I was recently baptized (Orthodox) and I'm writing this thread to talk about it...

I was recently baptized (Orthodox) and I'm writing this thread to talk about it. It seems like most of the discussion of Christianity here is polemical, so hopefully we can depart from that standard in this thread.


I didn't have to give a life confession. Whether or not you have to is a policy set by your bishop, but your baptism is considered fully Orthodox by all regardless. So we started with priest breathing on me, then the exorcism: this includes a lot of formulas the priest says for rebuking satan and his demons and commanding them to leave me. Once this is accomplished, then you are seen as having spiritual freedom, which is what you need to take your vows. It's concluded with you turning toward the West, the direction which represents the devil (we worship toward the East), and spitting on him, and renouncing satan and accepting Christ, all vows being repeated thrice, and being followed with bows toward the altar where you touch the ground. Then you affirm the articles of your faith by reciting the Nicene Creed, and then take vows again. You and your godparent ascend to the dais and there is a litany. Then the baptismal fount is sanctified in several very beautiful prayers. Then olive oil is poured into the fount, and the priest breathes on it, and more prayers are said, and the priest annoits you in several places with the olive oil. Then you climb into the fount, and are baptized by triple immersion, your head going completely under the water each time.

This is Veeky Forums not /blog/

Then when I climbed out there was more annoiting, and I was given my baptismal cross, it being customary for all baptized Orthodox to wear a cross. Then I was clothed in my baptismal robe, a white vestament, which was handmade by someone in the parish for me--many of our articles are to be made and donation by people from the parish whenever possible, including the Communion bread and the priest's vestaments. After that, I recieved Christmation, called Confirmation among other Christians, which is the recieving of the Holy Spirit. That's something the Eastern Orthodox give tremendous emphasis to, for us the New Testament is as much about the Holy Spirit as it is about Christ, Christ himself even says it is important for him to leave his Apostles so that the Spirit can come. Only with Christmation do you actually recieve the Spirit in fulness, which was represented as dove descending when Christ was baptized. After that, I went back and changed, and was given my baptismal candle, which I lit for my first Communion. This candle is to be kept and used for your funeral. Communion is difficult to describe, in swallowing it I felt as if I were deep underwater and mingled with those near me, and I felt a sense of intense, dispassionate joy. Afterward I was given my baptismal gifts, which included a home censer, charcoal, incense, books, a prayer rope, and several holy icons (which the priest placed on the altar for consecration, I will take them home after forty days).

>o we started with priest breathing on me, then the exorcism: this includes a lot of formulas the priest says for rebuking satan and his demons and commanding them to leave me.

lol /x/tians

If there wasn't any olive oil would that mean no one could be baptised?

No, but it should be used if available

...

>Veeky Forums
>Religion and blogs

I figured its better than the bicker religious threads

cool

I believe the Didache gives us the clearest instruction on our baptisms. Full body immersion only for adults in a river, triune in nature in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. No river or ocean should be replaced with a bath immersion, and if not that then dunking warm water three times over the believers head. Everything else seems peripheral

Yes, Orthodox rubrics presribe "living water" (river, sea, ocean, lake etc. ) where available. Indoor founts are used only when such isn't close at hand.

>see! it's not dark! we've got windows and chandeliers!

The orthodox faith is too much like a pagan cult that focuses on a showy performance.

Not more than the Catholics. Orthodox are way more somber and are too serious about everything tho.

Don't you do infant baptisms though?

It's true that we're extremely ritualistic, and we strongly believe that rituals and objects can be holy. However, we certainly aren't just about ritual, more than any other Christians we emphasize personal mystical encounters with God (and in hand with that, we also believe strongly in demons as a force of spiritual deception). And the basis of that mysticism is a radical Christian life and purity of heart and deep contrition.

Yes, reverence is crucial. But on the other hand, we also don't fixate on Christ as a suffering victim, but rather see his passion as putting passion to death as his death put death to deathIt's true that we're extremely ritualistic, and we strongly believe that rituals and objects can be holy. However, we certainly aren't just about ritual, more than any other Christians we emphasize personal mystical encounters with God (and in hand with that, we also believe strongly in demons as a force of spiritual deception). And the basis of that mysticism is a radical Christian life and purity of heart and deep contrition.

Yes, reverence is crucial. But on the other hand, we also don't fixate on Christ as a suffering victim, but rather see his passion as putting passion to death as his death put death to death

Yes, we always have. Baptism supercedes circumcision, so infants are participants. Also, baptism doesn't just absolve you, it frees you, giving you freedom to resist sin by putting you to death in the flesh. Without baptism we are the slaves of the devil

>you have to take this absurd crap serious because it's part of Christianity
No. It's as absurd as Scientology, you're only not laughed at because a large number of people share your "religion".

> we started with priest breathing on me, then the exorcism
How could anyone with a first world education take this serious? You'd think the guys who blow themselves up in the name of their god are far away and crazy and yet here we have people get blown by their priest and have exorcism.

>Without baptism we are the slaves of the devil
though Baptism is obviously very significant and we agree on this, I presume you don't follow Augustine's view of original sin, for as necessity to baptism children, but do you believe in baptismal regeneration?

My friend, Orthodoxy does not shy away from the fact that Christianity is foolish and even insane from a wordly perspective. We don't see it as "reasonable," and neither did Saint Paul, who said we are fools for Christ. Orthodox Christianity is not "respectable, " we extol saints like Basil the Fool, who ran around naked but for chains. Our faith is 2,000, and we reject change; it's going to be freakish by contemporary standards, it was considered crazy and irrational even by pagans. We do not expect to be "accepted", the Church is either/or, either you embrace it or you're opposed to it; if neither it's because you don't know a lot about us

We do strongly believe that the devil exists, and frankly you cannot have the same faith as the Apostles otherwise.

We believe baptism is the participation in Christ's death. You put your wordly life to death, leaving it behind in the water like a womb. This is an important part of regeneration but you also must receive the Holy Spirit (Chrismation) and the Body of Christ (Communion), both of which are also given to infants. With all three, you become fully regenerated, becoming part of the New Adam

>another super-ethusiastic and way over the top convert to Orthodoxy
Oh boy, you're gonna be in a whole different place a year or two from now.

I was a catechumen for two years before my baptism was green lighted, so I don't think so.

Inconvenience isn't a reason not to do stuff right.

Huh? The Didache says if you don't have living water, use other

but if the Didache showed that the earliest of our Christian brothers and sister doing this, it is only reasonable that we do the same.

Sounds pretty cool tbqh

>Taking Eastern Orthodoxy seriously.

They are heretic tier, and not even interesting heretic tier, just retarded and stupid heretic tier.

Right, the Orthodox stance, like the Didache, is that living water should always be used if available

That's not even Constantine's tripcode, and I doubt you're a Christian if you have no compunction about posting that

constantine was a TRANNY larping as an orthodox christian girl. I would not appeal to that trip desu

Constantine never claimed to be a girl that I've seen, that's not even a girl's name

towards the end i think he was insintuating that he was a girl. all i remember is that someone caught him on /gif/ forgetting to turn off his trip in a tranny thread larping as a tranny.

I don't believe you or whoever told you. I've never seen him say he was a woman, not once, and it is clear people libel Constantine from your pic. What ridiculousness

>so convinced of anonymous larping trip's righteousness that you start lashing out
holy shit, you're either Constantine yourself or you've never seen the screen cap of him from /gif/ posing as a tranny. I don't really care whether you believe me or not, though, because I didn't really love or hate the guy.

>like the Didache, is that living water should always be used if available
though my question previous beforehand is on the issue of baptismal regeneration. Of course regeneration happens but the problem is, is it the water that regenerates or the faith + baptism that leads to regeneration?

>Believeing everything he reads on the internet
>Thinks Orthodoxy is the heretics of Christianity

Gold.

Being born Orthodox, fuck you and that bearded cunt that baptised you. Fuck this whole corrupt church.

Haha, sad.

Well yes. Orthodox countries are all poor. That is not a coincidence.

Yeah it dosn't have anything to do with politics or the fact they were left with little to nothing after the USSR, Yugoslav War and what not. South America is all shit is that the Catholic Churchs fault?

We don't speculate on the mechanics of holy mysteries (called sacraments in the west), that's more of a Catholic/Protestant thing

My priest isn't corrupt at all, he's actually alienated wealthy members of the parish by his integrity. The Church doesn't corrupt your country, although if corruption is the norm in your coutry it will impact the clergy, obviously

>muh just an outward confession of faith

Where Yeshua the Unct was submerged.