Following the ancient tradition of the first christians, the priest greets the parents and child at the door of the church (the unbaptized were not allowed into the main body of the church), and began with a Prayer Over The Mother, acknowledging the presentation of her son and asking the Holy Spirit to descend upon her. He then prays over the candidate. He lays his right hand on his head, saying:
O Lord and mighty God, Lord of lords and God of gods, I beseech You on behalf of Your creature, the work of Your hands, this little child who comes to Your holy temple, in order to show forth the mystery You have revealed to us, through the human body You took from our nature as old Semeon held You in his arms;] O Jesus Christ, our Lord, now extend Your divine right hand along with my own hand as Your humble servant and priest, and bless this child. By Your invisible power, sign him with the glorious mark of Your holy cross. Accompany him with Your grace all the days of his life. Enable him to enter Your holy temple and to receive the glorious seal of the holy myron, the pleasant aroma, through which, by the power of the Holy Spirit, and according to Your true promises to us, we become children of God and heirs of His kingdom. For You are our God, to whom we offer glory, now and forever.
The priest then invites the mother to enter the church; he takes the child from her and carrying the child in his arms, enters the church. At this point, Father, with child in arms, knelt before the altar. He then stood up and placed the child on the altar.
The service continues with prayers, hymns, the Trisagion, and readings. Following the reading of the Gospel, the priest seals the candidate with the hand cross, as the Godfather carries him and faces the East.
+ In the great fearsome name of God "I am who I am" who creates and provides for all, + in the wonderful, ever-reigning name of God Almighty, who became man and vanquished the dominion of Satan, who humbled Himself by His own will, embraced death on the wooden cross and redeemed Adam and his children from the slavery of sin, I sign and seal this lamb, who came to be a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Then, the celebrant asks the candidate and sponsors to face West and to renounce Satan. After this, the congregation is then asked to face East, as the profess their faith. Following this ceremony, the child is then anointed with the Oil of Catechumens. After this. the child is then baptized "a lamb in the flock of Christ."
Lastly, the child receives the Mystery of Anointing (Confirmation).
With the myron of Christ our God,
sweet fragrance of the true faith,
seal and fullness of the grace
of the heavenly Spirit.
N., the servant of God, is sealed
in the name of the + Father,
and of the + Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.
AmenIn the Concluding Prayer, the priest asks God to enlighten the heart of His servant who has just been received in baptism. He also asks the Lord to "show compassion, to redeem and save all those who turn to You."In his homily, the priest admonished the parents and godparents, reminding them that on the day of Judgement, they will not be asked to which school they sent their child or what brand of car was gifted to him but rather, how they upheld and instructed the child in his faith.
The baby stays on the altar all that time? Doesn’t it cry or roll over or anything?
Kathleen was baptized at three weeks old, and there was another baby at the same Mass. It turned out the other couple had an older child baptized the same day as Frank, our previous one!