So my little one received her 40 Day Blessing this about 10 days ago. Daddy, baby and I got ready, loaded up the diaper bag, car seat, blankets, etc., and off we went to church. We got there right at the end as people were receiving the andithero. Since I was an unblessed woman I couldn’t actually enter the church just the exo-narthex. I guess going into it I didn’t realize that it was as much about me as it was about the baby. I know my fellow Greek moms shared with me their experiences in a previous post but I guess I didn’t fully understand until I was there. With my baby squirming in my hands and the priest reciting the prayers from his bible, I took a second to take it all in. To think about the women who came before me and who will come after me and partake in this important part of our Orthodox faith. As I was saying to my friend yesterday via Skype, it totally took me off guard how much it was about me the mom. Our priest is very thorough so we didn’t get the drive through blessing and had time to take it all in.
The blessing then got me thinking of the next big part of our Orthodox faith as a little one, the baptism. For those of you who don’t know in the Greek Orthodox faith you are baptized, confirmed and receive your first communion all in one sacrament. The planning has begun and I’m excited for the little one to officially enter our religion. I just keep wondering if she’ll be a screamer and cry during her ‘dunking’? How did your little ones do during their baptisms? Did they cry? Were they screamers or happy campers?
Can’t wait for the christening