The birth of a child is a wonderful and long-awaited event in any family. In honor of this wonderful event, believing parents baptize their baby, thereby expressing great gratitude to the Lord and entrusting his child to him. However, it is not possible to perform the sacrament of baptism on any day.
First of all, it should be noted that in the Orthodox tradition there is no strictly established day for baptism. Parents can choose any day that they consider necessary. Of course, the church recommends baptizing the baby in the first year of life, but this is not necessary.
Christening according to canons
The best day for the baptism of a baby, according to Orthodox ministers, is 8 days after his birth, because according to legend, it was on this day that the Son of God Jesus Christ was baptized. It is also customary for babies to be baptized 40 days after their birth.
From the point of view of the Orthodox faith, the baby’s mother is unclean for 40 days after giving birth, therefore the entrance to the church is closed for her, and her stay near the newborn is extremely necessary.
Often the day of baptism is chosen in accordance with the day of a saint, according to which parents propose to name the baby.
Christening "secular"
A secular religious tradition (and there is one aimed at popularizing religion) considers the period of a child’s life until he reaches four months to be the most favorable time for christening, since it is at this time that the baby is very able to endure this procedure. At such an early age, the child is almost always in a state of sleep, so he is unlikely to be afraid of strangers, he will not cry.
Christening a year also became traditional, they are often combined with the celebration of the actual birthday. The church is loyal to such events, but ministers strongly recommend that both the parents of the baby and the godparents come for communion, confession and service, to participate in a conversation, which is usually held the day before the baptism. Father will talk about the sacrament and the duties of the godparents.
Most parishes have a separate day for the baptismal ceremony: Saturday. Christening starts after the service to be visited at 12 o’clock. Between the service and the ceremony itself there is little time to put a candle in the temple, pray and purchase the necessary accessories: a shirt, a cross, a candle on the altar.
