April 5, 2006
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In a previous post Kelly asked what it means to be tonsured at baptism. That is a GREAT question so I decided to blog about it. Thank you Kelly.
Sacraments
Holy Baptism – Tonsuring
The sacrament of baptism restores the image and likeness of
God with the child. When we anoint with oil, we reconcile
the child to God. When we immerse the child, God, through
the Church, “gives” a new life – a personal resurrection.
When we chrismate, the child receives the additional gift
of the Holy Spirit – a personal Pentecost. The next step
or movement in the baptismal service is the rite of tonsure.
Tonsuring, the cutting of the hair, is a symbol of obedience
and sacrifice. It is seen as furthering the restoration of
the child away from the fallen world. To do this, we must
always be willing to obey God and be ready to sacrifice for
Him. By offering a piece of hair, the child can offer his
first free and joyful sacrifice to God. In addition, the
tonsuring continues the theme of the entire baptism service:
the rejection of the world with its pleasures and cares.
This is all the child has to offer and yet the offering is
done to offer the child fully to God.The priest asks God to bless the child as God blessed David
the King by the hand of the prophet Samuel. When he cuts the
baby’s hair, he says: “The servant of God______, is tonsured
in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen.”
Comments (12)
thanks so much Lisa, I have learned a lot by reading your blog
I added this to my other blog, as well. Thank you!
What does the priest do with the hair that is cut, Lisa?
For Mara, the hair went into the font. For us, the hair was caught on a small silver tray. After that, I didn’t see.
We were wondering if it got with the incense. Okay – I guess that sounds eird.
i mean weird
funny, at my chrismation, i don’t recall being tonsured
come to think of it, I am not sure where ours or our children’s went either. And we had both parents and later 5 children chrismated. It was all so overwhelming I didn’t watch the hair.:giggle:
RYC: Lisa thank you so much for your kind, reassuring words that you leave on my blog! I always walk away from reading your comments full of the Love of Christ! Thank you also for praying for precious Benaiah. We pray the Lord will have mercy!!!
How do they cut it in the shape of a cross? I read that a few times and I just can’t picture it. Maybe it’s too hard to explain in writing?
Jane, it’s a snip in the front,a snip in the back, a snip on the left and a snip on the right. There’s not an actual cross buzz cut into my head or anything. :laugh:
I spent a good deal of time trying to figure that out
I was thinking a cross shaped chunk missing then it hit me “oh,. the sign of the cross!”
thank youfor the explination Lisa.