The Baptism of Christ and the Baptism of Christians

By Archimandrite Hariton (Gotca) Abbot of the Sacred Monastery of St. Nectarie, Cetateni, Romania

¨ As many as you have baptized in Christ, you have also clothed yourself in Christ ¨


      Beloved Christians


  With the blessing of His Grace Philaretos of Western Europe and the persuasion of Father Daniel, I ask you to accept the interpretation of the Baptism of the Lord, which is the foundation of Christianity and the door through which one enters in Orthodoxy and in the Kingdom of Heaven, but also types of baptism, including the exceptions performed with economia within a of the 7 Sacraments – baptism.
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  Without our birth from water and from the Spirit, without our rebirth through the bath of tears of repentance – confession and without obtaining the Holy Communion, with dignity, no one acquires the Kingdom of Heaven as the Holy Scripture says.
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  We saw the Baby  Jesus Christ, a little while ago, then 8 days after the Birth, circumcised, 8 days because, 8 represents the 8th century (Holy Kingdom) to see Him instituting the Sacrament of Baptism.
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  That is why the royal feasts usually last 8 days, we will take the Holy Water, which we will sanctify immediately only on the occasion of the Baptism of the Lord and only 8 days plus today, because then during the year only with a blessing after confession. As an exception, when someone is on the verge of death, baptized Orthodox, and the priest manages to arrive to give to him Holy Communion , he can take after the Holy Water.
  Dear believers, we should know that Christian Baptism was foretold in the Old Testament, several times, namely:
– by the passage of the people through the Red Sea, thus the deliverer from the cruelest slavery, the Egyptian one. Pharaoh, the representative of sin and sinners, was buried there.
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   We also bury the ancestral sin, taken over from the forefathers Adam and Eve, dying together with Christ and rising with HIM through the baptismal bath. Baptismo in Greek means immersion, and Baptism must be done canonically only through 3 complete immersions in the name of the Holy Trinity.
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   We will now also talk about the fact that the Baptism of the Lord is also called Theophany or Epiphany, in translation it means the Showing of the Lord, understanding that now the Lord was revealed, both to the Prophet John the Baptist and to his contemporaries, but also to all of us.
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 We will expose the appearances in the Old and New Testaments of the Holy Spirit, but first we will say that:
– another harbinger of the Baptism of the Lord was the Bather of Siloam;
– another prediction was the baptism of the Old Law, i.e. circumcision, when on the 8th day after the birth of the male infant he received the covenant, as Abraham, the father of the Old Law, received the commandment and although the Lord said to Abraham thus: I make an everlasting covenant between Me and you and My people, yet this Eternal we must understand that it exists until the End of Ages, only that it is renewed perfectly by our Savior through the institution of Holy Baptism-Great Sacrament.
  – then followed the baptism performed by John the Baptist, who not only forgave people’s sins, but didn`t  give them the Holy Spirit, that is, sanctification.
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  I would pause to explain the appearance of the Holy Spirit in the world. Therefore, it was the Holy Spirit in ancient times, but not fully, when the Prophets prophesied or performed miracles, but it was fully revealed through the Mystery of the Holy Trinity, now at the Holy Baptism, which we will immediately mention, that is, the one instituted by the Lord Jesus. Then more clearly the Holy Spirit came over the Holy Apostles, the Virgin Mary and those who were baptizing in the name of the Lord at Pentecost when he appeared in the form of tongues of fire and says the Holy Scripture in the form so as not to attribute something material to the Holy Spirit, because it is immaterial.
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  Aidoma was also at the Baptism, the Holy Spirit appeared in the form of a dove, the most important and perfect is the Baptism of the Lord Himself and the Savior of the world. Only Holy Baptism pours out the Holy Spirit to people and that is why it is performed by the priest, who has the Holy Spirit from ordination through apostolic succession and only according to church canons.
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  A mutilation of the Sacrament is observed by substituting immersions for sprinkling or pouring, invoking reasons of precaution to prevent infant drowning. This is a Catholic custom and it is anti-canonical, and the whole future of Christianity is mocked because the foundation of the Christian life is shaky and rotten, and the priest who performs such baptism loses the Priesthood and implicitly the Holy Spirit – our faithful and eternal guide.
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  – then there is the baptism of tears, means  Confession-Great Sacrament, through which, as in Baptism, we wash away our sins and renew our lives,
– we also call baptism martyrdom, when someone does not renounce the Lord and Savior of the world in times of hardship, but confesses his Benefactor to the point of sacrifice.


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  Here, for example, dear believers, I mentioned the baptism of martyrdom, and some of the holy martyrs had not received Orthodox baptism; then God sent rain through His Providence, and this was considered Baptism.
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  Any Christian, in case of great need, can baptize an infant or an adult, if, for example, he dies a few hours or days after birth by sprinkling with Great Water or if he does not have water at hand or very quickly the sign of the Holy Cross over the baby. If the child dies, he is considered baptized, in an obvious exceptional case, and if he recovers, he is baptized by the priest.
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  I baptized a baby girl born at 5 months in a new cauldron in the hospital, by submerging her. I dared to take her out of the incubator, then she didn’t have a vestment, book, Holy Cross, nothing. So I was then a deacon.
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  Another case in history was like this: there was a group of young people, and one of the group was dying because of the lack of water, being there a desert. A friend from the group baptized him knowing that his colleague did not have Christian baptism by pouring sand on his head three times with his fists. The miracle was accomplished, the dying man regained strength and slowly, slowly, they saved themselves from inanity, all finding water. Then narrating the event to an abbot of a monastery, he was stunned, thanking God and ordained the one who baptized with sand a priest, and the baptized deacon.
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   Another case: a priest was urgently called to baptize a dying baby. The priest hurried, but when he arrived at the place in question, the baby had just died. At that moment the priest prayed as follows: Lord, You know that I did not linger, but hurried as much as I could, so revive this child to baptize him, because You said that without being born of water and of the Spirit, no one sees Your Kingdom . Then, we assume that due to the great faith of the priest and from the heavenly Providence, the baby was resurrected. The Baptism followed, the Chrismation with the Holy and the Great Myrrh – God’s mercy and Holy Communion – Sanctification and our thanksgiving, all of us.
  Then the baby died, but not like before, but baptized.
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Finally, I want to thank you for having the patience to listen to the end and to tell you that baptism must be done quickly- at 8 days, forty days or, in any case, when the person is a few days from birth because if he deviates something unwanted and dies unbaptized, will not see the Kingdom of God, and in the case of mature people, a thorough catechesis is needed, because that’s why people from different religions got married without canonical baptism.
I ask God to keep close to all of us the Holy Angel and the Holy Spirit – the protectors acquired at baptism.  Amen