We celebrated our family's entrance into the Eastern Orthodox Church with Mara's baptism and Cade's and my Chrismations. Just one week short of a complete year since my first steps into the local parish, we united with other Orthodox Christians throughout the world and since the Day of Pentecost.
Mara had been anticipating this day for quite a while, but I was completely unprepared for the awe and reverence with which she'd face each part of the ceremony. You'll see it on her face. Yes, she took the opportunity to turn and wave to loved ones in the congregation, but generally, Mara paid rapt attention to everything Father D said. Any time she got squirmy, she settled down again as soon as he addressed her, which was often, since she was the major participant in the ceremony. He had her stand in a chair for a while, and she almost fell out a couple of times, but her Nouno and Nouna caught her and helped her to balance. A couple of times, she turned around to see who was watching, spotted someone she recognized and waved out to the congregation. Mara and our godparents' kids all three took turns to be interested in the font, to look into it to see what was in there, etc. It was really cute to see their interest, but everyone commented on how well behaved they all were. Our godparents' children are normally very well behaved, but Mara isn't usually so "reverant." I was very proud of her. The font wasn't big enough to dunk her in, so he had her sit and he poured a pitcher of water over her head three times. She told me later that the water was cold! All of a sudden, I realized that this was my daughter being baptised, that this was huge for her, and I was seeing how spiritual it was--not by all the traditions of the EOC, but by watching her face and her reactions. She had such an expression of being absolutely caught up in everything happening, it can only be described as something I have always thought of as beyond her capabilities: Reverence. Truly, it was amazing!
Then it was our turn, and Father gave all of us a page to read from with the responses we were to say. He took the time to explain various parts of the ceremonies to the congregation, which made it very nice for the non-Orthodox who were there. He had nice, personal things to say about all three of us, but especially Mara, since he sees her almost every day at the preschool. We are all three proudly wearing our crosses, and it just feels good. This morning, Cade kept saying things like, "This is my first Orthodox shower." Everything seems new, now that we're Orthodox! Father complimented us on the reception, which pleased me, since we wanted it to be a nice celebration of our guests who came to witness this event with us. There was even some shrimp left over, which was a relief, since we thought we might run out. It's gone now, of course! Mara enjoyed passing out the icon favors we made up, and several people complimented me on how nice they look. Even my neice got in on passing out the icons, so it was fun for all.
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12 comments:
Very nice write up about the ceremony. The pictures are very nice. I'm glad you put this in your blog.
what a beautiful church and ceremoniy. I just LOVE baptisms!
You all make a gorgous family. congratulations on your Christmation!
Wonderful!! I almost feel like I was there after looking at all your pictures and reading your descriptions. Absolutely wonderful!! Many Years to you all!! ~ Jane
Tamara, tears are streaming down my face - what an amazing journey, and the photos are so beautiful! Father looks so loving and wonderful, the light of Christ truly shines in him.
Congratulations and Many Years!
Yes, it is. And you're absolutley welcome to come visit us anytime. We'll find room for your whole family--just bring sleeping bags!
Tamara, it's Linda. Beth sent this link. I'm teary eyed to say the least. Words cannot express.
Do the orthedox believe in bringing people to Jesus? Although they see Jesus as their savior, it seems more based on symbolism and such and doesn't really seem to focus on Jesus but how other saints and such lived their lives. Not trying to be negative, just a question.
Yes, dear anonymous reader, the Orthodox do indeed believe in bringing people to Jesus. They've been doing just that for over 2000 years.
The focus of every Liturgy is the Gospel message. I suggest visiting a service to see for yourself.
What Orthodox mean by symbolism is that we are recognizing a concept behond human understanding. The symbolism puts it in terms that we can, somewhat, get a grasp on. Symbolism is simply an embodiment of a deeper reality. The symbolism in action is the bodies way of worshiping. So yes, symbolism is very important for that reason. But the depth of that symbolism is something one could spend a liftime exploring.
The emphasis on the saints is on Jesus. What I mean by that is, what we focus on and read about in the Saints is the love of Jesus that we see shining through them. For the Orthodox, "bringing people to Jesus," means, "making them into the image of Jesus." We pray for the world to find Jesus, but the process of being saved is not defined by a single event in ones life, it is an on-going, life-long, process. Part of being saved and living for Jesus is the outward expression as well as the inward. We work on saving both the soul AND the body, because the body is the "Temple of God." It comes down to, "Is the love you have for Jesus real enough to be manifest in your life and actions? Or is one fooling themselves with emotions and hype?" I hope this answered your question. May God Bless Your Journey!
-Landon
What I find in reading the lives of Saints, is that I can see how those before me lived their lives for Christ. Their stories point to Christ. It is their "testimony", would be one way of understanding it. Just as one might read the story of a modern day Christian's testimony, such as that of C.S.Lewis, so we read that of the Saint's.
In my very limited understanding of Orthodoxy and the symbolism, it all points to Christ. Just as the cross on my necklace is a reminder of Christ and what he did, so are the other symbols in the Orthodox Church. The difficulty in understanding it, may lie in the fact that the symbol of the cross is familiar to a non-Orthodox, whereas the others might not be familiar so one might now know what it is all about. ~Jane
http://www.st-seraphim.com/ourmiracle.htm
This is interesting.
Interesting? Maybe. I don't know much about that church, although I'd be happy to learn more. What I do know is that they're not in communion with the recognized Orthodox churches in America. Google SCOBA for more information on the jurisdictions that take part in that organization. SCOBA churches are actually, literally Apostolic, which means their priests and bishops can trace back a direct line of descendency from the original Apostles. They had to lay hands on the next one to ordain them, so ordination outside of that line of descent isn't valid in the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Like I said, I don't know much except that that church in HP isn't actually a part of SCOBA. Whether that means it is a part of some other recognized and Apostolic organization, I don't know.
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