May 30, 2000
The Pious Priests
of the Holy Diocese of Denver
Beloved in the Lord,
Christ is Risen!
Go therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 28:19)
With these words, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ gives us as priests our first and foremost sacramental responsibility: to join believers to Him through the Holy Mystery of Baptism.
Most often children are brought to Holy Baptism by their parents. This affords us with the opportunity to, in some cases, re-catechize parents who may have strayed from the Church but who now wish at least to see their child united to Christ. In other cases, we can encourage parents to remain faithful in their active commitment to the Church.
At other times individuals, and sometimes families, come as inquirers
concerning the Apostolic Orthodox Church, and the Mystery of Baptism or
Chrismation is the joyous culmination of a period of study and growth in
faith, fulfilling the further words of Jesus Christ, Teaching them to
observe all things which I have commanded you.
(Matthew 28:19)
Not all of our parish churches have adequate provision for the baptism of adults or older children. Ideally, an adult baptismal font like the one at Prophet Elias Parish in Salt Lake City, Utah or the one at Saint Catherine Parish in Greenwood Village, Colorado should be used.
When there are no other viable choices for adults or older children, the candidate may be baptized by pouring water upon his head. This is in accord with the writings of the Holy Apostles themselves:
Baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Spirit, in running water, if you do not have running water, use whatever
is available. If you do not have cold water, use warm. But if you have
neither, pour water on the head three times—in the name of the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit.
(Didache, Chapter 7, verses 1-3)
It sometimes happens that in cases of emergency, a person near death
must be baptized. This might be by their own request, or the request of
the family. Such clinical baptisms
(because they usually take place
in a clinical or hospital situation) obviously cannot be celebrated with
all the prayers and actions associated with the full Services for Making
a Catechumen and for Baptism. Rather, the person should be baptized
with the sprinkling or pouring of water only; for this purpose every
priest should have a bottle of Holy Water in his customary hospital kit,
although in an emergency any water may be used. If the priest is not
available to conduct a clinical baptism, any Christian lay person
believing in the Holy Trinity may do so.
In extreme emergency, when no water whatsoever is available, a person
can be baptized by air
in which a child is lifted up and the Sign of
the Cross is made with him, or in which the priest places his hand on an
adult and says the customary formula.
In clinical situations it is sufficient (1) to recite the Trisagion
Prayers; (2) to baptize the person pouring water upon the individual
three times, saying, The servant of God, (Name), is baptized in the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen;
and
(3) to recite the Small Dismissal. The person is not Chrismated.
Should the priest arrive after a person has been declared dead, he can not do a clinical baptism, for we must baptize a living person, body and soul. This includes stillborn infants.
Should the individual live following a clinical baptism, he must be brought to the church for the confession of faith to be recited by the sponsor, after which the Prayer of Chrismation is said by the celebrant. The anointing with Holy Chrism then takes place. This is followed by the Prayer of Tonsure, and then by the clothing in the new vesture.
A person receiving clinical baptism may receive the full funeral services of the Orthodox Church, even though they were not Chrismated nor ever received Holy Communion.
Should a catechumen fall asleep before receiving the Mystery of Baptism, he may receive a church funeral, according to the rubrics prescribed for Orthodox clergy who bury non-Orthodox Christians: the three sections of Psalm 118 without petitions or exclamations; the Apostolic and Gospel readings; and the Dismissal.
With Paternal Blessings,
+Metropolitan Isaiah
Presiding Hierarch
of
the Diocese of Denver