Archbishop Daniel Baptizes a Child of a Pastor of Sts Peter and Paul Parish Community in Lyndora, PA: Live Your Life on the Foundation of Christ’s Love and Mercy
Archbishop Daniel Baptizes a Child of a Pastor of Sts Peter and Paul Parish Community in Lyndora, PA: Live Your Life on the Foundation of Christ’s Love and Mercy

Parishioners, clergy and friends from near and far arrived Lyndora, Pennsylvania in order to witness the Holy Mysteries of Baptist and Chrismation being bestowed upon the child of God Samuel Bobko, a son of Rev. Fr. Yurii Bobko and Dobradijka Olha Kukharchyshyn of Saints Peter and Paul Ukrainian Orthodox parish.

His Eminence Archbishop Daniel traveled from the Spiritual Center – Metropolia of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA (South Bound Brook, NJ) to Lyndora, PA in order to celebrate the Holy Mysteries and visit the parish community on January 14-15, 2023.

Throughout the liturgical services of the Holy Mysteries, Vladyka Daniel paused the service in order to explain to the faithful the meaning of the Sacred Spiritual Rites of the Holy Orthodox Church.

Rev. Fr. Ihor Protsak and Dobrodijka Maria Zomchak, the Godparents of the newly baptized child of God Samuel, carefully listened as the hierarch instructed everyone ion attendance about the importance of the Holy Baptist and the Gifts of the Grace of the Holy spirit in the life of an individual.

Baptism is our death, burial, and resurrection in union with our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ. It replaces circumcision as the new rite of passage into the Covenant between God and His people. It is through Baptism that we enter into the Kingdom of God and into eternal life. The Apostle Paul described the promise of God beautifully in his letter to the Romans: “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life”. Thus we can see the essential quality of baptism in attaining salvation.

To baptize (Gr. baptizo) literally means to immerse or to put into. Therefore, the Orthodox have always baptized by triple immersion, “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”. In the Old Testament (OT), we see a type of Christian Baptism in the passage across the Red Sea. John the Baptist, the last prophet of the Old Covenant, baptized with water unto repentance and Our Lord Jesus Christ received this baptism and transformed it.

What happens to us as a result of Baptism?

There are three main things that occur or and are set in motion upon our being baptized. All three are spiritual in nature and reflect the “walk in newness of life” we are about to experience.

#1. A first and second dying

During Holy Baptism, we die with Christ on the Cross and descend into Hades with Him (the immersion). Then we ascend out of Hades with Christ, renewed and born again. As Saint Cyril of Alexandria (4th century) wrote to new converts, “You were led by the hand to the holy pool of divine baptism […] and each of you was asked if he believed in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. And you made that saving confession, you descended into the water and came up again three times. In the very same moment, you died and were born.”

The second dying we experience is our continual death to sin. Every day we must die to sin; when we don’t and allow ourselves to sin, we have quite literally forsaken/rejected our baptism. Saint Paul writes to the Colossians: “Therefore put to death your members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry”. 

#2. The resurrection of righteousness

Baptism ushers in our new life in Christ, our new birth and the entrance into God’s Kingdom where we walk in newness of life. This Mystery joins us to Christ in His glorified humanity and indwelt by God Himself . Because of Christ’s death, we can now have a true relationship with God. A real, dynamic relationship, a true life in Christ. This first resurrection also serves as the prelude to the resurrection of our bodies at the Second Coming.

#3. Intimate, continual communion with God

The final spiritual change that Baptism accomplishes within us is purpose. We rise up out of Baptism to a new life, to the beginning of eternal life itself. This is why Saint Peter tells us that Baptism saves us – it removes filth from our souls and bodies and gives us a “good conscience toward God”. Because Christ took on our human nature and deified it by placing it at the Right Hand of the Father, we now have a pathway toward complete communion with God. We can participate in the Life of His Church and partake of Him in the Eucharist. We can experience His love, His grace, His energies, in a very real way. And we can continue to progress toward eternal life with God right there beside us.

Holy Baptism initiates a very real transformation in the mind, heart, soul, and body. We die with Christ on the Cross and resurrect with Him to a new life in which we die to sin. And because of this rebirth, we can now attain full communion with God, a real relationship with Him, as we work toward our salvation. Therefore, we should thank God for giving us this incredibly beautiful, heartrending gift, unworthy as we are.

The day concluded with a joyful luncheon in the parish social hall, treating everyone in attendance to a variety of delicious Ukrainian dishes, thus sharing the joy of the day with the larger Orthodox community in Butler, PA.

Archbishop Daniel Baptizes a Child of a Pastor of Sts Peter and Paul Parish Community in Lyndora, PA

Photos by Subdeacon Maksym Zhuravchyk

(41 images)


Share This:



< PreviousNext >
You might also like:

Strategic Plan

image
image
Prayer Books
Prayer Books
Calendar 2024
Calendar 2024
Prayer Book
Prayer Book

  

Recent Galleries
Metropolia
Directories
Institutions
Organizations

Mailing Address
Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA
P.O. Box 495
South Bound Brook, NJ 08880

Offices:
Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA
Metropolia Center
135 Davidson Avenue
Somerset, NJ 08873