Baptism and Chrismation

OBJECTIVE

The objective for this grade is to learn about the sacraments and how they impact our life as Christians in this world. We are seeking to teach children how the liturgy and the sacraments should be implemented in their lives so they understand why we carry out this ritual on a regular basis. This lesson focuses on Baptism & Myron.

HOOK/INTRODUCTION - 10 Minutes

Bring two cups and fill it with water and bring some sugar. Stir it up the sugar in one of cups of water until it is all dissolved. Ask the children if they see a difference between cup no.1 and cup no.2

There is no difference in the way the two cups of water look but we know one of them has sugar inside and the other doesn't. This is exactly what the sacrament of baptism does. Abouna puts the person or baby in the water. We don't physically see how the baby becomes Christian---a new creation. It's the work of the Holy Spirit that makes the change without us seeing it.

Ask the children the following:

Does anyone know what a sacrament is?
How many sacraments does our Coptic Orthodox Church have?
Has anyone here seen a baptism?
Does anyone remember the order of events?
What's Chrismation (Myron) mean?
How many sacraments do you think a child or a person that gets baptized receives on the day of baptism?

HOLY SCRIPTURE- 5 Minutes

"He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned."
Mark 16:16

Please review the verse in the beginning and then explain it again at the end of the lesson. Who is talking? Believe in what?

CONTENT (KEY POINTS) - 25 Minutes

Our Lord Jesus Christ introduced a very important sacrament of baptism by first being baptized by St. John the Baptist as an example for us. Baptism is one of the greatest mysteries of our church and just like many of the other mysteries of our church there is the visible and the invisible part of it.

There once was a very respected man named Nicodemus. He came to Jesus one night and talked to him about his teachings. Nicodemus said, " 'Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.' Jesus answered him, 'Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.'" (John 3: 1-3). Jesus explained to Nicodemus what it means to be born again through the Spirit of God. Jesus added that He must die on the cross and only those who are born again and believe in Him will be with Him in heaven.

What Jesus was referring to was baptism He was saying that a person needs to be born by the Spirit in baptism to become Christian.Once we get baptized we are actually reborn, we become purified, given salvation and we become members in the Body of Christ.

The Process of Baptism

The deacon and the priest will get to church early to get the baptismal font ready with warm water
The priest then begins the prayers with the Thanksgiving prayer
The priest will pray the prayer of absolution on the mother and will anoint her with the regular oil (which was blessed by prayers in the church)
He will also pour a little bit of that regular oil on the water in the shape of a cross
The mother will then begin to take off the clothes of the baby
The priest will then do the same with the Galilawen Oil to sanctify the water
He will breath over the water three times in the form of a cross
The priest will now take the Holy Chrismation oil and do the same as he did with the regular oil and the Galilawen Oil
The priest then takes the regular oil and anoints the child's heart, hands, and back
The priest will now Denounce Satan while looking towards the west
While the child is now facing the East they will Accept Christ
The priest will now take the Galilawen Oil (the oil of Joy) and anoint the childs' heart, arms, and the palms of the hands
The priest will now dip the child into the water three times
The child has now received his/her first sacrament

The second sacrament that the child will receive is being blessed and anointed with the Holy Myron (Chrismation). Once Abouna is done baptizing the person/baby, now comes an important part. This part is for the person to receive the Holy Spirit. Did you know, during the times of the disciples they used to give the Holy Spirit to Christians by putting their hands on them? But this became impossible when people all around the world started to become Christians in different cities and countries. They made this special holy oil called Myron, and used it for receiving the Holy Spirit. Now the priest uses it on all Christians to receive the Holy Spirit.

There are many steps to this:

The priest will anoint the child 36 times with the sign on the cross, on the forehead, eyes, mose, mouth, ears, chest, back, hands, feet, and joints. This is done to make sure this person belongs to Christ including his heart, his eyes, ears and all the parts in his body.
Now the child will be put in all white clothes symbolizing the purity of the soul and how they have been washed from sin
A red ribbon will then be placed around the child symbolizing the new life through the blood of Jesus Christ
The child has now been baptized and anointed with the Holy Myron and the church has now gained a new member in the church

Have you actually seen someone like your brother or sister get baptized? I am sure there were many things happening. Let's watch this short video showing and explaining a step by step process of the Sacrament of Baptism and Holy Myron.

Show video linked in Resources. Give a chance for the children to comment and ask questions about the video.

LIFE APPLICATION - 5 Minutes

Most of us are born in a Christian family and were baptized and became Christian while we were still babies. We were able to take communion as soon as we became Christian. Many others are not born like us and it took them many years before they were able to become Christian. Some were not even allowed to become Christian. That's why we need to thank the Lord in our daily prayers for being born to a Christian family and for becoming a member in the body of Christ.

DISCUSSION (Challenge) - 10 Minutes

Review the reason and importance of baptism. Have the students reiterate why we get baptized and tell a partner the importance of baptism.

ACTIVITY - 10 Minutes

Have a few baby dolls for groups of students (3-4 students in each group) to practice putting the crosses with oil on the doll. Please refer to the image in the appendix below for where the crosses on the baby belong. You can use olive oil to mimic holy oil. Guide the students on where to put the oil on the baby.

RESOURCES

Introduction to Holy Baptism: Quotes by St. Gregory the Theologian

PARENTS CORNER/HOMEWORK

Today we talked about the Baptismal Sacrament. We discussed why we get baptized, and gave the students a detailed account of how a baby is baptized. Students practiced putting the 36 crosses of oil on a baby doll and discussed with a partner why and the importance of getting baptized. Please review these points with your children.