized as the right Christian temple in the world. This is a room located on the top floor of one of the houses in Jerusalem.
The Last Supper was celebrated here, that is, the last Easter meal of Jesus Christ with his disciples. In addition, some other important events from the New Testament took place here, for example, the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the disciples on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4).
Zion Upper Room. The Last Supper was celebrated on the second floor of this building. That is why it is considered the first Christian temple
The first Christian church in the world today does not belong to any denomination. It is in the possession of the Israeli government. Entrance here is free and free, but praying in a loud voice is prohibited here.
Tradition points to the building of the Zion Upper Room, located on the top of Mount Zion. It stands outside the walls of the Old City, not far from the Zion Gate.
The modern room of the upper room was built in the Gothic style in the 14th century by a Franciscan monk. On the first floor of the building there is a synagogue with the tomb of King David.
Realize and admit your sin
The wages of sin, that is, the punishment for sin, is death. (Rom. 6:23). It is sin that has caused the separation between us and God. Jesus came to take away our sins and to put an end to sin forever. “If we confess our sins, He, being faithful and righteous, will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9. When you confess your sin, then you are cleansed. Then you become a Christian. A start. All your sin then, no matter how great it may be, will be blotted out in an instant!
You can become a Muslim by sincerely reciting the creed or shahada (testimony)
Islam is another world religion along with Christianity. Muslims profess that “there is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the prophet of Allah.”
Christian theologians point out that Allah cannot be considered the same One God as in Christianity, since Muslim ideas about God contradict Divine Revelation.
Unlike the Christian Revelation, Islam does not teach that God is Love, incarnate for the sake of saving people, but presents Allah only as a judge, rewarding and punishing for deeds, predetermining human destiny.
“Muhammad is the Messenger of God” - inscription on the gate of the “Prophet’s Mosque in Medina”. Muslims say: “There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the prophet of Allah.”
The God-man Jesus Christ is accepted in Islam as one of the prophets for his people and his time, but His Divinity and the reality of the Incarnation are denied.
Muslims believe that before suffering on the cross, Christ miraculously replaced Himself with another person, and He Himself was taken to Heaven alive. That is why in Islam there is no such concept as the Sacrament of Communion.
2 Muslims
needed to pronounce Islamic testimony
To accept Islam, it is enough to recite the text of the Shahada - Islamic testimony.
In this regard, baptism in Islam is fundamentally different from baptism in Christianity and has nothing in common with it.
It is a common belief among Muslims that everyone is a Muslim by birth, as descended from Adam, but sometimes a person needs additional steps to “return” to the true faith.
Usually, in order to accept Islam, it is enough to recite the text of the Islamic testimony - the Shahada in the presence of two Muslims.
Calligraphic inscription of Shahada. By reciting the Shahada formula a person becomes a Muslim
Before doing this, you must renounce all beliefs that contradict the true religion of the Almighty. The words of the Shahada are pronounced with faith in the heart and a firm intention to accept Islam.
The formula of Islamic Witness - Shahada in Arabic is as follows:
“Ashhadu alla ilahaillallah wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan rasulullah.”
Muslim Church: 3 main mosques
Approximate translation into Russian:
“I know, believe with all my heart and confirm in words that there is no deity except the One Creator - Allah, and I know, believe with all my heart and confirm in words that Muhammad is the last Messenger of Allah.”
After reciting the Shahada, a person becomes a Muslim, and he must perform all the duties prescribed by the Almighty Creator.
Conversations with the priest. How to become a Christian
Audio |
In the St. Petersburg studio of our TV channel, the cleric of the Church of the Sovereign Icon of the Mother of God (St. Petersburg), Archpriest Igor Ilyushin, answers questions from viewers. – The topic of today’s program: “How to become a Christian.” It seems to us that one does not become a Christian , and this happens even against our will.
Let us remember baptism, when children are carried in swaddling clothes to be baptized... But we baptize according to faith, and it often happens that a child grows up in an unbelieving family. In this case, is it guaranteed that a person who has been baptized is already a Christian? – Yes, the topic is global. Christian is the greatest title; in fact, it is a warrior of Christ. And thank God that now, already in post-Soviet times, the institution of catechumen has appeared, when people who express a desire to be baptized or baptize their children have conversations before baptism, during which they, perhaps for the first time, hear about the importance of changing their lives and about the path what they have to go through in the Church of Christ. A person receives, as it were, a guarantee of the grace of the Holy Spirit in baptism. Yes, he is called a Christian. You can be in the Body of Christ, but at the same time find yourself outside this Body due to your wrong life. Therefore, when it comes to baptized atheists, this is a big problem for the Church of Christ, but this is also a certain given.
A parallel can be drawn here. The entire Church of Christ is Christ suffering on the Cross. And all of us, members of the Body of Christ, have compassion with Christ, we are, as it were, parts of His Body thanks to the fact that we commune and try to live with Christ. But the category of people who are baptized, but do nothing, live in a completely non-Christian way, is precisely the nail with which Christ is nailed to the Cross. They reside, as it were, in the Body of Christ, but they bring the greatest pain to it, and, accordingly, to the Lord Jesus Christ Himself and to all other members of the Body of Christ.
- Very good answer. I just wanted to remind you of another baptized person who brought the same pain. This is Lenin, a baptized man. If they perform a funeral service for baptized people who are these very nails, they say at the same time: “Rest with the saints.” Do we ask God for forgiveness for them? I just don’t know how you can ask the Lord and the saints to give peace to those who are these very nails in the hands of Christ.
“We must definitely pray for those who have backslidden.” Human nature is reversible as long as there is prayer for a lost person. In the parable of one lost sheep, the Lord went after it and found it. We should not try to draw conclusions about anyone, but we should try to look at our own lives.
When we begin this greatest path of Christianity, it is good if the public conversations conducted by the priest or catechist did not pass us by and we began to pray and go to church. If this is a child or simply a sympathetic person, then baptism has sunk into his soul like a seed that must gradually germinate. And it really does sprout. A person is simply at some stage, and we must always look with compassion at a person who, from our point of view, is lost. In no case with condemnation, but with pain. How Christ humbly endures the pain of the nails on the cross, does not resist it, and suffers. This suffering love can really heal people who, in our opinion, are lost. But still, we hope for the mercy of God, we do not try to judge, but leave the judgment to the Lord.
– Question from a TV viewer: “My name is Maria. What is the best prayer to start the school year well?
– I believe that Maria is studying at school and is going to move to the next class or enroll somewhere. Here is the right direction: a Christian differs from others in that he prays. Therefore, turning to the Lord in prayer is very important. According to tradition, we turn to those saints, intercessors, intercessors before God who already lived on earth and who were poorly taught. I immediately remember St. Sergius of Radonezh, who could not learn to read (he had problems with this) and himself prayed fervently. We know from his life that an old man appeared to him and commanded him to read. After this, the boy Bartholomew began to read so much that he received only A's in the school where he had recently received bad grades.
But the most important thing is to turn to the Lord Jesus Christ. We must not forget that in our calling as a Christian, first of all, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself resides. That is, this is the God-man, Who completely accepted our human nature and united it with the Divine. Turning to our Lord, we receive from Him everything we ask for, if we try and put some effort into it.
The Lord Himself said: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find.” That is, don’t just express your desire at length when you come to church and light a candle. A candle is only a symbol of prayer, an image of a flaming prayer to the Lord. If we look, in the Ancient Church candles were used as consecration. And then they began to attach the importance of a certain sacrifice to God and a symbol of prayer. And the most important thing is the prayer that comes from our heart, from our soul. Of course, God will help you study and get excellent grades.
– The most important thing here is desire; the Lord Himself kisses a person’s intentions if they are sincere. In this case, we will truly find the Lord's help.
– Yes, for the reason that when a person takes this path, he must always try not just to seek some kind of benefit, protection from God. If you ask people who come to baptism why they do it, the majority will answer: “So that God will protect, so that no one will jinx it.” That is, their goal is different. But in fact, the path to becoming a Christian is very difficult.
When a person enters the Church (if he comes to baptism as an adult or simply starts going to church, having been baptized in infancy), when some kind of misfortune occurs (the Lord just somehow reveals himself or a person faces death), he begins to think about the immortality of the soul, about eternal life. He comes to church, and it turns out that along the way he has to go through many tests. A person encounters the fact that he does not always see the mutual love of his brothers, which he read about in books.
It even happens that the devil takes up arms against a person so much that he begins to get sick after he comes to church, or something doesn’t work out for him, or he is fired from his job, or some other ordeal occurs. A demonic thought involuntarily creeps up: “You see, you started going to church, but you feel even worse. Why are you doing it? Live without God. You don’t need to pray or go to church.” And here you also need to fast, and pray, and observe some church rules, God’s commandments. Here it is very important for a person to strive for the truth that is revealed to the human heart thanks to the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are given in the sacrament of Baptism. A person begins to feel in his heart that, of course, there is truth here. But the devil immediately offers a person many temptations and tries in every possible way to push him out of the church.
– Viewer question: “Which book would you recommend for studying the Old Testament?”
– It is very important to study the Old Testament, because here we can trace the path that people took from creation itself (hereinafter referred to as God’s chosen people), preserving the commandments of God, and how difficult it was. This is a very important point.
Of course, the Old Testament must be read with interpretations, because you can be tempted. It happens that a baptized person who has just joined the church begins to read the Bible from the first page (and this is the Old Testament). After reading about the creation of the world and the Fall, I encounter such difficult moments that are very difficult to accept. A person begins to stumble on this and not understand what is written. Therefore, it is very important to read with interpretations.
I can recommend one of these interpretations, our teacher at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, whom I personally knew well, he was our teacher. This is Mironovich Igor Tsesarevich - a wonderful biblical scholar, he knew the entire Bible by heart. He ran us through the Bible for a two-hour class. And during our seminary years we listened to him with rapture. Many here in St. Petersburg know him. God bless him, a wonderful teacher. And after his death, a book of lectures on Biblical history was published. I think it can be found. I recommend this book because I personally listened to his speeches.
How he prayed - two words can also be said about this. I especially remember how Igor Tsesarevich read the Six Psalms in the temple. He went to the temple and recited it by heart. This was amazing for me as a student who came only to study at the seminary. How can you know this by heart? He knew the entire Bible by heart.
– This is an absolutely legendary person. Interpretations from the Moscow Theological Academy are posted on the website Predaniye.ru, where you can easily find interpretations on all topics.
A TV viewer asked a question about the Old Testament, but we often exclude our Old Testament history from our lives. It's good if we study the Gospel. This is where the question arises: is it possible to be a Christian without reading the Gospel? Is it necessary at least once a week, when we go to church, not just to listen to it in Church Slavonic, but to prepare and read it in Russian in order to understand? Or should we rely entirely on worship alone and abandon our own religious education?
– You must read the Holy Scriptures. You can look at worship, at our entire Christian life. You just need to become a disciple of Jesus Christ, that is, follow His commandments. How can we do this? Only if we communicate with Him. We can communicate precisely through the Holy Scriptures. We must feel all this, study it deeply, be sure to read all the evangelists, all the Epistles, many interpretations (not just one). Nowadays it is possible to listen to sermons of different clergy thanks to modern technologies.
The most important thing is not just to gain knowledge. We know the category of people who seemed to accept God, but the Lord denounces them (scribes, lawyers). It is not for nothing that the Lord pays great attention to this. Unfortunately, this can also happen within the Church. It happens that a person in a certain euphoria begins to look at everything with rose-colored glasses. And then suddenly he is faced with some untruth among church people. This is also a test that a person needs to overcome. Because there is such a moment, the first stage of a Christian’s journey, when a person initially sees everyone as saints. Then he suddenly begins to see sinners, begins to evaluate them; then he begins to distinguish himself, and some kind of status may even appear. Here there is a danger of remaining in the status of seeing and condemning the sins of other people. But a person, seeing the sins of another, should not condemn him; no need to push anyone; speak and reprove with authority and righteousness. You need to act as Christ did: have compassion, show by example - then this person can be healed; then he can feel this pain and change himself.
– Question from a TV viewer: “Perhaps we should stop the practice of infant baptism and return to how it was in ancient times? First you need to come to faith with your mind, and then be baptized, then you will be a real Christian. So it turns out that baptism is a debt?”
– You need to understand that the grace of God, which is given to a person in the Church, has a healing effect. It is impossible to close access to the Church to simple, ordinary people who have currently expressed a desire to be baptized. For example, someone had a dream - and he felt in his heart that there is a God. This is the first step towards baptism. Everything else depends on the aspirations of the person himself.
Ten, twenty years pass when a person is in the Church; he already knows everything: he has read the Bible, he can quote the Gospel, prayers by heart. He understands sins well and begins to identify people: this Pharisee, this hypocrite, a scribe, some other sinner. But at this level a person can stop. And the path of a Christian is when a person overcomes this step and moves on. When he, seeing a sinful person, knows how to forgive him sincerely, in his soul; when he knows how not to judge him; knows how to pray for him and suffers for him. He suffers not because he sees him as a resident of hell, but suffers with love, wishing him salvation - then a person sows the seeds of God’s love. The Apostle Paul says: whoever does not have love is nothing. A person can have many gifts, even miracles; but not have love. And love is Christ.
There is one more trick on this path: when a person becomes disoriented and begins to treat the priest, the spiritual father, as a saint. It's a fine line. We have one Savior, our Christ. Do not trust in princes, in the son of man, in whom there is no salvation; Place your trust only in the Lord. If Christ is our King, God, Friend, “The Sweetest Air,” as we sing in the akathist, then we will find happiness. The enemy beats us, laughs at us, offends us, but we become immortal in some way.
A Christian is not distressed by the fact that he is stricken by some kind of illness or loss. But sometimes even a believer turns to the Lord with bewilderment: “Lord, why is this happening to me? Why me and not someone else?” A person who stands on the path of a Christian is in bliss, in happiness from any of his conditions. It is reborn like gold in a crucible: when a large piece of gold is fired in a furnace to high temperatures. All foreign metals fall off - and a small piece of pure gold remains; They say: the spool is small, but expensive. So a Christian becomes at the end of his path when his soul is ready to accept Christ and the Kingdom of God.
– How to become a Christian is explained quite simply; this Christian path is also described in literature. But the more you learn, the more questions arise: how much does the Lord love me, a sinner, how do I, a most unworthy person, turn to Christ and receive communion? After all, this fire can burn me too. Perplexity arises: to what extent do I (a slave and a worm) have the right to resort to the Body and Blood of Christ?
“You don’t have to think about it, you have to go for it out of love for the Lord.” If we look at our sins logically, we will always be unworthy; so you may not get to Communion.
Even the apostles for a long time could not understand what Christ was talking about. When He told them that He should suffer, spoke about Calvary, they did not perceive these words. When the soldiers arrived in the Garden of Gethsemane, the apostles fled in fear and horror. Even when the myrrh-bearing women announced the joyful news of the risen Christ, they doubted and did not believe. They believed only when Christ Himself appeared to them. In the Gospel of Matthew, in the last chapter, at the moment of the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ, some of the seventy apostles who were there also doubted.
This all says that you need to be imbued with love for the Lord; if you love the Lord, then you understand that this is your greatest happiness. As in the parable about a pearl that a man found in a field and wanted to become its owner. He ran and sold everything he had. He bought this field and was glad that the largest and most beautiful pearl belonged to him.
Many saints followed the Christian path with great joy. I like the example of the royal family: the holy passion-bearers Tsar Nicholas, Tsarina Alexandra, princesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, Tsarevich Alexy. With what love they attended services, prayed, and honored all fasts, you can read in the diaries of Nicholas II and Alexandra Fedorovna. How they organized the canonization of St. Seraphim of Sarov, how they walked several kilometers together with other pilgrims; with joy, reverence. How Alexandra Feodorovna in the sovereign Feodorovsky Cathedral next to the altar prayed through all the liturgical books, sang prayers to God, embroidered church vestments. How much love it all was! And this despite the fact that they had sins, like all people.
The Lord came, He emphasized this many times, to save sinners, He came to ordinary people. You just need to follow this path, and not look for a thousand reasons why you can’t go to church... If a person accepts some kind of demonic thought, it means that this suits him. This suggests that a person does not need the truth, he does not accept it. When a person follows this path, he follows the path of suffering.
That is why Christ is always crucified on the Cross. The path of a Christian is the path of suffering, but it is precisely this path that brings man the greatest bliss. This person doesn't care anymore. Look at the martyrs, they suffered and did not feel pain. No, physically, of course, they felt it; but it did not cause them problems for the reason that they were convinced that the grace of God would bring them greater bliss and greater joy after meeting Christ.
– There are too many temptations in our modern society. In your opinion, is becoming a Christian now more difficult than, for example, in the 11th century , when faith was not persecuted?
– I wouldn’t divide the periods like that. The Lord has appointed each person in his own time - and everyone should joyfully accept the period that is sent to him. All people are completely different and individual. But the Lord revealed Himself to everyone. The most important thing is to want to love God and your neighbor. If this love overwhelms a person’s heart, the person will renounce his own and receive the greatest grace from the Lord and meet Christ.
- “You don’t choose times, you live and die in them.”
How to become a Christian? Perhaps you have to spend your whole life searching for the answer?
“You have to follow this path all your life.” A person can make a lot of mistakes; the Lord sometimes deliberately allows a person to fall. If a person did not sin, he would fall into delusion, into pride. Sin benefits a person in that, by correctly overcoming it, a person is corrected, renounces, runs away from sin and truly becomes a Christian.
Presenter Gleb Ilinsky
Recorded by Elena Kuzoro and Irina Obukhova
In Orthodoxy, baptism is the Sacrament of spiritual birth
Those who want to know the answer to the question: how to become an Orthodox Christian must understand that Christianity is a religion in which there is the experience of communion with God.
Due to original sin, an unbaptized person does not have such experience, so it is only possible through the Sacrament of Communion. Baptism is the Sacrament of spiritual birth, which is why it is possible only once.
Epiphany. Metohija, XIV century. Our Savior Lord Jesus Christ was baptized during His earthly life. Only after the Sacrament of Baptism is the Sacrament of the Eucharist possible, that is, communication with God
Only after the Sacrament of Baptism has been performed is it possible for a person to have the Church Sacraments performed on him. That is why Baptism and Confirmation serve as preparatory moments for entering the Eucharistic Assembly.
If we generalize, we can say that the sacrament of reception into the Orthodox Church contains three points:
- Baptism;
- Confirmation;
- Eucharist.
3 stages
what you need to do to convert to Christianity
This is necessary for those people who ask: how to convert to Orthodoxy?
In Orthodoxy, it is customary to baptize children in infancy. This is what their parents do. As for adults, they must independently decide to accept the Faith of Christ.
If such a decision is made, then they need to go to the nearest Orthodox church to undergo the rite of Baptism.
How not to divide people into friends and foes?
First: remember that the Church is not a place filled with saints. People gather in churches who see their shortcomings, mistakes, mistakes. They understand that it is not within their power to become even a little better. This is possible only for those who hold the hand of Christ - and they try to become such people.
Second: people who do not fit into our idea of what we should be like in terms of appearance, behavior, and so on, have the right to do so. If someone doesn't look like a Christian, it doesn't mean anything. Remember yourself! You probably also didn’t come to the temple for the first time in soft slippers and a long skirt. You may even have encountered people who were dissatisfied with your appearance. Could you then imagine that you, too, would begin to purse your lips at the sight of an “ungodly image”? Let me remind you that such an attitude can turn a person away from the temple forever, and he will go to some sect, where they will happily tell him: “Come to us, we will accept and support you!”
Third: if you see a “stranger” in church, remember that no one goes to church to hear what a sinner he is and that he is doing everything wrong. Everyone is looking for support and support there. We, as people who know this, must provide this support. Not to humiliate, not to insult, not to tell what is wrong with the person, but to help.
Fourth: no matter how trite, appearance often has nothing to do with what is inside a person, therefore, there is no need to label and evaluate. There are very godly-looking people who have real hell inside, and vice versa. There is no need to make hasty conclusions. You don’t know how many years God led a person to faith or what it cost him to cross the threshold of the temple. And of course, you cannot know what he will become years later. Maybe you will be a stranger to him!
By the way: now in many churches there are signs: “Only the priest can make comments.” I would really like to see these more often - then many problems could be avoided.
Fifth: remember that we are all called above all to love. “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, let you also love one another” (John 13:34). If you can’t love - which is normal, because this is not an easy matter - then at least don’t offend. Don't give advice unless asked for. Try to show respect, behave the way you behave with your loved ones.
Sixth: watch yourself, not others. If you focus on fighting your sins and shortcomings, then you won’t have enough time to fight your neighbor.
Seventh: you need to leave your political views behind the fence of the temple. Now the time is very difficult, and people are again divided along political lines - although, it would seem, much more so after 2014. The temple is definitely not a place for politics. Yes, we live in a state, and we support some political forces, some we don’t, but we come to the liturgy for something else. Yes, it’s very difficult to leave your views outside the doors of the temple, because you can’t even leave your mood there, but you have to try.
There will be no easy paths or answers in the Church. There are no manuals on how to quickly and easily become a Christian who loves everyone. The path to Christ is our experience, our falls and burns. On the path of churching, we will cause pain to both others and ourselves - and this is normal. The main thing is to try to be united.
You can learn how to accept Christianity in an Orthodox church during a public conversation
For adults in the Russian Orthodox Church, before the rite of Baptism, public conversations are held. Their goal is to find out how determined a person is in his desire to become a Christian.
In addition, during them the Holy Scriptures and Orthodox literature are read. Those preparing for Baptism take part in divine services, general prayers in the temple, and prepare in other ways for the ceremony.
Video: Catechetical conversations before Epiphany. Kotelnikovo. At 20 seconds, the author talks about what a public conversation is.
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;
- 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;
- know by heart the most important Christian prayers - the Creed, the Lord's Prayer "Our Father", and "Virgin Mother of God, Rejoice".
3 days
Christians need to fast before baptism
Separately, it is necessary to note the fact that before Baptism, an adult must prepare for this by fasting for three days. To do this, you need to stop eating meat and dairy foods, eggs and alcoholic beverages, as well as 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. Before Baptism, it is necessary to give up various amusements, and spouses must give up marital relations.
Decide to become one
God made a decision many years ago to accept and save all who come to Him. Now it's up to you. Once you make a decision, everything will be fine. “After a few days, Felix, coming with Drusilla his wife, a Jew, called Paul and listened to him about the faith in Christ Jesus. And as he spoke about the truth, about abstinence and about the future judgment, Felix fell into fear and answered: now go, and when I find the time, I will call you.” Acts 24:24-25. It seems like he never “found” the time. Let this be a warning to you. Only one thing is needed! Don't hesitate, make a decision.
“But Agrippa said to Paul: You are not convincing me to become a Christian. Paul said: I would pray to God that, little by little or much , not only you, but also everyone who listens to me today, would become like me...” Acts. 26:28-29. I want to say the same thing: May everyone listening (reading) me today become like me - so that they too may feel so good!
Everything depends only on you, dear soul. God calls you, offers you, asks you. - Do you want it or not? It's up to you.
Baptism takes place in an Orthodox church; an adult is baptized by his priest.
The service of the Sacrament of Baptism consists of the rite of announcement, the subsequent Holy Baptism, which includes several rites: the consecration of water, the consecration of oil, Baptism and the vesting of the newly baptized in white baptismal clothes.
After Baptism, the Sacrament of Confirmation is performed. Before reading the clarification prayers, the priest performs the following sacred act: he blows three times in the face of the person being baptized.
This action may seem strange to non-believers or representatives of other religions, but the Orthodox give it the following explanation. The inhalation of air by the priest into the mouth of the person being baptized symbolizes the moment of human creation.
Life 2:7
“Then God took him from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.”
After this, the priest blesses the person being baptized three times, and, laying his hand on his head, begins reading prayers.
Baby baptism. After the Sacrament of Baptism, the person being baptized becomes clean and ready to receive the Sacrament of the Eucharist.
After the priest reads the prayers, that is, prayers forbidding evil spirits, the ritual of renouncing 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. Next, he needs to profess fidelity to Christ or unite with Christ.
Now facing east, just as in the previous ritual, he answers questions repeated three times. Then the catechumen reads the Creed aloud, after which he must answer the priest’s questions.
Come to your senses
“ When he came to himself , he said: ... I will get up and go to my father...” Luke. 15:17-18. This is very remarkable. When a person lives in an ordinary earthly way, as a sinner among sinners, then he is, strictly speaking, out of his mind, he is not in himself. When a person comes to his senses, he notices that he is not living the way he would like. He is carried away along with others by the current. He ends up there without even thinking about it. Friends and girlfriends took him by the hands and led him away.
Having thought about this, a person will say, like a lost son: “Why should I live like this? I shouldn’t be so poor!” Why should you be unhappy, worried, without hope and suffer the pangs of conscience, moving away from God? After all, He so desires to accept you! Get up and go to Him, and then these words will be fulfilled: “But now we must rejoice and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found.” Onion. 15:32.
Baptism itself is performed by three times immersion in the font.
The process of Baptism itself begins with the consecration of water. Before this, the priest dresses in white robes, which symbolize the new life brought to earth by Jesus Christ.
After the consecration of the water, the rite of consecration of the oil follows. To do this, the person being baptized is anointed with it: the forehead (forehead), chest, back between the shoulder blades, ears, arms and legs. This is done in order to sanctify the thoughts, desires and actions of the person entering into a covenant with God.
Baby baptism. After the Sacrament of Baptism, the person being baptized becomes clean and ready to receive the Sacrament of the Eucharist.
After the rite of anointing is completed, the baptismal baptismal prayer is immersed in the font three times, and the sacramental words are pronounced.
After a new member emerges from the font, he is clothed in white clothing. 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 and says a special prayer.
Next comes the Sacrament of Confirmation.
After him, the priest and the convert walk around the font three times, which symbolizes 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.
If we return to the question asked by Sabrina, we can say that Muslims are baptized in the same way as non-baptized ones. Currently there are no obstacles to this. Therefore, if she wants to learn better how to become a Christian, she can contact the nearest Orthodox church, where they will help her with this.
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