Baptism
There is an exchange of gifts between the godmother and the parents of her godchild of a piece of unrhymed cloth in which the priest wraps the baby after it is christened objects. The midwife also received from the parents of the child a traditional towel with which to wipe her hands of the blood, so as not to arrive in the next world with bloody hands from the birth. The shirt sewn from the shirt of the groom was the only piece of clothing worn by the child for two years, regardless of its sex and to protect it with the strength of the father against evil spirits. There are many traditions, some have survived even today, and their keeping in the world of the Romanian village would have been impossible without the help of such symbolic objects. These traditions continue to bear witness to a highly complex system of rituals and habits, without the help of which traditional order would have been transformed into chaos.
Next are 2 important moments: the baptism and the baptism feast. To be baptizes the baby must have a godfather. Different pieces of clothing are given as gifts for the new born. The woman who has given birth must not go out for 40 days, time during which friends and neighbors come bearing gifts and wishing the baby and the mother well.
As a Christian people, Romanians baptize the baby in its first months of life. Baptism comes form ancient Greek and means holy spring.
By being baptizes a person is given forgiveness from its ancestral sins and this way he is born again and becomes a part of Christ’s church. Baptism was founded by our savior by the words: “Walking, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit”.
The baptize is done only by the priest and the bishop at least 8 days after the baby was born and as late as 40 days, if the baby is healthy, if not the baptism is done right away.
The baby’s name is given by its parents, with the blessing of the priest, who recites a special prayer because the name of the baby will travel with him all his life and with that name the person will be trialed in front of God.
It is not good to give the baby many names because all saints had only one name, with a few exceptions. It’s worse when the baby is given one Christian name and a non Christian name, in this case in the church only the Christian name is mentioned.
The ones who are given saint’s names receive a lot of help in life and death because the saints who the people are named after pray constantly for them and help them in grave situations. The people who have godly names, heathen names don’t receive any help or any are prayed for. All in all if we live a good Christian life all saints in heaven pray for us and help us on our way to salvation.
The first part of the baptism is the exorcism. The one who does the baptizing stands towards sunset and declares 3 times that he renounces all that is related to Satan. Then the one who is getting baptizes is turned facing sunrise and announces his union with Christ reciting 3 times the Creed.
The second part of Baptism represents sanctifying the water.
The third and most important part of Baptism is the dunking of the baby 3 times in the holy water. Then the newly baptized is rapped in white clean cloth traditionally called “crisma” (from Christ). After saying a few more prayers the priest oils the baby saying these words: “Bearing the stamp of the Holy Spirit’s gift”.
By renouncing Satan the new born shows his union with Christ, the world’s savior. And by the bath taken the baptized receives forgiveness from his ancestral sin and all the sins until the baptism and is reborn, receiving a saint’s name and becoming a member of the church and a son of God. By oiling a person receives the gift of the Holy Spirit and the gifts he needs in life.
The receptacle used to baptize is called font (cristelnita) and comes from the word Christ and is also called a christening receptacle. In the old days in the church’s yard a little stone pool was build to christen. The font represents 3 things: the body of the church, in which we are born again; the holy bath, in which we cleanse ourselves from the ancestral sin; the grave in which we bury the old so that we can be reborn to new life with Christ. Water is the bath of the body and the Holy Spirit is the baht of the soul. The baptizing water represents the Jordan water and our savior’s grave. The 3 times the baby is dunked represents the 3 days our savior spent in his grave. The holy oil used on the baby represents God’s generosity towards man; the priest blowing 3 times over the water represents the Holy Spirit coming down over us. The white cloth used to cover the baby represents the cloth used to rap Christ after his death.
The lit candle given to the baby represents Christ’s light that lights our path in life and guides us safely through it.
The godfather is the spiritual father of the one baptized. He becomes kindred and a guide to his godchild, having a great responsibility towards him. Meaning to watch over him and make sure he is brought up in a Christian way and confesses often. Any godfather must be a good person and Christian, with a holy life and must be married.