March 9, 2006
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I really like this icon of the Mother of God for Maria~Angelica’s baptism favors. I found them on this site. I need about 50 of them so they are out of the question. If anyone knows of something similar that isn’t so expensive please let me know.
For the boys we ordered wooden icons from Greece of their patron Saints Basil, Nicholas and Prophet Jonah.
If I can’t find a silver and pink icon I will probably get something like this. I would appreciate any links with icon favors/boubounieres.
ORTHODOX CHAT
I don’t know what happened to www.orthodoxchat.com I was really hoping it would just come back. I will happily pay $100 a year to keep it going. I just need some help in the technical side of things. Let me know if anyone can lend a hand. Thank you.
Comments (10)
I can’t see the favor you posted. I know that at our local bookstore, the little wooden icons are $0.50 each.
Can you give me some pointers on getting ready for a baptism? What kinds of traditional, but optional, things should we consider, and what is definately necessary? I know my sponsor will help out some, but I like to plan ahead and we’re looking at this happening in the very near future. If you could tell me what you’re planning for M~A, I could see what a traditional baptism looks like.
One specific question–I’ve found several dresses for Mara that are white with a touch of pink rose or ribbon or design. But I haven’t found any in her size yet that are completely white. I’ve really liked some of what I’ve found, though, so I would like to know if you think that would work–some decoration at the neck or hemline, I mean.
Thanks.
What kind of techy stuff? I might possibly be able to help.
Thank you both so much for your offers to help. I think the first step is Jenny and I need to figure out if we lost everything for good. I would like to purchase the USB classic that I linked to a couple posts ago. I would need someone to set it all up and if we have back up of the old board transfer the threads to the new board; if possible.
Tamara in the Greek Orthodox tradition for infant/child baptism the Godparents buy the white baptism clothes for the newly illumined (under clothes, outfit, shoes and socks). The priest blesses the cross and white underclothes during the baptism and then the child is dressed in the new white clothes (a little pink is just fine) . Here is a list of what the Godparents bring to the church for the baptism.
1. Cross to be worn around the neck of the child
2. Olive Oil (for the chrismation)
3. Two small hand towels (for the priests to and godparents to dry their hands)
4. One bath towel (to wrap the child in)
5. A white sheet (a flat sheet is folded in half and put on the godparents out stretched arms the towel is placed on the sheet and the child is placed in the arms of the godparent.
6. Bar of Soap (for the priest and godparents to wash their hands from the oil after the baptism; their hands are washed over the font; the priest will have a pitcher of water to do this)
7. A baptism candle for the baby (the candle is usually a larger decorated candle)
Traditionally the parents of the child being baptized buy a gift for the godparents, pay for any reception/party etc. and the favors/boubounieres to be given to the guest, one per family is fine. The favors are usually Jordan almonds wrapped in tulle (usually 5 or 7 almonds). The ribbon of the favors usually have the name of the child and date of the baptism but they don’t have to have this. Favors come in all shapes and sizes and you can certainly make your own. I like to give either an icon of Christ’s baptism or the patron saint of the child. I have also made fun favors for children of my guests like jelly beans wrapped in tulle. The options are endless. Sometime you will see “witness pins” martirika given to each guest. This is a ribbon with the name and date of the child and baptism . They are pinned on to the guest as a witness to the baptism. These also come in a great variation and you can make your own. Sometimes the godparents buy these.
I hope that helps Tamara.
I love your display pic with your children. They are so cute!
It does help, thank you, Lisa. I also followed the link to the icons you posted and I’m reading there. Honestly, I’m amazed that anyone would volunteer to sponsor us with so much financial obligation on their part. That’s a lot of money! My godmother (to be) and I talked a while this afternoon about how to plan things. She wants to discuss with Fr any differences for us b/c of the “family” and because Mara is older. But she has also given me some ideas for the reception afterwards, which I think we can manage without going overboard. We will be sharing the date with our friends J and T and their kids, so that makes it easier on both of us to hold a modest reception. Cade wants to have his chrismation privately and separately, as in not with all the guests, but I think Fr will be able to accomodate that without much difficulty.
So, I thought all we needed to do was find a saint for Cade, clothes for me and Cade, pick a date, and choose our crosses (if our godparents don’t want to do it). But now, we also need to make invitations, favors, decorations, choose a menu, etc. Wow! It’s so easy to overwhelm me these days, but this will at least be more fun than writing a paper about Greek and English! :spinning:
Thank you Beth. :sunny:
Tamara there are ways to keep things simple. You can offer a coffee hour on the day of your chrismations and baptisms , you can also make an announcement in the bulletin; that is if the whole parish will be present. If you have a closed invitation only reception with friends and family you can do it as simple or as fancy as you want. As far as clothes for you and Cade since you aren’t being baptized you don’t need white clothing just church clothes. I think I sent you the favor/boubouniere that I did for Alana’s family. I had the baptism of Christ icon printed at the printer then he laminated them. I found organza favor circles at the dollar store and my mom and I put the koufeta (Jordan almonds) in the tulle/organza. We hole punched the icon on the plastic and tied it to the ribbon from the tulle. Then my mom stitched the bows and the little round “constantinatou” icon of St. Constantine and Helen. On the back of the laminated icon I put the family name all their baptism names and the date of the baptism. The one thing I forgot was to put our names on there as the Godparents.
It can be expensive to be a godparent but it is possible to keep things simple, the most important thing is the actual baptism and Christmation. I do love getting everything together and putting it in a pretty basket and taking it to the Church. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of the baskets I had for Alana’s family. You can see by that site how fancy things can be and how expensive but it doesn’t have to be. I have bought candles with a cross on them and decorated them myself with bows and tulle.
I am sure Mara’s godparents will enjoy buying her a cross and a white dress, that is part of the joy of being a godparent. For you and Cade your godparents/sponsors will buy your crosses. Of course there are always exceptions to these customs so don’t assume anything until Fr. has told you how things will work.
Of course, I know you know this but I would be remiss if I didn’t say it; the most important thing about being a godparent is to love the child and along with the parents, help raise your godchild to live a life in Christ. :heartbeat:
You know, Lisa, I was still a bit nervous about asking so much from such a new friend. But yesterday’s phone conversation did a lot to set my mind at ease. She said, “If I didn’t want to do something, I wouldn’t offer to do it. I only offer when I am really committed to seeing it through.” I also told her how much it meant to me that when she offered to sponsor us, she immediately began to talk of our kids growing up together in the church, doing the church activities. I trust that when the day comes that Mara needs someone else to talk to because she just won’t talk to me, our godmother will be there for her to give her sympathetic and godly council.
Regarding a reception for the baptisms, it would be much more expensive for us to offer fellowship hour for 350 families after liturgy than to just invite a the few people we know who would be interested and do a similar type of reception for them. I was thinking fruit, veggie, and shrimp platters, cake, punch, and coffee. How does that sound?
That sounds perfect!:goodjob: (If your baptism will take place during Lent ask Fr. and see if he doesn’t allow some dairy since most of your guest will be non Orthodox. Maybe a cheese and cracker platter too or some dips and crackers. ) Have someone take lots of picture! Not you because I want you to be in the moment and taking it all in! :love:
I believe what you say that If she is offering to be the Godparent she means it and knows what is involved and is happy to do it. :sunny: You are not asking she is offering. Godparents are all different. The 4 sets of Godparents of my children are completely different in what they offer to the children as far as a relationship, their relationship with the Church varies too as well as their relationship with me and Fr. The best advice I can give you about Godparents, once the are chosen and it is a down deal, is don’t “expect” anything so that you are not disappointed. I have learned this the hard way; you just have to accept them for what they are and what they are willing to give. I have chosen Godparents on the hope and a prayer that being a Godparent would bring them closer to the Church and closer to Christ. I am sure Mara’s Godmother is sincere and she talks about the future just like my friends and I do. We LOVE seeing our children grow up together in the Church. We have been friends since we were kids and the reason we all still love one another and get a long and desire to spend time together is because we respect who each of is, we expect nothing and we love each other warts and all. So if you have the attitude of expect nothing you will be pleasantly surprised to receive and not disappointed if you don’t receive something you never expected. I pray Mara you and Cade have a life long relationship with your Godparents. :heartbeat:
being a godparent is an honor that all of our children’s godparents take very seriously. They all say it is both an honor and a privileged duty. We have 7 children, so most of our church is now related to us somehow! lol!
We have done baptisms now 6 times, once with 5 children all at once! Boy that was fun! We had a meal afterwards down in the fellowship hall and everyone at the church brought a dish to share. I didn’t care what was done with cradle Greeks through the ages, and didn’t necessarily feel compelled to follow traditions based on ethnic superstitions and such. I just did the best I could for such a big brood, and it went over very well. You will find that the godparent loves doing this for your child. All of mine did, and you couldn’t find more “different” people from us. We ended up having more than we needed for each child, some godparents embroidered their child’s baptism sheet, and some bought new sheets. One bought a little white boys suit directly in Greece (because you couldnt’ find one in February in Virginia!)
It’s been such a blessing to allow these people into our children’s lives and into ours. I hope you are just as blessed Tamara and Lisa!:sunny: