What to give a child for baptism?
The sacrament of baptism is considered one of the most important in the life of Orthodox people. It symbolizes the second birth of man, more importantly - the spiritual. He who receives baptism refuses to live a sinful life and goes under the protection of the Lord, and this is the most important event in his life. That is why they prepare for christenings in advance, because this is a big and important holiday. A lot of questions from all participants of the celebration arises about the fact that you can give a child for baptism. You will learn about this by reading this article.
Special features
The sacrament of baptism is never repeated; this event can occur only once, just like the physical birth of a person. For this reason, the attitude towards christenings in Russia has always been very serious and responsible. All participants of the event (parents of the child, godparents and father, relatives and friends of the family) prepared for the celebration in advance.
The church has not set a certain age at which to baptize a child: this can be done both in infancy and in adolescence. In addition, a person can be baptized as an adult. For this reason, the answer to the question of what to give to the person receiving the baptism depends on the person’s age. In any case - the gift should be useful and necessary. It is very good if it continues for a long time and after many years will remind of an important stage in a person’s life. At baptism is not accepted to give weapons, alcohol, money. Gifts must be filled with warmth and demonstrate sincere care and love of the donor.
What do godparents give?
In ancient times, when mortality was high (people died of disease, died on the battlefield), they tried to christen their offspring as early as possible, because in the event of the death of the mother and father the child did not remain to the mercy of fate. Responsibility for him took godmother mom and dad.
Now the godparents are mostly close people who will be able to assist parents in the spiritual upbringing of the child, in his proper guidance on the righteous Christian path.
They are responsible mission, but because gifts from the godchild to the godson - a special topic for conversation. There are traditional gifts that are usually given to the baby for baptism:
- Orthodox cross. It can be a gold, silver or the most common cross. The main thing - that he was consecrated in the church. To cross you need to immediately buy a rope or string. Chains for small children are not suitable - kids can break them.
- Kryzhma. This is a must-have gift. A cut of white cloth, a towel or white clothes that are worn on the baby after he is bathed in a font. A shirt, embroidered or decorated with lace, is then kept for the whole life and becomes a kind of talisman for the person. It is believed that a sick child, who was covered with a kryzhma, is recovering faster.
- A set of elegant clothes. It is very good if the godmother knows how to sew and embroider, knit, since the suit, sewn or knitted by hand, adds a goddess of strength and health.
- Symbolic decoration. Girl goddaughter godparents can give jewelry - bracelet, pendant, earrings. You can make decoration with your own hands. Subsequently, it is carefully stored. Grown up girl will wear it on the day of his angel. The boy's godfather can choose a wrist watch or a bracelet, as well as a chain, which the grown boy will also wear on his birthday in memory of the godfather.
Gift examples
Gifts from the rest of the participants of the celebration can be any - from traditional toys to furniture. What can be presented to a child on such an important day, each relative or friend of the family decides on his own. You can consider a few ideas that will help to navigate.
Children's Bible, spiritual attributes
From a grandmother and grandfather, a newly-made Christian can receive as a gift (and in memory of this event) a children's Bible, decorated in a gift variant and brightly illustrated. Very soon the time will come when the baby will listen with interest to Bible stories that his parents will read. This will help grow the crumbs in an atmosphere of love and spirituality.
Well, if the relatives give the baby a name icon. With her, the baby will be baptized in the church, and then she will accompany him all his life. Usually choose an icon depicting a saint or martyr, who is the heavenly patron of the baby, his keeper. If the child’s name is not in the calendar, then it is best to purchase an icon for him with the image of Jesus Christ. Girls are often given the image of the Blessed Virgin.
If finances allow, godparents or close relatives (grandmother or grandfather) have the opportunity to order the kid a measuring icon and a picture of his angel. It is called dimensional because it is written to order - on a canvas or board (in size, which corresponds to the growth of a toddler when born). For this reason, this icon is unique, inimitable. When it is written, it should be consecrated in the temple and ask the priest to bless him with a gift.
Boy
You can give high-quality and beautiful bedding, a warm blanket (better - connected with your own hands), as well as something that symbolizes light. Baptism is a celebration of the triumph of light over darkness. For this reason, you can pay attention to the night lamp in the form of an angel, a small forest house with luminous windows;
Girl
Perfect but a small, but beautiful golden decoration. Good options - earrings, beautiful nightgown, as well as a silver candlestick for one church candle, a beautiful dress.
Ritual options
These gifts include small beautiful boxes. One is presented in order to store the first curls cut off at 1 year old, and in the second it is supposed to store the first fallen milk tooth afterwards. On the covers you can do engraving on the tree with the name of the child.
The most popular baptismal gift is a silver spoon. It is called a gift "on teeth". If even this very first tooth is still very far away, parents will find a use for it: first, you can disinfect and purify water with a spoon, and then - give the baby food. On the spoon you can engrave the name of the child. Sometimes they give a whole silver set - a spoon, a silver small mug and a saucer.
Until now, there is no exact information about who exactly should present a silver spoon. Some peoples attribute this right exclusively to the godmother, others argue that this item may well be a gift from relatives or guests.
Most popular options
The most popular presents are the things and objects that are necessary for the child. As a rule, close relatives and friends are well aware of the needs of the family and are able to decide what to buy for the child on his christening day. It can be a cot, a cradle or a pram, a rocking chair or a playpen, a transforming chair, an inflatable swimming pool, and, if necessary, a car seat.
All children will enjoy age-appropriate toys, books, constructors, or anything else they need to be creative. If you want to give something that will remind you of the christening for a long time, you can give your family a beautiful large photo album, photo frame, silver souvenirs or statuettes of angels.
Etiquette of baptismal gifts
The donor must consult with parents, intending to make their choice. After all, two spoons of silver or the same Bible are unlikely to be useful for a child.Gifts should be given after baptism, not before it. The only exceptions are gifts from the godparents, because they are already needed in the church (talking about the baptismal set, clothes, towel, cross and nominal icon).
The parents of the child as much as they can thank all the donors, especially the godmother's mother and father. You do not need any special expenses for this, as postcards with images of angels, small inscribed icons (named after each donator), towels, spiritual books will be suitable as a return gift.
The fact that donate to the christening of the child, see the following video.
