General information about the sacrament of baptism
The rite of baptism usually occurs in infancy. Since then, little is remembered. Natural parents choose godparents. For the ceremony, a godparent of the same gender as the child is chosen. Currently, it is customary to choose a second godfather. This is actually not necessary. Spiritual parents play the role of mentors who teach the child faith.
After the perfect selection of future spiritual mentors, they must go through the confession procedure. Forgive all your sins and pray for them. Only after this do they participate in the baptismal ceremony. The child is dressed in white clothes, bathed in a font of holy water three times, and put on a cross. The baby will wear it all his life.
Important! The sacrament of baptism can be performed on any day of the week and at any time after the birth of the baby. The 8th day after birth is considered the most favorable.
How many godchildren can one person have?
Nowhere is it stated how many times children can be baptized. They say that you cannot become a godmother more than twice. No confirmation of these words has been found anywhere. This means that such a statement is superstition. Anyone can baptize children twice or thrice, and more times if desired. He takes responsibility for all recipients, participates in their lives, and guides them on the right and pious path.
How many times can a man or woman baptize a child - traditions
How many times can a man baptize a child, a woman can baptize so many times until you feel that enough is enough. The Orthodox Church does not limit people in this matter. Much depends on the generosity of the soul and on responsibility. If a person is generous in soul, he can help many and guide them on the true path patiently for many years without a drop of doubt.
Baby christening
Refusing to become a godfather or godmother is not considered a sin. There is no need to lie to yourself, if there is no internal readiness to accept a godson, to become his godfather or godmother, then there is no need to do this. It is better to make a decision right away than to perform your duty to your child poorly later. You should be honest with yourself and the child’s parents. Then in the future the children will not feel alienated.
IMPORTANT: People say that women should not be godparents more than once. This is an incorrect statement. After all, a woman can be a mother several times. So she can be a godmother as much as she wants, the only thing is that she must fulfill her duty to her godchildren.
Interesting traditions to consider when baptizing:
- If a godfather or godmother baptized one child in the family, then they can also become godparents to the second child without any obstacles.
- One person can be the godfather of two children (twins or twins), the main thing is that the godfather is able to hold two children during the ceremony. They will need to be kept after the font. Baptism is not a quick process, so in this case you will need to stock up on strength and patience. Children may be capricious and cry and will need to be calmed down. It is because of this that they advise each child in such cases to take different godparents.
- You can become a godmother or godfather only after reaching adulthood. True, there are exceptions, the only requirement is that the godfather be much older than his godson. Otherwise, he will not be able to fulfill his direct duties as a godfather, and he will not fully understand the gravity of his duty to his godson.
- There are situations when a godfather or godmother moved to live in another city or another country, and therefore cannot communicate with their godchildren live. In such cases, you should simply pray for your godchildren, and if possible, continue to communicate via communication.
- Some are interested in the question of whether it is possible to baptize a baby without godparents at all, because there are all sorts of situations in life. It is still better to find godparents; it will be difficult for a child without a spiritual connection with godparents, but the Church does not prohibit baptizing people completely without godparents if the parents have not found one. And for small children and infants, you will still need to find at least one godfather or godmother. It is simply impossible to carry out the baptism ceremony without godparents in this case. Adult children and teenagers can do without godparents.
- Pregnant women, despite their situation, can also become godmothers. Pregnancy is not a reason to refuse the procedure. They say that it is even beneficial for pregnant women to participate in the sacrament of baptism. If a woman has her critical days, then baptism will need to be postponed. A woman in this position cannot visit the Temple of God.
- If a person does not remember whether he was baptized in childhood or not, and there are no witnesses to the sacrament of baptism, then such a person can be baptized with baptized parents. There is no prohibition on such a ritual, especially if a person himself wants to accept the Orthodox faith.
Some are interested in the question of what to do with those godparents who exist, but do not fulfill their duties. It happens that a godfather or godmother leads an immoral lifestyle, drinks, and does not care about his godson or goddaughter. In these cases, it will no longer be possible to baptize the child a second time; no matter what the godparents are, they are still considered godparents. The connection between a child and such people cannot be broken.
There is only one way out in such situations - this is to accept an assistant or have a close friend, a friend of the parents, who will subsequently replace the godfather or godmother. He will keep in touch with the child. All sorts of situations may arise on the path of life, close people who are nearby at a given time will always help you find peace, confidence and solve various problems of a child or an adult. Difficulties and conflicts will be easier to overcome if there are reliable people on whom you can easily rely.
Who can't be godfather
Absolutely anyone cannot become a godparent. A well-tested, long-known person is chosen for this role. However, there are limitations to this type of parenting.
Gentiles
People from other faiths cannot baptize children. Buddhists, Jews, Muslims and others cannot participate in the ritual. Godparents must belong to the same church. In rare cases, an exception is made. When they cannot find anyone for this role and there is no one to replace them. This happens extremely rarely.
Young couples
Young people in a loving relationship cannot baptize the same child.
Godparents should only have a spiritual connection with each other. This is a strict rule that must be followed.
Parents
The baby's parents cannot baptize him. They must perform the function of care and education. The godmother or father teaches the child faith and correct behavior. They also try to participate in the lives of their godchildren.
A child can be baptized by his grandparents, aunts and uncles, and older brothers and sisters.
Strangers
In cases of despair, you can call strangers or one stranger as godparents. For a boy, a father is chosen, and for a girl, a mother is chosen. But the church recommends choosing trusted people who have known the family for a long time.
A well-known person who has a degree of trust should become a spiritual parent for a newborn. A stranger may not fulfill his responsibilities fully and may not take part in the baby’s life.
How many godparents can one child have? 
OlgaUgbaja February 15, 2012, 00:24
You can take several godparents. But here the question is very subtle, because godparents do not mean that they are very good friends or girlfriends, but what is in their souls, do they live with Christ? Will they be able to pray intensively for their daughter, will they be able to raise her spiritually, pass on as much Christianity as possible, and if something happens, replace their own mother or father. We are Catholics, we are stricter with the baptism of a child than the Orthodox. There are a lot of conditions for baptizing a child. To begin with, the child is baptized in the Christian denomination to which the mother or father of the child belongs (the husband and wife are not always of the same religion), this will simplify the task of introducing the child to the spiritual world, if the mother goes to church and listens to mass on Sundays, receives communion, then child too. There can be two women, or men, or three, or one godparent, the main thing is that this person is a believer, observes all the orders of the church, faith, takes communion, in short, that he is a practicing Christian; Catholics have people who, in childhood, with the help of their parents accepted the faith of Christianism, and then do not observe all the rules of Christian life (for example, eggs are blessed only on Easter, without even knowing why this is a big holiday), and are not considered believers. Before the baptism of a child, Catholics require catechesis for the child’s parents and godparents; the priest explains everything down to the smallest detail why this is necessary. Well, our church demands, I repeat, that one of the godparents must be a practicing Catholic, the second godparent or godmother can also be Orthodox. We have an Orthodox godmother and a Catholic godmother. So the priest demanded from him that he provide a letter with the official seal from the rector to which parish he belongs, as proof that he is a believing Catholic, baptized, regularly attends Holy Mass and receives communion, as well as his passport. The priest also didn’t take a penny from us, although he performed the ceremony very solemnly. The child was given his simple cross and a small almond to Mother Mary (of Lourdes), there also had to be a large candle - symbolizing light, the child should preferably be in white and always a piece of clean, new, white linen, we had a blanket, but the priest suggested late that it was possible just a piece of white fabric, then hem this fabric under my daughter’s first communion dress. We also had a ceremony with gifts; I won’t be too lazy to post the theme from our baptism. True, it was freezing, the church was not heated, the photo did not look very colorful (the baby’s outfit is not visible). And one more condition for Catholics is that there should be no alcohol at the celebration of the child’s baptism, so as not to immediately interfere with evil when the newborn angel first acquired grace. And yet, this is the holy sacrament, which can only happen once in a lifetime, i.e. No one will baptize your child a second time, so approach this issue very wisely. This is what I scribbled, sorry, this may be off-topic
Responsibilities of godparents
The godmother and father must take an active part in the life of the godson. It is worth thinking about the possibility of fulfilling such a number of obligations, because they take a lot of time. Every godfather or mother is obliged to:
- enlighten the child in faith;
- take him to church;
- talk about Christian holidays;
- teach the child piety, kindness and behavior;
- help the godson explore the depths of the Orthodox Church;
- participate in the baby's daily life.
The most valuable gift for a child will be good godparents who will pay enough attention to their ward. Natural parents also help educate the child in church matters. Talk about customs, traditions, holidays, kindness.
Being a godfather is a responsibility. Making such a decision is not easy. You need to be aware of how much effort, time and attention this role takes. The sacrament of baptism is the child’s turning to Jesus, the beginning of life in faith in God. The ritual opens the gate to the child's religion. Spiritual mentors make efforts to help the child deal with all the issues. Many children can be baptized, but everyone needs to be given attention.
