The baptism of a child is one of the seven sacred ordinances of the Orthodox Church in which the baby's body immerses into the water three times in order to be washed from original sin and all sins committed before the Baptism. At the same time, the names of the Holy Trinity - the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are called. To participate in the Sacrament of Baptism, the parents of the baby choose the Godparents - mother and father. The godparents take upon themselves the responsibility of educating the child in believing in God, purity and piety.
Is it possible to baptize a child to a pregnant woman, is not her situation an obstacle to the implementation of the Sacrament of Baptism - we will try to answer these questions in our article.
Why can not baptize a pregnant woman?
In church practice, there is no biblical confirmation that pregnant women can not baptize a child. The excitement of the Church is caused by the fact that the born native child will take away all the free time and all the love from the young mother, and the infant, taken from the font, will be left without care of him. It is worth remembering that the godmother is not only material values and gifts for her birthday, in the first place - this is the second mother. After all, the godparents are witnesses of the Sacrament of Baptism, who are entrusted for the faith of the godson, and are obliged to instruct him in the rules of the Christian life. Therefore, the main prohibitions in choosing godparents are:
- any other their religion: atheism, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism;
- husband and wife of the same family;
- unbaptized godparents.
So, the Church considers as an error the statement that pregnant women can not baptize a child. The Orthodox Church gives only its recommendations - what to think about before making an important decision. When the Sacrament of Baptism is performed on a child-girl, according to the laws of the church, the godmother keeps the godfather most of the rite, and for a pregnant woman it is very difficult, especially at the last stages of pregnancy. If a pregnant woman is offered to baptize a boy, then there are no difficulties, for the cross is not so important for his baptism.
In the event that the girl's parents nevertheless insist that the pregnant woman baptize the child, with the permission of the priest, she may not attend the ritual (but be recorded in the documents), then the grandmother must take the fonts out of the fetus.
Can I baptize a child pregnant?
Pregnant can be baptized, if a woman feels well, she has no doubt that she will not deprive him of the godson's attention, and will be his true friend for life.
Are pregnant people baptized?
A pregnant woman can not only baptize a child, but also be baptized herself, if she has not been baptized before. The priests who performed the rite of the Sacrament of Epiphany say that children of such women are born strong and healthy.
The christening is a very kind and positive ritual, so why should not a pregnant woman take part in such a beautiful ritual? Priests say that it and her future child will only benefit.