A godfather is the person who holds a small child in his arms during Baptism. His natural desire is to protect and preserve the life entrusted to him. He must teach the child, together with his parents, the basics of the Christian faith. He and the child can visit the temple of God, pray, participate in divine services, and in the Church Sacraments. But he will not be able to fulfill his duties if he himself is not accustomed to going to church and participating in its holy and saving Sacraments.
Responsibilities of a Godfather
The godfather's responsibilities include raising the child together with his parents. The godfather must himself know the basic Christian prayers: “Rejoice to the Virgin Mary,” “Heavenly King,” “Our Father,” “Creed.” In the future, he should teach these prayers to his godchild. The godfather must be a practicing, church person, otherwise he will not be able to accustom his godson or goddaughter to church life. Every morning the godfather must perform the morning rule of prayer, and in the evening - the evening rule. After the rule, reading special prayers that are contained in the Orthodox Prayer Book, the godfather must prayerfully remember his godchild. You can do this in your own words, ask God to grant health to the child, for spiritual admonition, for mental well-being, for prosperous growth.
After Holy Baptism has been performed on the child, the godfather - possibly together with the parents and godmother - must bring the child to church for worship. Of course, it is difficult to bring a small child to a full service, but to its most important part, to the Holy Eucharist during the liturgy, it is advisable to bring the child every Sunday. The godfather himself, if possible, should participate in the divine service, prepare for Confession and Communion, and begin these holy sacraments.
Congratulations to the godfather
During major holidays, the godfather should not forget to congratulate his godson and goddaughter. Naturally, during congratulations you need to give a gift. As a gift, the godfather can give various toys, things, clothes: everything that he considers necessary for his godchild. You can ask the baby's parents about this. When the child is older, you can ask him himself. But first of all, the godfather must remember his spiritual obligations to the godchild. Therefore, his gifts should also be useful for saving the soul of his godson or goddaughter. Such a gift could be the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, or it could be a special children's Bible, which sets out the history of the Holy Scriptures for children in an accessible language. You can give a children's prayer book, children's spiritual literature. Now there is a large selection of various stories, poems, and biographies of the holy saints of God specifically for the youngest Christians. There is also a large selection of various videos and audio recordings reminiscent of church life, useful for the baby’s soul.
An icon of your godson's patron saint can be a wonderful gift. When a child sees an iconographic image of his patron saint, he constantly remembers him, prays to him, and his heart becomes accustomed to spiritual life. An important role is played by the adults who surround the baby. They must set an example of sincere prayer, spiritual appeal to God, to the Mother of God, to the saints of God. When a child sees this from childhood, then he, too, will be able to turn to the Lord in this way, and in difficult moments of his life, during sorrows, during illnesses, he will no longer lose heart, will not fold his hands, but will know what he needs to do as a believer.
What you need to know about the ritual
Baptism is an important event in the life of a newly born child. At such a moment he joins the Church and becomes a Christian. The sacrament of baptism cleanses a person from original sin and allows God's grace to descend.
Age
According to church rules, a child is baptized on the 40th day after birth. At this age, the baby has not yet lost the intrauterine instinct to hold his breath in water and tolerates being immersed headlong in the baptismal font well. If it was not possible to baptize the child on the 40th day, you can perform the sacrament later.
The sooner a person is baptized, the sooner he comes under the protection of God. If a child was born weak and his life hangs by a thread, he can be baptized any day. To do this, you need to invite the priest to the hospital. True, instead of immersing the baby in water, they will simply sprinkle it with holy water.
How to choose a temple
If the parents are believers, they can baptize the child in the church where they attend services. When father and mother go to church only on holidays, they can go to the nearest parish and ask the priest to perform baptism. If for some reason parents do not like the clergyman, they can turn to any other temple. The main thing is that the church belongs to the Orthodox denomination.
When not to baptize
A child can be baptized on any day and in any month. True, each temple has its own rules. Before setting the day for christening, you need to go to the church and talk to the priest.
Price
According to church canons, the sacrament of baptism should be performed free of charge. However, this rule only applies if parents or godparents are experiencing financial difficulties and cannot pay for the ceremony. Each temple has its own price list, according to which payment is made for the services of the clergy. Typically a baptism costs $15-$50 (equivalent).
Conversation with the priest
Before the christening, parents and godparents need to talk with the priest. The conversation will help strengthen your faith. There is no need to prepare in any special way for a meeting with a clergyman.
The main thing is to simply attend the conversation.
Choice of godparents
According to established traditions, a child must have a godfather and a godmother. These people should not be spouses. Godparents are chosen from among friends or relatives. It is desirable that these are believers who observe all church rules and constantly attend church services.
Godparents can be a brother and sister, a grandmother or a grandfather. Foreigners, people of other faiths, parents themselves, a married couple, immoral, inadequate individuals will not be able to become a named father and mother.
Godparents are a kind of guarantors for raising a child. They must raise him as a Christian, teach him prayers, take him to first communion. Godparents must take care of the moral education of the godson, help him along the path of life, give instructions and advice.
Congratulations to the godchild on Angel Day
The godfather, together with the baby's parents and his godmother, should tell the child about his patron saint, celebrate his birthday with the baby and celebrate the Angel or Name Day. Each person has his Angel Day, that is, the day on which the Orthodox Church commemorates the patron saint of this person. The patron saint is the saint of God whose name a person bears. This is the name with which a person is baptized in the Holy Orthodox Church. This day - name day or Angel Day - may coincide with a person’s birthday if he was given a name according to the Saints. For example, a person was born on a certain day, for example, February 6. On this day, the Holy Church commemorates Saint Xenia of St. Petersburg, and they decided to name the girl Ksenia. This girl's Name Day or Angel's Day will coincide with her Birthday.
Godfather at Christening
At Christenings, the godfather, together with the godmother, must take an active part both in preparation for this celebration and during it. A godfather can pay attention to his godchild. If the child makes contact, you can play with him, hold him in your arms. If the child is tired, sleeping or playing with other people, then the godfather can look after the guests, can help the baby’s parents set the table, but during the Christening celebration you should always remember for what reason people gathered, that first of all it should be spiritual joy about the baby's Baptism. We need to rejoice that the Holy Church opened its doors to this person, to a new little Christian, and the little one became its member. From this moment on, you can submit notes for your child in the Orthodox Church, you can bring him to the Sacrament of Holy Communion and pray for him at home.
The godfather's prayer plays a very important role in the life of his godson or goddaughter. There is not always a physical opportunity to be with your godchild, and even if there is such an opportunity, it is not always and not everything is within our power. In fact, everything happens according to the will of God and His holy providence. When a godfather turns to the Lord with prayer for his godchild, he humbles himself before God and asks Him for help. Even if at first glance everything is going well in the child’s life, you still need to pray for the baby. In the life of every person there are various trials, temptations, and sorrows. If we see that everything is fine, we need to thank the Lord for this and ask the Lord to strengthen our godchild further. And if we see that a child is sick, he doesn’t want to pray, doesn’t want to go to church, doesn’t want to read spiritual literature, he’s in a bad mood, he falls into some sins, he develops passions, then we need to pray to him with sorrow. God and ask His help so that everything will work out in our child’s life.
We live in difficult times now. We see that the age of information technology is coming. A growing child is surrounded on all sides by various information and, unfortunately, in most cases this information is not useful for his soul. Many advertisements encourage the development of various passions and sinful inclinations. These include pride, selfishness, conceit, gluttony and many others. Therefore, you need to spend a lot of time with the child, explaining to him what is hidden behind the beautiful images. Every effort must be made to ensure that the spiritual thirst that exists in every person is quenched from a pure source. For this purpose, you can read spiritual literature with your child, watch spiritual videos, you can travel to holy places, i.e. make pilgrimage trips, you can go with your child to a religious procession. It will be very good if the child can attend Sunday school. After classes, the material covered (if possible, godparents, if this is not possible, then the parents themselves) should be discussed with the child so that the knowledge that he received in Sunday school is fixed in his memory. It is important to pray with your child every time, before going to bed, after waking up in the morning, before meals, after meals, before doing homework, before lessons at school, after lessons, so that the child understands how important it is to constantly communicate with God. If a boy or girl gets used to turning to the Lord, to the Mother of God, to the holy saints of God, to the Angels, then they will have less time and desire to turn their attention to things that are not useful for them.
ssThus, the godfather, together with the child’s parents, together with the godmother, must work on themselves to lead the child to God. You need to walk the path of salvation together with your child. This is hard work, one might say that it is not an easy cross. But our task in this earthly, temporary life is to apply all our strength - both mental and physical - to inherit eternal life and salvation in the Lord.
How many times can you be a godfather?
To the question: “How many times can you be a father?” the answer may be similar to the answer to the question: “How many times can you be a godmother?” If you feel that you are able to bear the responsibility that comes with being a godfather, then you can be a godfather an unlimited number of times. The baptism of a child is the moment during which the godfather begins to fulfill his duty towards his godson. The responsibilities of the godfather at baptism are to prayerfully participate in the sacrament being performed. The godfather’s prayer at Baptism, “The Creed,” must be pronounced clearly and distinctly. If the recipient does not know this prayer by heart, then he must learn to read it well in advance. But the words of prayer must not only be pronounced beautifully, but also their meaning must be understood. Godparents are called godparents because they take the child into their arms during Baptism after immersion in the font. The fact that the godfather holds his godson in his arms symbolizes the fact that indicates the responsibilities of the godfather. The responsibilities of a godmother and the responsibilities of a godfather are similar. Godparents should help the baby's parents prepare for the Sacrament of Baptism. In advance, the godfather and godmother are interviewed by the priest. They also help prepare a baptismal set for a child, they can buy a pectoral cross with a chain, and make a Church donation for the Baptism.
Preparation for the Sacrament: what you need
Let's move on to perhaps the most important part of our article: how to prepare for the Baptism of a child?
Now, the date has been set, the godparents have been chosen, it’s time to start preparing for the important event. It's up to you to decide whether it will be a modest sacrament or whether you want to make this day memorable. In the latter case, you can use the services of a photographer and order a special photo session. Often masters of photography also beautifully design photos, so the result of their work can be a beautiful photo album or a box with touching moments of Epiphany. By the way, not all churches have a positive attitude towards photography and videography. You definitely need to clarify this fact and ask permission from the priest. Some items for the ceremony will also have to be purchased. Usually godparents do this, but parents themselves can buy it. So, what is needed for baptism:
- shirt or dress;
- kryzhma (towel in which the baby is wrapped);
- headscarf for girls;
- cross (simple, on a string, with rounded edges).
All necessary supplies can be purchased at the church store. There are also special baptismal kits for babies, they already contain everything they need. They can be purchased in children's stores or ordered online. The sets for boys and girls are not very different: the set for babies includes a baptismal scarf. But you can buy a set that includes both a cap and booties.
If the baby is very small, then it would be a good idea to feed him first. A well-fed child is more likely to sleep the entire time (this is about an hour) and will not be capricious. However, if there is a need to breastfeed, then do not hesitate to ask the attendants for a small corner where you can hide from prying eyes.
Godparents and relatives are present at the ceremony. Usually, blood parents are also allowed to attend, provided they are Orthodox Christians and dress appropriately for the congregation. They say that in some churches the mother is not allowed to baptize a child. In this case, it is better to play it safe and find out all the details from the priest.
Is it possible to change the godfather?
The godfather is the person who has taken upon himself the responsibility of raising a child in the Christian faith and helping his parents in this matter. Therefore, the answer to the question: “Is it possible to change the godfather?” there will be a categorical word: “No”. Church Sacraments have very great power; if, for example, during the Sacrament of Marriage, the spouses received a Church blessing to live together, then it is no longer possible to change the spouse or “get divorced”. The same applies to the Sacrament of Baptism.
Baptism at home
In addition to baptism in the temple, it would not be reprehensible to perform this sacrament at home, with your family. However, it is better to do it in the right place. This is based on the fact that after baptism, boys must be brought into the altar (girls simply venerate the icons).
After the ceremony is completed, the little man becomes a full member of the church. This can be felt most strongly only in the temple. Therefore, home christenings are possible only if the baby is unable to withstand the ceremony in church. They are also committed when the child is in mortal danger (illness, etc.). If the whole sacrament takes place in a home environment, then the godfather has the same responsibilities for baptism as if the ceremony was performed in a church.
How to become a godfather?
Question: “How to become a godfather?” presupposes the desire of the future recipient to carry out his duties. Typically, an offer to be a godfather comes from the child's parents, who are on friendly terms with the person they choose to play this role. Everything that a godfather should know is said by the clergyman during the interview before performing the Sacrament of Baptism. This interview usually takes place no earlier than a week before the expected date of Baptism. The priest explains what the godfather needs to know, what the godfather should do during Baptism and after it, what prayers should be prepared, known or able to read before the Sacrament is performed. You can, before going to this interview, prepare your questions for the priest. This is a great opportunity to ask them and get the information you are interested in.
What do you need to know to choose godparents?
So, how to choose a godfather or godfather? What should you be guided by? Firstly, you should know that in the spiritual life of a child, the most important thing is a godfather of the same sex (for a boy - a godfather, for a girl - a godmother). However, according to established tradition, two are chosen as godfathers.
Of course, the decision about who will be the child’s spiritual educator throughout his life is made at the family council. If there are any difficulties when choosing, then consult with your priest or spiritual father. He will probably suggest a suitable candidate, because this is quite an honorable duty.
It is very important that godparents do not get lost in life, that they continue to spiritually care for the child throughout his life. Both the godmother and the godfather, whose duties and functions are described above, have their own responsibilities before the Lord.
Based on all this, Christians who are over fourteen years old are suitable for the role of spiritual parents. They take responsibility for the future spiritual life of the child, praying for him, and then teaching him to live in the Lord.
Congratulations from the godfather
His godson or goddaughter should expect congratulations from the godfather on all holidays that are significant to them. The toast of the godfather at festive feasts on the occasion of christenings, birthdays, name days, and in the future the wedding of their godson or goddaughter sounds quite expressive. Everything that a godfather should give to his godchild on various holidays is intended to serve not only for the health and development of his godson, but also for spiritual benefit. Congratulations from the godfather can be in prose, or they can be in verse. Below we provide several examples of such congratulations.
Congratulations in prose from the godfather:
- With christening
My dear godson, I congratulate you on your Christening, may the Lord grant you his invisible grace, which protects and preserves you throughout your entire life’s journey. May the Most Holy Theotokos help your parents raise you in the Orthodox faith, a faithful member of the Church of Christ. Let your Holy Pleasant, who protects you, and whose name you bear, serve as an example for you to follow.
- Happy birthday
My dear godson or goddaughter, on your birthday I want to wish you that every year you become stronger and stronger, not only physically, but also spiritually. So that every step of your life is filled with good aspirations and pure wishes. May faith, hope and love be your faithful companions in life. I wish you many, many more years of health and prosperity.
Congratulations in prose on your name day
My beloved godson (or goddaughter), I congratulate you on your name day with all my heart. On this day I would like to wish you that the Patron Saint, whose name you bear, will help you at every step that you take along the path of salvation. All Saints stood out among other people for their especially strong love for God and other people. The best thing I can wish for you is to achieve the same state of mind that your Patron Saint had. God's help to you in everything, the intercession of the Guardian Angel, and the protection of the Most Holy Theotokos.
