Is it possible to be a godmother 2 times? What to do if, due to objective reasons, you have not seen your godson for years? – Is it possible for a person to have only one godparent?
The sacrament of baptism is the path into the world of Orthodox Christians. One of the most important actions in a person's life. A baby receiving baptism is born again to spiritual life. The Lord gives the newly baptized one, which accompanies him throughout his life and protects him from troubles and misfortunes. When choosing a godfather for their baby, some people ask: “How many times can you be a godfather”?
Choice of godparents
The Church answers this question unequivocally - an unlimited number of times. Another thing is whether you are ready to be a spiritual mentor to several young children at once. After all, this is not an easy mission. By becoming a godfather, you take responsibility and care for the little person.
Who can become a godfather?
- A person who is himself baptized.
- A Christian who often attends church and knows the basic commandments and laws of Orthodoxy.
- Native or close person who can be close to your child.
It is impossible for members of the same family to become godparents of one child - a husband and wife, as well as a guy and a girl who love each other and are going to get married. It is also forbidden to take people's godparents leading a riotous or unrighteous lifestyle.
You should approach the choice of godparents consciously. There is no need to focus on people's wealth or fame. You should know that your baby should have a person on earth who can guide him on the right path and help him in a difficult situation.
In our country, baptisms in churches are mainly carried out on weekends. It is necessary to talk with the priest in advance about the ritual, discuss the main points and choose a name for the child. You can name the baby after the saint on which day the christening takes place, or the priest will offer his own version of the name. Subsequently, a person will have to find out the life story of the saint and purchase an image with his image.
Most often, a baby is baptized on the 8th or 40th day of birth. In any case, there is no point in delaying the sacrament, since little man not protected from troubles and misfortunes.
If the child is already old enough, the godfather acts as a person who vouches for his pupil.
To prepare for the sacrament, you need to come to a conversation with the priest. Some churches conduct the so-called Orthodox exam. The priest asks to talk about the main commandments or reveal the essence of communion. Before you have such a conversation, you should prepare.
Before the ritual, the future godfather must fast for 3 days, then undergo the ritual of communion and confession.
Future godparents also usually pay for the ritual itself, purchase pectoral cross and a special robe for the baby: a baptismal shirt, a towel and a sheet. But these requirements are not mandatory, so all these items can be purchased by the child’s natural parents.
Baptism raises a lot of questions for future godparents.
When answering the question about how many times you can be a godfather, you should know that only a spiritually rich, church-going and responsible person can become a godfather as many times as necessary.
What is Baptism as a Sacrament? How does it happen?
Baptism is a Sacrament in which a believer, by immersing his body three times in water with the invocation of God the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, dies to a carnal, sinful life and is reborn from the Holy Spirit into a spiritual life. In Baptism a person is cleansed of original sin– the sin of his ancestors, communicated to him through birth. The sacrament of Baptism can be performed on a person only once (just as a person is born only once).
The baptism of an infant is performed according to the faith of the recipients, who have the sacred duty to teach children the true faith and help them become worthy members of the Church of Christ.
The baptismal kit for your baby should be the one that is recommended to you in the church where you will be baptizing him. They can easily tell you what you need. Mainly it is a baptismal cross and a baptismal shirt. The baptism of one baby lasts about forty minutes.
This sacrament consists of Announcements(reading special prayers over those preparing for baptism - “prohibitions”), renunciation of Satan and union with Christ, that is, union with Him, and confession of the Orthodox faith. Here the godparents must pronounce the appropriate words for the baby.
Immediately after the end of the Announcement, the follow-up begins Baptism. The most noticeable and important point- immersing the baby three times in the font with the words pronounced: “The servant of God (servant of God) (name) is baptized in the name of the Father, amen. And the Son, amen. And the Holy Spirit, amen." At this time, the godfather (of the same sex as the person being baptized), taking a towel in his hands, prepares to receive his godfather from the font. The one who has received Baptism then dresses in new white clothes and puts a cross on him.
Immediately after this another Sacrament is performed - Confirmation, in which the person being baptized, when the parts of the body are anointed with the consecrated Myrrh, in the name of the Holy Spirit, is given the gifts of the Holy Spirit, strengthening him in spiritual life. After this, the priest and godparents with the newly baptized person walk around the font three times as a sign of the spiritual joy of union with Christ for eternal life V Heavenly Kingdom. Then read an excerpt from the letter of the Apostle Paul to the Romans, dedicated to the topic baptism, and an excerpt from the Gospel of Matthew - about the sending of the Apostles by the Lord Jesus Christ to the worldwide preaching of the faith with the command to baptize all nations in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Afterwards, the priest washes the myrrh from the body of the baptized person with a special sponge dipped in holy water, saying the words: “Thou art justified. You have become enlightened. You are sanctified. You have washed yourself in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. You were baptized. You have become enlightened. You have been anointed with chrism. You have been sanctified in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.”
Next, the priest cuts the hair of the newly baptized in a cross shape (on four sides) with the words: “The servant of God (name) is tonsured in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen,” puts the hair on a wax cake and lowers it into the font. tonsure symbolizes submission to God and at the same time marks the small sacrifice that the newly baptized person brings to God in thanksgiving for the beginning of a new, spiritual life. After making petitions for godparents and the newly baptized, the Sacrament of Baptism ends.
This is usually immediately followed by churching, denoting the first offering to the temple. The baby, taken by the priest in his arms, is carried through the temple, brought to the Royal Doors and brought into the altar (boys only), after which he is given to his parents. Churching symbolizes the dedication of the baby to God according to the Old Testament model. After baptism, the baby should be given communion.
Why are only boys brought into the altar?
In principle, boys should not be included there either, this is just a tradition.
Sixth Ecumenical Council defined: Let no one belonging to the ranks of the laity be allowed to enter the sacred altar... (rule 69). The famous canonist Bishop. gives the following comment to this resolution: “In view of the mystery of the bloodless sacrifice offered at the altar, it was forbidden, from the earliest times of the church, to enter the altar to anyone who did not belong to the clergy. “The altar is reserved for sacred persons only.”
They say that before baptizing your child, you should confess and receive communion.
Even without regard to the Baptism of a child, Orthodox Christians are called by the Church to regularly begin the Sacraments of Confession and Holy Communion. If you have not done this before, then it will be good to take the first step towards a full-fledged church life to do in anticipation of the Baptism of your own baby.
This is not a formal requirement, but a natural internal norm - because, introducing a child to church life through the sacrament of Baptism, introducing him into the fence of the Church - why should we ourselves remain outside it? For an adult who has not repented for many years, or has never in his life, and has not begun to accept the Holy Mysteries of Christ, is at this moment a very conditional Christian. Only by motivating himself to life in the sacraments of the Church does he actualize his Christianity.
What is the Orthodox name for a baby?
The right to choose a child's name belongs to his parents. Lists of names of saints - calendars - can help you in choosing a name. In the calendar, names are arranged in calendar order.
There is no unambiguous church tradition for choosing names - often parents choose a name for the baby from the list of those saints who are glorified on the very day of the child’s birth, or on the eighth day, when the rite of naming is performed, or during the period of forty days (when the Sacrament of Baptism is usually performed). It is wise to choose a name from a list of names church calendar of those that are close enough after the child’s birthday. But, however, this is not some kind of obligatory church institution, and if there is some deep desire to name a child in honor of this or that saint, or some kind of vow on the part of the parents, or something else, then this is not an obstacle at all .
When choosing a name, you can familiarize yourself not only with what this or that name means, but also with the life of the saint in whose honor you want to name your baby: what kind of saint he is, where and when he lived, what was his way of life, on what days is his memory celebrated?
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Why do some churches close the church during the sacrament of Baptism (without doing this during other sacraments) or ask people who call themselves Orthodox not to enter it?
Because during the Baptism of an adult, it is not very pleasant for the person being baptized or the one being baptized if strangers look at him, sufficiently bodily exposed, and observe the greatest sacrament with the curious gaze of those who have no prayerful relationship with it. It seems that a prudent Orthodox person will not simply go as a spectator to someone else’s Baptism if he was not invited there. And if he lacks tact, then the church ministers act prudently by removing the curious from the church while the sacrament of Baptism is being performed.
What should come first - faith or Baptism? Can one be baptized in order to believe?
Baptism is a Sacrament, that is, a special action of God, in which, with the response of the desire of the person himself (certainly the person himself), he dies to a sinful and passionate life and is born into a new one - life in Christ Jesus.
On the other hand, deep faith is what the baptized and churchgoer must strive all my life. All people are sinners, and one must strive to acquire faith in such a way that works are combined with it. Faith, among other things, is an effort of will. In the Gospel, one person who met the Savior exclaimed: “I believe, Lord! Help my unbelief." () This man already believed in the Lord, but he wanted to believe even more, stronger, more decisively.
It will be easier to strengthen your faith if you live the church life and not look at it from the outside.
Why do we baptize babies? They still can’t choose their own religion and consciously follow Christ?
A person is saved not on his own, not as an individual who unilaterally decides how to be and act in this life, but as a member of the Church, a community in which everyone is responsible for each other. Therefore, an adult can vouch for the baby and say: I will try to make sure that he grows up kind. Orthodox Christian. And while he cannot answer for himself, they give his faith as a pledge for him. godfather And godmother.
Does a person have the right to be baptized at any age?
Baptism is possible for a person of any age on any day of the year.
At what age is it better to baptize a child?
A person can be baptized at any time from his first breath to his very last breath. In ancient times, there was a custom to baptize a child on the eighth day of birth, but this was not a mandatory rule.
It is most convenient to baptize a child during the first months of birth. At this time, the baby still does not distinguish his mother from the “strange aunt” who will hold him in her arms during Baptism, and the “bearded uncle” who will always come up to him and “do something with him” is not scary for him.
Older children already perceive reality quite consciously, they see that they are surrounded by people unfamiliar to them, and that their mother is either not there at all or for some reason she does not come to them, and may experience anxiety about this.
Is it necessary to be baptized again if a person was “baptized by his grandmother at home”?
Baptism is the only Sacrament of the Church that, in case of emergency, can be performed by a layman. During the years of persecution, cases of such baptism were not uncommon - there were few churches and priests.
In addition, in earlier times, midwives sometimes baptized newborn babies if their lives were in danger: for example, if the child received birth trauma. This baptism is usually called "immersion." If a child died after such baptism, he was buried as a Christian; if he survived, he was brought to the temple and the priest supplemented the baptism performed by the layman with the necessary prayers and sacred rites.
Thus, in any case, a person baptized by a layman must “complete” his baptism in the temple. However, in earlier times, midwives were specially trained in how to perform baptism correctly; in the Soviet years, it is often completely unknown who baptized and how, whether this person was trained, whether he knew what and how to do. Therefore, for the sake of confidence in the actual performance of the Sacrament, priests most often baptize such “immersed” as if there was a doubt about whether they were baptized or not.
Can parents attend Baptism?
They may well not just be present, but pray together with the priest and godparents for their baby. There are no obstacles to this.
When is Baptism performed?
Baptism can take place at any time. However, in churches the procedure for performing Baptism is established differently, depending on the internal routine, opportunities and circumstances. Therefore, you should worry in advance about finding out about the procedure for performing Baptism in the church in which you want to baptize your child.
What does an adult who wants to receive the Sacrament of Baptism need?
For an adult, the basis for Baptism is the presence of a sincere Orthodox faith.
The purpose of Baptism is union with God. Therefore, the one who comes to the baptismal font needs to decide for himself very important issues: does he need it and is he ready for it? Baptism is inappropriate if a person uses it to seek some earthly blessings, success, or hopes to solve his family problems. Therefore one more an important condition for Baptism is a firm desire to live as a Christian
After the Sacrament has been performed, a person must begin a full-fledged church life: regularly go to church, learn about divine services, pray, that is, learn to live in God. If this does not happen, Baptism will have no meaning.
It is necessary to prepare for Baptism: at a minimum, carefully read these public conversations, read at least one of the Gospels, know by heart or close to the text the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer.
It would be simply wonderful to prepare for confession: to remember your sins, wrongs and bad inclinations. Many priests do very correctly by confessing the catechumens before Baptism.
Is it possible to baptize during Lent?
Yes, you can. Moreover, in earlier times, fasts served as preparation not only for a specific holiday, but also for joining new members, i.e. to the Baptism of the Catechumens. Thus in ancient Church baptized mainly on the eve of big Church holidays, including during fasting. Traces of this are still preserved in the peculiarities of the services of the feasts of the Nativity of Christ, Easter and Pentecost.
In what case can a priest refuse Baptism to a person?
A priest not only can, but must refuse Baptism to a person if he does not believe in God as he teaches to believe Orthodox Church, since faith is an indispensable condition for Baptism.
Among the reasons for refusal of Baptism may be a person’s unpreparedness and a magical attitude towards Baptism. Magical attitude to Baptism is a desire to use it to protect yourself from the forces of evil, to get rid of “damage” or the “evil eye”, to receive all kinds of spiritual or material “bonuses”.
Persons will not be baptized drunk and leading an immoral lifestyle until their repentance and correction.
What to do if it is known for sure that a person has been baptized, but no one remembers the name with which he was baptized? Baptize a second time?
This situation occurs quite often. There is no need to baptize a person a second time - you can only baptize once. But you can give a person a new name. Any priest has the right to do this simply by confessing a person and giving him communion with a new name.
How many times can you be baptized?
Definitely - once. Baptism is a spiritual birth, and a person can only be born once. The Orthodox Creed says: “I confess one baptism for the remission of sins.” Secondary baptism is unacceptable.
What to do if you don’t know whether you are baptized or not, and there is no one to ask?
You need to be baptized, but at the same time warn the priest that you may be baptized, but you don’t know for sure. The priest will perform Baptism according to a special rite for such cases.
About godparents (successors)
What responsibilities do godfathers and mothers have towards their godchildren?
Godparents have three main responsibilities towards their godchildren:
1. Prayer room. The godfather is obliged to pray for his godson, and also, as he grows up, to teach prayer so that the godson himself can communicate with God and ask Him for help in all his life circumstances.
2. Doctrinal. Teach the godson the basics of the Christian faith.
3. Moral. On by example, show the godson human virtues - love, kindness, mercy, and others, so that he grows into a truly good Christian.
How should future godparents prepare for the Sacrament of Baptism?
Godparents are guarantors for their godson. They have the responsibility to take care of the spiritual and moral education his godson. His godparents teach him the basics of the Orthodox faith, prayer and the way of life of a true Christian. Consequently, the godparents themselves must know both the Gospel and church life well, have good prayer practice, and regularly participate in divine services and Church Sacraments.
Have you decided to become a godfather, but do not meet the requirements? Make it a reason to start moving in that direction.
First, listen to public conversations in the temple or on.
Then read either the Gospel of Mark or Luke. Choose for yourself - the first is shorter, the second is clearer. You can also find them in; more precisely, in the New Testament.
Read the text carefully - during Baptism, one of the godparents reads it by heart or from sight. It would also be good if by the time of Baptism you knew it by heart.
After Baptism, deepen and expand your knowledge of Biblical history, pray at home and participate in church services - this way you will gradually acquire the practical skills of a Christian.
Is it possible to become a godfather in absentia without participating in the Baptism of an infant?
The original name for godparents is godparents. They received this name because they “received” the person being baptized from the font; at the same time, the Church, as it were, delegates to them part of its care for the new Christian and teaching him Christian life and morality, therefore, not only is the presence of godparents required during Baptism and their active participation, but also their conscious desire to take on such responsibility.
Can representatives of other religions become godparents?
Definitely not.
In Baptism, the recipients testify to the Orthodox faith, and according to their faith, the baby receives the Sacrament. This alone makes it impossible for representatives of other religions to become recipients of Baptism.
In addition, godparents take on the responsibility of raising their godson in Orthodoxy. Representatives of other religions cannot fulfill these duties because for us Christianity is not a theory, but life itself in Christ. This life can only be taught by those who live this way themselves.
The question arises: can representatives of other Christian denominations, for example Catholics or Lutherans, then become godparents? The answer is negative - they cannot for the same reasons. Only Orthodox Christians can become recipients of Baptism.
What things should you bring with you to Baptism and which godparent should do it?
For Baptism you will need a baptismal set. As a rule, this is a pectoral cross with a chain or ribbon, several candles, and a baptismal shirt. A cross can also be purchased in regular stores, but then you should ask a priest to bless it.
You will need a towel or diaper to wrap and dry your baby after the bath.
According to an unwritten tradition, the godfather acquires a cross for a boy, and the godmother for a girl. Although this rule does not have to be followed.
How many godfathers and mothers should a person have?
One. As a rule, the same sex as the child, that is, for a boy - godfather, and for a girl - godmother.
The possibility of having both a godfather and a godmother for a child is a pious custom.
It is not customary to have more than two receivers.
How to choose godparents for a child?
The main criterion for choosing a godfather or godmother should be whether this person will subsequently be able to help in the Christian education of the person received from the font. The degree of acquaintance and simply the friendliness of the relationship are also important, but this is not the main thing.
In former times, concern for expanding the circle of people who would seriously help the newborn child made it undesirable to invite close relatives as godparents. It was believed that they, due to natural kinship, would help the child. For this reason, natural grandparents, brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts rarely became recipients. However, this is not prohibited, and is now becoming more and more common.
Can a pregnant woman become a godmother?
Maybe. Pregnancy is not an obstacle to adoption. In addition, if a pregnant woman herself wants to receive the Sacrament of Baptism, then she can do so.
Who can't be a godfather?
Minors; Gentiles; mentally ill; completely ignorant of the faith; persons in a state of intoxication; A married couple cannot be godparents for the same child.
What should godparents give to their godson?
This question lies in the realm of human customs and does not concern spiritual life, regulated Church rules and canons. In other words, this is a personal matter for the godparents. You don't have to give anything at all.
However, it seems that the gift, if it does take place, should be useful and remind of Baptism. It could be the Bible or New Testament, a pectoral cross or an icon of the saint after whom the child is named. There are many options.
If godparents do not fulfill their duties, is it possible to take other godparents and what needs to be done for this?
In the literal sense of the word - it is impossible. Only the one who received the child from the font will be the godfather. However, in a sense, this can be done.
Let's draw a parallel with an ordinary birth: let's say a father and mother, having given birth to their baby, abandon him, do not fulfill their parental responsibilities and do not care for him. In this case, someone can adopt the child and raise him as his own. This person will become, although adopted, a parent in the true sense of the word.
The same is true in spiritual birth. If the real godparents do not fulfill their duties, and there is a person who can and wants to take on their function, then he should receive a blessing for this from the priest and after that begin to take full care of the child. And you can also call him “godfather”.
In this case, the child cannot be baptized a second time.
Can a young man become godfather to his bride?
Definitely not. A spiritual relationship arises between the godparent and godson, which excludes the possibility of marriage.
How many times can a person become a godfather?
As many as he deems possible.
Being a godparent is a lot of responsibility. Some may dare to take on such responsibility once or twice, some five or six, and some perhaps ten. Everyone determines this measure for themselves.
Can a person refuse to become a godfather? Wouldn't that be a sin?
Maybe. If he feels that he is not ready to bear responsibility for the child, then it will be more honest to the parents and to the child and to himself to say so directly than to formally become a godfather and not fulfill his duties.
Is it possible to become a godfather to two or three children from the same family?
Yes, you can. There are no canonical obstacles to this.
This question, like a lot of other questions, is asked by future recipients in the church. Meanwhile, what matters is not how many times you can be a godmother, but what kind of godmother you should be.
A little history
At a time when Christianity had just begun to spread throughout the world, there were a lot of pagans who were not taught the basics of faith. They decided to be baptized and baptize their children and asked Christians to become baptismal recipients. The guardians explained the basics of Christian doctrine to parents and took care of the spiritual education of their children, each
Today, much has changed: Orthodoxy in Russia is the largest denomination, and baptism has become not only a sacrament of dedication to the Church, but also a tribute to tradition. It also happens that both the child’s parents and recipients have only a small understanding of the Church and the meaning of the sacrament of Baptism. Therefore, questions are often asked that have nothing essentially to do with this sacrament, for example, how many times can one be a godmother.
Succession is not only a great honor, but also a huge responsibility. Everyone evaluates the opportunity to take on such responsibility and cope with all responsibilities towards their godchildren for themselves. You can’t tell a woman how many times she can become a mother: for some it’s difficult with one child, but for others even ten will not be a burden.
How many times can you be a godmother?
How to understand whether you can cope with responsibilities godmother, if you have three or four godchildren?
You need to remember that if you have already been offered to become a successor, this is the will of God, which means that most likely you need to try. If you have a lot of godchildren, and the baby’s parents can easily find a replacement for you, you can gently refuse. But when you know that if you refuse, there is a possibility that the child will not be baptized at all, it is better to agree: God will give you both the strength and time to take care of the little Christian. Therefore, if they ask,how many times can you be a godmother, then the answer will be: “An unlimited number of times.”
Faith is a kind of science, the canons of which can be understood through deep study. During the rite of the sacrament of baptism, especially many dilemmas arose. Human prejudices cause many controversial issues. One of these questions is: how many godchildren can one person have?
A little history
When Christianity first began to emerge, there were many pagans who were not taught the basics of the faith. They decided to baptize their heirs and be baptized themselves. They asked Christians to become recipients at baptism. The foster parents told parents the basics of the Christian faith and taught this to their children. Each godfather understood his responsibilities.
Today, the rite of baptism has become a tribute to tradition, and not just a sacrament of dedication to the church.
Mixture of statements
Christianity spread to our lands more than a thousand years ago. Along with the emergence of a new religion, unique rituals and traditions appeared. The previous pagan faith was partial reason extraordinary rituals. And mentality and time also left a big imprint on Orthodoxy. Church rituals are overgrown with many gossips and prejudices. The sacrament of baptism is no exception.
Modern people today know little about the laws of the Almighty. A believer has many questions about one thing or another. One of these questions most people have is: how many godchildren can one person have and whether it is possible to baptize several children.
Religion on these questions does not give a clear answer. But the priests claim that only man himself can solve this problem. When a child is baptized, a person becomes his second parent (second mother or second father), which means he has a number of obligations to the child. A grave sin failure to comply is considered.
Mystery of Baptism
Before taking responsibility for someone else’s child and having a number of obligations to him, a person must find out what is hidden behind this ritual and what role godparents play in it. And only after a person deals with this issue, he himself will understand how many godchildren he can have.
The main thing that every person needs to understand is that the ritual involves introducing a child to church life. At the same time, all the sins of family and friends that were passed on to him with blood are removed from the baby. The baptism ceremony is the new religious birth of the baby. During the sacrament, the child begins to commune with God. Now responsibility for his fate lies not only with his parents, but also with God, who will protect him from trouble and evil.
After the ritual, parents must raise their child in Orthodox faith. Their godparents help them in this task. If you are ready to take on this responsibility and are a believer, then you can calmly baptize as many children as you are asked to do.
Godparents Mission
It is believed that being a godfather is an honor. The title “godfather” or “godmother” means that out of all their new parents they chose you and believe that you will cope with the role of a second parent for their child. They they trust you with the fate of their baby. For this you must justify their hope and faith and not let them down.
The godfather, like a true Orthodox person, will introduce his new child, the godson, to God. This includes the following:
- Life according to the laws of the Lord.
- Study of prayers.
- Trips to the temple.
Those people who consider the main task of a godfather to be friendship with the real parents of their godson are deeply mistaken. You cannot pay off your godson with a gift for this or that holiday. To the person who won't care about Orthodox education
your godson, you cannot be a godfather.
A person who cannot pay due attention to his godson should not take on additional responsibilities. Being a parent is a difficult mission. And if the parents did not want or could not involve their child in the church, then their baby will grow up to be an unkind person. This sin will also fall on you.
Refusal is not a misdemeanor
A person who understands full responsibility can safely refuse such responsibilities. But the reason for the refusal should be explained to parents in detail. If you yourself cannot bring this fact to the consciousness of your parents, then you the priest will come to the rescue. He will explain in detail when, how many times and why you can be a godparent and when not. Is refusal a sin? The answer is clear - no. But it is a grave guilt to take responsibility for guiding a child on the right path and fail to cope with this task.
Others serious reasons the refusals provided for by the church simply do not exist. The exception is a person of a different faith. After all main task The goal of a church parent is to help the child become a true Orthodox Christian.
Help Desk
If it is difficult to find a solution on your own, you can turn to a priest for help. This applies to both the material side of the ritual and the spiritual.
The person who is in Holy Scripture poorly oriented, but believes in prejudices and gossip, cannot correctly and soberly assess the situation. In addition, a person who does not understand the laws of the church does not need to draw conclusions on his own, relying on the opinions of some acquaintances. After all, these people can also confuse truth and speculation.
But the priest will be able to answer all the questions that interest you correctly and clearly. His sacred duty is to clearly explain to a person why it is worth doing exactly this in a given situation. Before answering whether you can be a godparent for several children, the priest will definitely ask about your relationship with your previous godchildren and whether you are a believer.
Religion and people
All major disputes arise from gossip. Very often you can hear that a woman’s first godson should be a boy. But the church claims that it does not matter what gender your godson is. But there is a little-known truthful concept: for the child only one godfather bears primary responsibility parent (of the same sex as the baby). In other words, the godmother will answer for the girl in the next world, and the godfather for the boy. The tradition of matching the opposite sex is folk, not church. One person can christen a baby.
Nuns and priests
If you have not decided to take responsibility for the baby, and there is no one else to take on this role, then explain to the parents that the child can be baptized without other people. Naturally, the church does not recommend doing this because if something happens to the parents and the baby becomes an orphan, he will fall under the care of his godparents.
The godfathers must take the child into their family and raise them as their own. This fact makes you think once again whether you can be a godparent for several children.
Parenting details
Godfathers can take part in a church marriage without any obstacles. After all, they are not blood relatives. But in the future they should not baptize one baby.
Another question of interest to many is: is it possible for one person to baptize several children in one family? The answer is simple - it's up to you. Rely on what can you complete this mission?. But if you are asked for this task again, then you are a good godfather to their previous children.
The main tasks of godparents are:
- Be a child's teacher in life.
- An advisor in all matters and endeavors.
- A faithful and devoted friend.
If the godson is sick, then you need to pray for his health and involve your whole family in this ritual. It is worth asking the Lord for the house of an adopted daughter or son. You should take communion and attend church services together with your baby. Necessary help him live his faith in church, talk about the existence of saints, and take care of his heirs in the future.
Each godson should be given attention not only on holidays.
An individual child requires certain words, his own special approach. If you can help your godchildren in a difficult situation and in life in general, then the Lord will definitely thank you. He will send you good luck and happiness.
Which makes a person a Christian forever. Even if he ever changes his faith, the grace of baptism still remains with him all his life. Since ancient times, there has been a tradition of conducting this sacrament with the participation of recipients who are responsible for the churching and righteousness of the convert’s entire future life.
In this regard, Orthodox Christians have a question: how many times can one person baptize a child?
Child baptism in church
Allowed number of godchildren
The Church does not place any restrictions here. The only thing that can stop a person from agreeing to become a godfather is fear of responsibility. After all, if the recipient has not made enough efforts to teach his spiritual son or daughter Christian faith and direct him onto the path of salvation, he will have to answer to God.
Read about the Sacrament of Baptism:
People have invented many superstitions related to baptism. Like, what if a woman takes a second godchild, then her spiritual motherhood will be “removed” from the first.
It's not worth listening to this nonsense. Taking several spiritual children is the same as giving birth to several children. It’s hard and responsible, but a mother will remain a mother to everyone.
Allowed number of godparents
A person may have one or two godparents - a godfather and a mother. If there is only one godson, then it is customary to choose for this role a person of the same gender as the godson. But this is just a tradition, if for some reason it is impossible to do this, there is no sin in breaking it.
It happens that the priest himself becomes the recipient.
Child baptism in church
If a baby is baptized, the godfather must make vows to God in his place and receive the baby from the font. When there are two recipients, this is done by the godmother if the child is a girl, and by the father if the child is a boy.
