Baptism: The Most Dangerous Service – Fr. Theologos

Why is there so much discussion and controversy regarding baptism? What are the reasons for this special position of baptism among the services of the Church? Why is this service so fiercely fought against? Watch this video to find out.

Enjoy!

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen. Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us! Amen.

Today, we’ll discuss a significant event, about a very dangerous service actually. When I say very dangerous, I mean from the point of view of the devil, of course, brethren, a viewpoint he stealthily manages to impart to us, due to the fact that our mind is clouded by passions, because each of us has passions, we are sinful. Some might expect me to speak of exorcisms – in a way, that’s true, as the service I’m referring to includes exorcisms, though I don’t know how many people know this. I’m talking about baptism – the service of baptism.

The devil fiercely opposes this service because it signifies our reunion and reconnection with God. The Latin term is “religare” (to bind again) from which we also derive the word “religion.” Baptism is the service of our reconnection to God and through God, Who is pure, absolute, loving, interpersonal communion, we reconnect, we unite with all in the Church. Baptism is a death, a separation from demonic energy, from the kingdom of distortion and the darkness of solitude. Let me paint a picture for you: God – the Holy Trinity – is three suns, three gigantic stars, intertwined one within the other. I don’t know if you know, stars are enormous spheres of plasma – plasma, for our discussion, is the light we see in lightning, neon lamps, or, more recently, in monitors. It’s not solid at all. For example, fire is a common source of plasma. It is light, brethren; in scientific terms, it is superheated matter, ionized gas. Now, imagine these 3 immense stars, these spheres, united, radiating an immense light—the light of love. Far from these stars, in the dark void of space, lie pieces of dark iron, ruins of an older star, pieces which are drawn, more or less, to the abyss of black holes of demonic energy, of passions.

Baptism is the means by which these twisted pieces of iron break free from the gravitational pull of black holes and merge into the loving light of intelligent stars. They become one, you see? The iron remains iron, the star remains a star, the plasma remains plasma. Yet, the iron takes on the properties of plasma: it becomes warm, bright, malleable, fluid, flexible, able to unite with all other pieces in the light of the divine love and the flexibility of humility. This is human life, for we are made in the image and likeness of the Holy Trinity, the structure of supreme love, the structure of supreme union. You see that baptism marks the beginning of the union, the gateway to union, to sharing, to communication and communion -that’s why the baptism is done through 3 immersions in the name of the Holy Trinity meaning it absolutely emphasizes the communal and unitary dimension of the Church. The Church is unitary par excellence – unity is not just a characteristic of the Church, but its very being. To emphasize even more, this unity stems from the light of love, not from the isolation of a dictatorial force.

Because we speak of the death of this world, the death from the dark realm of solitude, it means we need to disappear from this existence. This death is symbolized by immersion, and this symbol is not a metaphor, it is something very concrete. At baptism this death by immersion happens – not physically, but spiritually. And because the soul is far more important than the body, of course this death, pleasing to God, holds greater importance than our eventual physical demise. But if the soul does not die to this world, it will not be able to live in the life to come, only with great difficulty, as only good God knows. Do you understand? Thus, baptism is crucial, brethren.

This death symbolized by immersion calls us to rise from the water. To ensure we do not rise in solitude, the act of rising and immersion is performed three times. Even the word “baptism” – βάπτιση in Greek – means immersion, submersion. Do you understand? You see that baptism is the entrance, the immersion into the life-giving unity, freeing us from the empire of solitude. This transition from death to life is powerfully symbolized by the water in which we are “buried” and from which we rise, or in other words, we resurrect. Why in the water? Because water, physically, it gives us life. Every living creature needs water to survive. As far as I know, there is no food that universally sustains all beings, except for water. Thus, water rightly represents the new life —a life that is fluid, flowing, and transparent, in which we immerse and come out as renewed humans.

You see, man is both body and soul, and God desires us to be this way, as the link that connects the two worlds: the realm of angels, the spiritual world, and the material world, the sensible one. That’s why we have the service of baptism and – in fact – the other services which have both spiritual and material dimensions. Matter itself, as I have often said, is not evil. However, we must spiritualize the material; we should elevate it rather than us being dragged down by the attraction of the material, by its spiritual gravitational force, which is the road to passion and hell. You see, here’s something very interesting: first, we celebrate the feast of the Circumcision of the Lord, and then the Baptism. The feast day of the circumcision is the feast day of the circumcision of flesh, brethren.

The Holy Fathers tell us that this covenant God made with Abraham — and with all who are spiritually descended from him—relates to the removal of flesh that hinders our spiritual growth and our closeness to God. By cutting it away, we sacrifice it to the love of God. The flesh, in a spiritual sense, becomes spiritual at the level of the Old Law, which, as we know, foreshadows the true New Law of the New Testament. Shortly after the Feast of the Circumcision, the first feast that follows, as a continuation of the former, is the feast of total renunciation of the pleasures of the flesh, through its spiritualization. This is the feast of the death of the old self, the Feast of Baptism, through which we renounce the old man, the influence of Satan, the devil, and his works. Because of this, the service of Holy Baptism includes the renunciations of Satan and exorcisms, and, and the other hand, the confession of union with Christ.

That’s why, as I said, the devil maximally hates this service and tries to distort it by any means, or, if he can, to make us delay it as long as possible—or even not do it at all. Because of this, because of this fierce struggle of the enemy, from the earliest centuries of Christianity, the Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, began baptizing infants — very young children— from the very start. This is because the Holy Spirit, Who is in the Church, does not want to leave man under demonic influences but to free him as quickly as possible.

In the Holy Scriptures, specifically in the Baptism chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 16, we see how Holy Apostle Paul baptized the entire household of Lydia and of a jailer who had imprisoned him and Holy Apostle Silas. Additionally, in his first epistle to the Corinthians, right at the beginning, St. Paul mentions baptizing the household of Stephanas. Well, brethren, when he says this, it’s clear he also baptized children and even slaves, as they were all part of the household, in the family. Oh! And lest I forget, the household of Cornelius, the centurion, brethren. It’s evident that children were also baptized. Beyond the Holy Scripture, we have testimonies from the Holy Fathers of the early centuries regarding the baptism of children, the earliest being from St. Irenaeus around 180 AD. By the third century, Origen noted that baptizing infants was a common tradition, stating it was passed down from the apostles.

While I don’t endorse Origen dogmatically due to his errors, he was a remarkable historian, and this historical testimony is accepted by the Church. Since then, the Holy Fathers have continuously addressed this issue. We even have canons from ecumenical councils discussing it. For instance, at the Quinisext Council, there is a canon—Canon 84, I believe—regarding children who have been found, but for which there are no witnesses, and it’s not known whether they are baptized or not. The canon states that they should be baptized immediately, lest they be deprived of the light of baptism. Do you understand? This is what the Church teaches. Those who disagree, at best lack knowledge of its history or, in the worst case, stand against the Holy Spirit that has guided the Church for so long. It’s clear, as I mentioned, that since baptism expels demonic energies, you wouldn’t leave a child under such influences for years.

The devil wants that child to remain under the demonic influences for years and years. It’s a no-brainer that if a child is under demonic influences for years, you wouldn’t leave him there, until he’s full of sins. It’s like leaving a child unprotected, for years without antibodies, to get sick, all the while saying you’ll let him decide when he is older if he wants to get well or not. A subtler form of this devilish deception arises when people say, “Let’s not baptize him now; he’s too little! Let him grow a bit!” They wait just long enough that the child no longer fits in the font or clings to it, making immersion impossible.

Brethren, children must be immersed, and to be clear: they should be immersed three times, in the name of the Holy Trinity, in the name of unity, as I was saying. We must die completely to this world, to immerse, for this world lies under the sway of the wicked one, as St. John the Theologian says. Yes, we say we like this world, and even if we don’t say it, we live this in our hearts. But this is harmful for us – in fact, even deadly. This leads us to hell, brethren! If, at the moment of our death, we love this world more than the heavenly, this love [for the world], this glue, binds us to hell and denies us the Kingdom of Heaven. Because hell, as I have said many times, is the eternal maximization of unfulfilled desires. After death, this world fades away, the material body is no more, and beyond that, matter can never fulfill the person. A material desire will never satisfy or bring peace to the soul, and this must first be cut off, killed, first of all through baptism. If you don’t believe and don’t do it, then you’re torturing yourselves and condemning yourselves.

This is what faith actually is, doing what God tells us through the Church and the consensus of the Holy Fathers, not what our minds conjure up, according to the way each one of us thinks would be good, brethren, I say this to you with love. Brethren, when we say we must be faithful, we mean to the Church that has given us the Saints and Holy Tradition as the path to sanctification. Holy Tradition has provided us with countless writings to learn from within the Church. Of course, the most important book in the Church is the Holy Scripture, the Bible, which emerged as a fruit of the Church around the year 300. The canon was established in a letter of Saint Athanasius the Great, well after infant baptism was the norm. First there was the baptism, brethren.

Speaking of faith, the greatest enemy of the Church isn’t other religious confessions or various more or less occult organizations. The true enemy is the secular spirit, the logic, believing in our own minds. Brethren, as I was saying, the Church and the Holy Fathers are above our own mind, Scripture and everything else. Even though Scripture was written by the Holy Fathers, the Holy Apostles. Well, Holy Apostle Paul is an apostle, but he wasn’t one of the Twelve. Neither were Luke or Mark. So, brethren, let’s set aside the belief in our own minds! And know that the organizations and denominations that we say are against the Church are dangerous to the extent that they lead us to trust our own thoughts and logic, stealing the time we need to discover true faith, and they divert our attention, which is essential for practicing that faith. Because, you must know that it takes great focus and watchfulness to live out our faith, that is to follow the commandments, to have an Orthodox asceticism, to live an Orthodox life, brethren. I believe at least some of us should know that.

You see it’s no coincidence that St. John the Baptist – that is, the watchful one par excellence, the ascetic per excellence – was baptizing in the desert, that is, the place where we can be fully attentive. After His baptism, the Savior was immediately led by the Spirit into the wilderness to pray and fast. The Savior’s forty day fast is closely tied to baptism and asceticism, not to Holy Communion. For this reason, godparents, priests, and children must spiritually prepare for this significant event in their lives. Children, if they are small, are much easier to keep in a carefree, undisturbed, ascetic spirit, especially given the circumstances. However, we must also be cautious of well-meaning relatives who might disrupt this peace, eager to play with the child and show their affection. Good, brethren, it is understandable, but at such times – before and right after baptism – it is not good, brethren. It’s better for the child to be undisturbed. I’m not saying to leave them unattended, right? It is clear! They should be undisturbed while we pray for them. We should also pray ourselves, both before and after the baptism.

The baptism banquet, as we see it today, isn’t orthodox. A simple family meal is fine – I say it with concession– but it shouldn’t lack spiritual depth, brethren. As I’ve mentioned before—if you remember— that through baptism especially we die to the carnal spirit, the worldly spirit, the secular spirit. That’s why we have the feast of the Baptism after the feast of Circumcision; because we must cut away the flesh that drags us down.

Notice how, after His baptism, the Savior fasted for forty days. These things are not coincidental, brethren. I’m not saying we should all fast for forty days after baptism, especially small children – in fact, they, like Christ, don’t need to. Christ because He was and is sinless, and the little ones are way purer than us and, obviously, at that age, they are very frail, fragile and cannot fast in that way. And regarding the fact that the Spirit led the Lord to ascesis —that is, to a higher spiritual life after baptism— that should happen for every baptized person, regardless of age.

When I say that the Spirit elevates man to a higher ascesis, the Spirit of God does this primarily through the godparents, in this case. Folks, the godparent is not someone who gives money at the baptism but the one who must, or, well, should help the newly baptized reach a higher ascetic state. To do this, they must understand where the Spirit leads. This is why the Savior fasted—to set an example. The godparent is a spiritual parent —not like a priest— but still a spiritual parent. They should possess the appropriate spiritual measure and apply it by praying for the newly baptized, being a spiritual example, and, of course, speaking to them about God.

They should not say, “I won’t get involved. Let’s not disturb!” and things like that. While discernment is necessary, I fear that many godparents today are not very preoccupied with their role which they should understand, as should the biological parents of the newly baptized. Forgive me for saying it like this; I speak with much love! You see, Christ fasted rigorously to show us all that we must strive for maximum ascesis, according to our abilities, after baptism, so we can experience the gift of the Holy Spirit which we received through this great mystery of baptism. It is tremendous grace, you know.

Small children feel this because they are purer than us and, as I said, maximum ascesis is required, of course, tailored to our abilities, which in their case means not disturbing them. Let’s not disturb them with all kinds of disturbances or idle talk, child talk, and especially, on the opposite, extreme side, through family arguments in front of them. Brothers and sistren, I urge you: don’t argue or speak harshly in front of babies just because they don’t understand! They may not grasp it rationally, but the grace—or, God forbid, the demonic energy—is working, brethren. And it affects them deeply because they are more frail.

This is evident even before – for example, during exorcisms, I know cases where some people fainted or couldn’t endure the experience. This often happens to adults converting from other faiths who carry significant demonic energies. The change is also clear afterward: I’ve witnessed many children calm down after baptism and adults whose faces glow after baptism. I’ve seen it myself. I know a photographer who captures baptisms. He takes two photos at the baptisms of adults: one before and one after. Brethren, the one who is baptized is entirely different afterwards. An entirely different man.

Of course, most miracles related to baptism happen in Africa. Fathers who have been there tell me that people see doves flying—hovering above the heads of the newly baptized. This is happening especially in Africa because there is a greater need. However, know that the grace of baptism also affects those present, the ones who don’t get baptized. It touches everyone, provided they are open. Of course, however, baptism must be done correctly and thank God, the Romanian Patriarchate has issued circulars and encyclicals, discussing the proper way to baptize according to the correct order with three immersions, as established on several occasions by the Holy Synod. Of course, priests must follow this ordinance, but please, folks, do not pressure them [to do it differently than is established by the Church]! As I said, each person’s logic and local beliefs can be enemies of the Church! Let’s not insist that we know better.

Let us obey the Holy Fathers and we will find grace. Let me share a case. There is, he is still alive, I won’t say his name, a father who is a university professor at a very well known faculty of theology in Romania, a great specialist in the New Testament, perhaps the greatest in the country, who at one point arrived in a village in Transylvania where he had to baptize a child. It was winter, the villagers asked him to baptize a child. The man rejoiced and said “Glory to God! Bring the baptismal font!” The villagers jumped up in alarm, “Father! You’re killing our baby! You’re drowning our baby!”– now, brethren, let’s be clear, the baptism of children has been a practice for about 2,000 years, right? We’re not talking about 2,000 years of infanticide or child murders, let’s be serious. We’re discussing billions of children who, if baptism were dangerous, would have perished. Do you understand? What the press reports is misinformation, or is unknown, – there were cases of children who died not during baptism but afterward, and not because of it. They were sick, discovered to have fluid in their lungs later at the morgue. But who is going to write in the press, “You know, we were wrong.“ Also, there were also very rare instances in the past where the priest simply didn’t know how to do the baptism.

But back to the baptism: as I was saying, people were horrified, yet the father professor stood his ground not matter what. Time passed, and the child fell ill. You know, children can get sick from demonic influences. At one point, seeing the child’s condition, the people said to the priest, “Father, you know what? We’re reasonable folks – here’s the deal, do as we say, by sprinkling so as not to drown him and we’ll give you a pig!”… And the father replied, “No, no way! He’s not sick; this isn’t an extreme situation, it’s not the case.” He said, “Look, here’s the deal” and he stood firm. They conferred among themselves and decided, “If something happens to the child, we’ll kill the priest.” And they brought the baptismal font, all armed with axes, ready to cut off father’s head if things went wrong. It was a baptism… brethren, what can I tell you? Like in the Gaza Strip. And in the end, all the villagers felt such grace and joy from the Holy Spirit that descended during the baptism that they told the father professor, “Father, from now on, do it this way and we’ll even give you the pig!” Do you understand? It is tremendous grace.

By sprinkling, brethren, it is a concession. It’s done only in special situations. Of course, in special situations – for example, if the child’s life is in danger – then anyone is allowed to baptize, any Orthodox: water is taken, or if there’s none, sand or even in the air, and the formula is pronounced, “The servant of God, [his/her name], is baptized in the name of the Father. Amen! And of the Son! Amen! And of the Holy Spirit! Amen!” You should know that many souls have been saved this way. Let me share a case.

There was a priest who was also a gynecologist. Instead of performing abortions, he baptized children in danger of death with emergency baptism. One couple had a baby with severe birth complications and they went to register the child. When they returned, the doctor said, “Woman, your child has died, but you can commemorate him; his name is John.” The woman froze and replied, “Doctor, this is from God. We were at the civil registry discussing the serious problems with our baby when, at one point, the official shouted at us, ‘What is his name?’ We wanted to name him Stephen, but he startled us with his words and we ended up calling him John. And so, it remained John.” Do you understand? Indeed, in heaven it remained John.

Yes, brethren, know that baptism carries immense grace, driving away the enemy from within. Man unites with God and the Church. The devil’s negative influences are cast out, and man is reborn in the unity of God’s loving grace. This is why this service faces such fierce opposition. Let us not retreat in the face of the enemy’s brutal war. We must be aware of the vital importance of baptism, for it is the gateway through which we enter from hell, the hell of loneliness, to paradise, the paradise of love and union with Christ.

May the good Lord help us! Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us! Amen.

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