We baptize infants. Always have.
In the Orthodox Church, babies receive the full sacrament of baptism, triple immersion in water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Right after that, still dripping wet, they’re chrismated (anointed with holy oil) and receive Holy Communion. All three happen in one service. The infant walks in (well, gets carried in) as an outsider and leaves as a full member of the Body of Christ.
This isn’t some watered-down version for kids. It’s the whole thing.
Why Baptize Babies?
If you grew up Baptist here in Southeast Texas, this probably sounds strange. You’re used to baptism happening after someone makes a personal decision for Christ, usually around age twelve or older. That’s believer’s baptism, and it’s based on the idea that faith must precede baptism.
We see it differently. Baptism isn’t primarily about our decision. It’s about God’s grace breaking into a life that can’t earn it or understand it or do anything to deserve it. An infant is the perfect picture of that. The baby doesn’t decide, doesn’t understand, doesn’t contribute anything. God acts. Grace comes first.
The early Church understood this. Origen, writing in the third century, said the Church received from the apostles themselves the tradition of baptizing infants. This wasn’t an innovation. It was how Christians had always done it.
Look at the household baptisms in Acts. When Lydia believed, her whole household was baptized. Same with the Philippian jailer. Same with Stephanas in Corinthians. The text doesn’t say “all the adults in the household” or “everyone old enough to make a decision.” It says the household. In the ancient world, that meant everyone, including infants and small children.
Jesus blessed infants and said the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. He didn’t say “wait until they’re old enough to understand.” He took them in his arms and blessed them. That’s grace.
What About Faith?
Here’s where it gets interesting. We don’t deny that faith matters. But whose faith?
When we baptize an infant, the godparents speak on behalf of the child. They renounce Satan, they confess the faith, they answer the questions. They’re not pretending to be the baby. They’re representing the faith of the Church, which surrounds this child and will raise this child and will teach this child who Jesus is.
The baby is baptized into the faith of the Church. That faith is real, even if the infant can’t articulate it yet. Think of it like a family. A newborn is part of the family from day one, even though she doesn’t understand what a family is. She’ll grow into that understanding, but the relationship is already real.
This is how the Orthodox Church has always understood membership. We’re not a voluntary association of individuals who decided to join. We’re a family, the household of God. And families don’t wait until their children are old enough to vote on whether they want to be part of the family.
The Whole Package
In most Protestant churches that do baptize infants (Presbyterians, Methodists, Lutherans), the child waits years before receiving communion. First communion happens around age seven or later, after some instruction.
We don’t split it up like that. The newly baptized infant receives communion that same day and continues receiving every Sunday. Why? Because communion isn’t a reward for understanding. It’s medicine. It’s the Body and Blood of Christ, and this child needs it just as much as the adults do.
St. Symeon of Thessaloniki wrote about bringing newly baptized infants into the altar area itself, right up to the holy table. That’s how fully the Church embraces these little ones.
What Happens at the Baptism?
Something real. This isn’t a dedication service or a symbolic gesture. When that baby goes under the water three times, she dies with Christ and rises with him. The old life ends. A new life begins. She’s joined to Christ’s death and resurrection.
Then comes the chrismation, the seal of the Holy Spirit. The priest anoints the child with holy chrism, saying “the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit.” This is what Western Christians call confirmation, but we don’t wait years for it. The Spirit comes now.
Then communion. The priest gives the infant a tiny portion of the Body and Blood of Christ. She’s been fed.
If you’ve only been to Baptist baptisms, this will feel like a lot. It is. But that’s because we believe baptism accomplishes something. It’s not a public testimony of a decision already made. It’s the moment when God acts to graft this person into his Son.
Living Into It
Does this mean the child has no responsibility? Of course not. She’ll grow up and need to embrace this faith personally, to live it out, to make it her own. But she starts from inside the Church, not outside. She starts already knowing the taste of communion, already having been sealed with the Spirit, already bearing the name Christian.
That’s a gift. And like all gifts, it can be rejected. We know that. Some people walk away. But we’d rather give a child every grace from the beginning and trust that the Holy Spirit, working through the Church and the family and the godparents, will nurture that seed into mature faith.
When you bring your child to be baptized at St. Michael, you’re not just checking a box. You’re handing your baby over to be drowned and raised, anointed and fed, claimed by God in the most complete way the Church knows how. It’s ancient. It’s apostolic. And it’s still the way we welcome new members into the family.
