Baptism is a sacrament that determines the fate of a person. During the ceremony, godparents (recipients) are assigned to the baby, who bear a huge responsibility for the virtues of the ward.
Therefore, mother and father of blood must take a responsible approach to the choice of these people. Select recipients based on the knowledge of who should not be godparents. There are church rules on this score.
Godparents are a person's spiritual mentors for life
Who can be chosen as godparents to the baby
According to church canons, adherents of the Orthodox faith who have reached the age of majority can be the recipients during the baptism ceremony in the church. After all, godparents are a person's spiritual mentors for life. They have to answer for the godson before God, to guide the child to the righteous path. And also on the conscience of the godparents fall all the sins of the ward until he turns 16.
Therefore, mom and dad should choose godparents for their child, proceeding not only from their own considerations. It is necessary to observe religious precepts, and they say that a child can be baptized:
- The child's relatives (aunt, uncle, grandfather, grandmother). Children over the age of 14 are allowed to baptize a brother or sister.
- Godfathers (people who have chosen you as a recipient for their child). You can baptize each other's children.
- Godfathers of the firstborn.
- The priest performing the rite, or the psalmist (if it was not possible to choose a recipient in an area with a predominance of gentiles or the baptized person is in mortal danger).
- Woman expecting a baby.
- An unmarried person with no children.
Blood parents should understand that they choose not just a participant in the church ritual, but a person who will truly love their child, who can be a mentor for him in the spiritual sphere throughout his life. Qualities required by the recipient:
- developed sense of responsibility;
- faith in God (adherence to the Orthodox religion);
- conscious love for your child.
People with such qualities can be good godparents – it is their prayers for the godchild that the Lord perceives in the first place.
The correct choice of a godfather is also important because it is done once for a lifetime. Subsequently, it is impossible to choose another recipient.
If one of the godparents stumbles, the godson will have to pray for him and his return to the righteous path.
And also, the candidate must agree to fulfill all the rules of the baptismal ceremony, which for the recipients are as follows:
- Observance of a three-day fast before baptism, confession and communion during this period.
- Putting an Orthodox cross on the body.
- Appropriate appearance (primarily for women). There should be no lipstick on the lips. The head must be covered. The skirt should cover the knees (trousers are excluded).
In addition, recipients need to meaningfully perceive the prayers 'Our Father' and 'The Creed', which are read during the ceremony.
It is believed that the baby can borrow the godmother's share, therefore, for the role of the recipient, you need to choose a woman who is happy in marriage.
Who Can't Become Godfather
There is an unspoken prohibition for an unmarried young lady to be the godmother of a girl if a woman is to take part in the baptism ceremony for the first time. Folk omens claim that the goddaughter will rob the godmother of potential family happiness. In addition, the godmother, in general, will not marry.
That is, the girl should be the first to baptize the boy, which, according to signs, will bring her happiness in marriage in the future.
There are also explanations why an unmarried girl cannot baptize the first girl. It is believed that the baby can borrow the godmother's share, therefore, for the role of the recipient, you need to choose a woman who is happy in marriage.
A superstition forbidding an unmarried woman to baptize her first girl.
According to English belief, if an unmarried lady christens the first girl and then takes part in the boy's baptism ceremony, then the guy will not have facial hair (no beard or mustache). And this is considered satanic intrigues, and such a person himself falls into the servants of Satan.
List of persons who are not eligible to baptize a child:
- blood mother and father crumbs;
- unbaptized person or atheist;
- an individual who denies any truth of Orthodox teaching;
- a person who perceives the sacrament of baptism as an opportunity to conduct a magical rite,
- pursuing pagan goals;
- an individual who does not want to be a recipient for this child;
- adoptive parents;
- an individual belonging to other faiths;
- children under 14;
- monks and clergy;
- immoral individuals;
- mentally disabled persons;
- woman during menstruation.
When choosing recipients, the child's parents are perplexed why it is impossible to take a married couple as godparents to the child. Often it is the family of acquaintances that is most suitable for the role of mentors. Especially if harmony, love and understanding reign in a married couple. And in spirit and religion, friends are close to the parents of the baby.
But the church forbids spouses to be godparents with one child. The reason for the ban is the spiritual connection that arises between the recipients during the rite of baptism. She becomes the beginning of spiritual intimacy, which rises above any other bonds, including marriage. If the husband and wife become godparents, this will make their marriage impossible in the future.
The ban also applies to a couple in a civil marriage or on the eve of marriage.
Moreover, individuals living together outside of marriage cannot be godparents (such relationships are considered fornication). But in the modern world, they rarely pay attention to these prohibitions, only people who are married in the church are taken into account – they are not chosen as godparents.
Can a husband and wife be godparents to a child
The desire to take a married couple into godfathers appears when parents have few friends and acquaintances, or they do not refuse to take on such responsibility, or friends are far from a righteous lifestyle. In this case, you need to remember that according to church canons, you can choose one godfather who will be of the same sex with the child.
Spouses cannot be godparents of one child. But you can baptize different children in the same family. If you really want to marry in pairs, the husband can baptize the boy, and the wife – the girl.
If there are individual questions from the parents regarding the reasons for the prohibition, to be godparents to the husband and wife, you need to contact the priest during the preparation for the ritual. Sometimes the question of the choice of a married couple by the recipients is resolved positively (in the presence of exceptional circumstances).
