Sickened by sin and burdened by your past wounds, you will be washed clean by the healing, Grace-indwelling waters of purification. Your Baptism is your personal participation in the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. In Baptism, you will die with Christ, be buried with Him, and be raised with Him to newness of life – life as an Orthodox Christian. Through Baptism, you will be reborn.
You will be immersed three times in the sacred waters in the Name of the Holy Trinity – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Once enslaved to darkness, you will die to sin and death through Baptism and emerge as child of God within His family, a member of the Body of Christ, and a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven. United with the Tao, you will be one of the Faithful within His own Church. Your journey as a catechumen ends with Holy Baptism, yet Holy Baptism is just the beginning of your life – your new life – on the Way.
Having been purified, reborn, and clothed in the Light of Divine Grace, dedicate yourself to growing that Grace given to you. Fulfill your calling to live as one dead to sin and alive in Jesus Christ. Remain faithful to the Way so that you may keep the bright illumined robe of your soul pure and radiant.
Read: Genesis 1.1-10; 6.1-8.19; 17-1-14; Exodus 14-15;17.5-6; 30.17-21; Psalm 50 (51); Isaiah 1; Luke 3.1-20; John 1.1-13; 3.1-21; 4.1-15; Matthew 28:16-20; Acts 8.26-40; 22.1-16; 2.37-41; Romans 6.3-11; 8.13-17; 1 Corinthians 12.12-13; 2 Corinthians 5.14-21; Galatians 3.23-29; Ephesians 4.3-5; Colossians 1.3-18; 2.1-15; 3.1-17; 1 Peter 3.13-22; Revelation 22.1-5, 14-15
Text copyright © 2018 by Fr. Symeon D. S. Kees