Being a godparent is not just a formality. In addition to specific duties to the infant after the sacrament of baptism, the godparents have obligations to be direct participants in the sacrament itself.
Godparents are directly involved in infant baptism. If the priest is the performer of the sacrament, then the godparents are the chief assistants of the priest during the baptism of the child.
The infant, who was brought to the temple for baptism, is in the arms of the godmother or godfather during the sacrament itself (this does not matter in principle - as the baby is more comfortable and familiar, that godfather should hold the child). In addition, godparents make vows to renounce Satan and combine them with Jesus Christ. That is what should be attributed to the duties of the godparents directly when participating in the sacrament. The priest asks special questions answered by the godparents (along with the latter, the physiological parents themselves can answer about the renunciation of Satan).
After the infant is baptized in the holy font (immersing the child in water), the godparents accept the newly-made Christian. That is why the godparents are also called perceivers. Then the godparents dress the baby. True, physiological parents can do this equally.
At a certain moment of the baptism, the godparents, together with the baby in their arms and all those present at the baptism, go around the font three times while the priest sings the words that those who were baptized into Christ were put on him.
In some Orthodox churches, there is a practice of reciting certain prayers by the cross during the sacrament of baptism. So, in some parishes, it is the godparents who read the Creed (the main prayer of Orthodoxy, reflecting the meaning of basic dogmatic truths).
At the end of the sacrament of baptism, the godparents present to the newly-made Christian an icon of the Lord Jesus Christ or the Virgin, as well as the image of a saint in whose honor the baby is named.
