Church, he is often, according to the discretion of the bishop,
accepted back by chrismation, which again imparts the gift of the
Holy Spirit back to him. There is a special service in our Trebnic
(Á-°Book of NeedsÁ-?, which the priest uses for special services such as
marriage, burial, baptism, various blessings, etc.) for the chrismation
of formerly apostate Orthodox. This service is certainly not the one
used by certain Orthodox when they chrismate people they incorrectly
say Á-°are already baptizedÁ-?, as it is a very compunctionate service, and
assumes that the person being chrismated is an apostate Orthodox,
desiring to repent and enter back into the life in the church.
the form, we have received from the Holy Apostles and Holy Fathers
and the entire mind of the church that we always baptize by
immersing three times in water, in the name of the Father, Son and
Holy Spirit. There is no other acceptable form, and in particular,
sprinkling is absolutely forbidden, and is uncanonical. The only time
a person may be sprinkled is in case of extreme emergency, such as
when they are bedridden with a fatal disease.
believer into the only, one, true, Holy and Apostolic church, and it is
also a promise on the part of the believer that he will be obedient to
the teaching of the church, and try to live as a Christian. Only after
baptism and chrismation may a person be truly called a Christian,
since Christianity is not only belief, but also is the organic joining of
the believer to the body of Christ, and baptism effects this joining.
One must desire to live the Christian life after baptism; otherwise, his
baptism will not be a blessing for him, but will be a dreadful