What is baptism
The baptism of a child is the mystery of his first acquaintance with God and a spiritual birth. This is not just a ceremony or a beautiful tradition, as it is often perceived in the modern society, it is something more and deep. At baptism the child is purified from original sin, present it to God, be named a patron, who will accompany him and protect all life on earth. Person at baptism is conferred by God's blessing, which he agrees to not only preserve and protect, but also to increase it and share with others.
Modern trends are such that many do not fully believing parents baptize their children only to pay tribute to the traditions or to the child "the evil eye". Although their motives are not quite right, but the fact that children still betray the rite of baptism, is already positive.
When to baptize the child
When to have a child baptized in infancy or the age of reason, a choice his parents. However, the Church recommends not to drag it out and to christen the baby after 40 days from the day of his birth, because after 40 days from the child's mother removed the original sin, and she's allowed to go to Church.
Until the child reaches 7 years, the rite of baptism takes place only with the help of godparents who take the blessing of God and renouncing Satan for the child and agree to be his guides into the world of God and the Church.
What name to baptize the child
What name to choose for the baptism of a child depends on what name and on what basis the child was named at birth. If the name of the child at birth was given in honour of any particular Saint, and to be baptized the name won't need to choose his own name and will be perfect.
As a rule, the name for the ceremony choose the calendar, according to the Orthodox calendar, often the same or similar-sounding name in the documents. But it's not quite right. If parents choose for a baby name, starting just from the beauty of the sound of or in honor of relatives, for the baptism of his need to choose, based on that Holy life which is close to the parents and something admired them. The harmony and the similarity of name of the Holy anoint with, of course, also important. It is often that saints with same name and there are several parents have the opportunity to choose whom they would like to see as patron of his child.
You can also use the practices and traditions of their ancestors, using the name of a Saint, the calendar where the day of the sacrament of baptism. Not necessarily that it was repeating its own name or was close to him, the main thing that this Saint was a close friend.
