Orthodox prayers for baptism and godparents

Pray for someone on their baptism day and every year after it, and for your godchild all their life.

Picture: Marie Ellenrieder, The Baptism of Lydia, 1861

4 prayers and 2 to the saints

For the newly baptized, on the day and every year after

Prayer for the newly baptized

You gave Your servant (name)freedom from sins through holy baptism,and granted them the life of a new birth.You Yourself, Master and Lord,be pleased to light up their heart alwayswith the light of Your face.Keep the shield of their faithsafe from every snare.Keep the robe of incorruption that they put onclean and spotless on them,and keep unbroken in themthe spiritual seal of Your grace.Be merciful to them and to usin the abundance of Your compassion.

For blessed and glorified is Your most honored and majestic name,of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,now and ever, and for ever and ever. Amen.

You gave me, Your servant,freedom from sins through holy baptism,and granted me the life of a new birth.You Yourself, Master and Lord,be pleased to light up my heart alwayswith the light of Your face.Keep the shield of my faithsafe from every snare.Keep the robe of incorruption that I put onclean and spotless on me,and keep unbroken in methe spiritual seal of Your grace.Be merciful to me and to usin the abundance of Your compassion.

For blessed and glorified is Your most honored and majestic name,of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,now and ever, and for ever and ever. Amen.

Traditional wording, 1906

O Thou Who, through holy Baptism, hast given unto Thy servant remission of sins,and hast bestowed upon him (her) a life of regeneration:Do Thou, the same Lord and Master,ever graciously illumine his (her) heart with the light of Thy countenance.Maintain the shield of his (her) faith unassailed by the enemy.Preserve pure and unpolluted the garment of incorruptionwherewith Thou hast endued him (her),upholding inviolate in him (her), by Thy grace, the seal of the Spirit,and showing mercy unto him (her) and unto us,through the multitude of Thy mercies.

For blessed and glorified is Thine all-honourable and majestic Name,of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,now, and ever, and unto ages of ages.

The priest prays it as he loosens the robe given at baptism, once on the eighth day and now often at the baptism itself. The Russian prayer book gives it for every anniversary of a baptism, when a godparent might pray it for a godchild.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Church Slavonic of the Russian prayer book, with Isabel Hapgood’s 1906 translation beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: Isabel F. Hapgood, Service Book of the Holy Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic Church, 1906.

Hapgood’s “unassailed by the enemy” names an enemy, as the Greek does. The Church Slavonic printed here has no such word, so the plain English says “safe from every snare”.

Where it comes from, and the Church Slavonic

For your godchild, all their life

Prayer for a godchild

Plain English only: no traditional English wording is given for this prayer

O Lord Jesus Christ our God,You chose to be baptized by John in the Jordan,and You commanded us to be baptizedfor the forgiveness of sins.Have mercy on (name) and save them,the child I received from the font.

Give them unwavering faith,and love for You, our Saviour,and for their neighbour.Guide them Yourself on the way of salvation,so that, growing to full age,they may be given spiritual giftsand may keep their body in good health.

And may the kingdom of heaven in (name)’s soulgrow from a mustard seedinto a tree with good, shady leaves,and bear good fruitto the glory of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.Amen.

Russian prayer books give it to a godparent to pray for “the child I received from the font”. It asks that the kingdom of heaven grow in the child like a mustard seed that becomes a tree.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Church Slavonic of the Russian prayer books. How the wording is made.

Where it comes from, and the Church Slavonic

Sung at the font

As many as have been baptized

All of you who were baptized into Christhave put on Christ.Alleluia.Sung three times

Traditional wording, 1906

As many as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.Alleluia.

Everyone sings these words of St Paul (Galatians 3:27) three times as the priest leads the godparent and the newly baptized around the font.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Greek, with Hapgood’s 1906 translation beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: Isabel F. Hapgood, Service Book of the Holy Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic Church, 1906.

Where it comes from, and the Greek

The godparent’s words

The Nicene Creed

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty,Maker of heaven and earth,and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ,the only-begotten Son of God,begotten of the Father before all ages:Light from Light,true God from true God,begotten, not made,of one essence with the Father,through Whom all things were made.

For us human beings and for our salvationHe came down from heaven,and took flesh of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary,and became man.

He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate,and suffered, and was buried.He rose on the third day,according to the Scriptures.He ascended into heaven,and is seated at the right hand of the Father.He will come again in gloryto judge the living and the dead,and His kingdom will have no end.

And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of life,Who proceeds from the Father,Who with the Father and the Sonis worshipped and glorified together,Who spoke through the prophets.

In one holy, catholic and apostolic Church.I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.I await the resurrection of the dead,and the life of the age to come.Amen.

Traditional wording, 1906

I believe in one God the Father Almighty,Maker of heaven and earth,And of all things visible and invisible:

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God,Begotten of His Father before all worlds;Light of Light, Very God of very God,Begotten, not made;Being of one Essence with the Father;By Whom all things were made;

Who, for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven,And was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary,And was made man.

And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate,and suffered and was buried,And the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures.And ascended into heaven,And sitteth on the right hand of the Father.And He shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead;Whose kingdom shall have no end.

And in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life,Who proceedeth from the Father,Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified,Who spake by the Prophets.

In one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins.I look for the Resurrection of the dead,And the Life of the world to come.Amen.

At a baptism, the godparent says the Creed aloud for a child too young to speak. It is the faith the child is baptized into.

“The quick and the dead” is old English for “the living and the dead”.

Where it comes from, and the Greek

To the guardian angel · The angel at the child’s side

Prayer to your guardian angel

Angel of Christ, my holy guardian,protector of my soul and body,forgive me every sin of this day.Deliver me from all the cunning of the enemy who fights me,so that I may not anger my God by any sin.

Pray for me, a sinful and unworthy servant,so that you may show me worthyof the goodness and mercy of the All-holy Trinity,of the Mother of my Lord Jesus Christ,and of all the saints. Amen.

Traditional wording, 1982

Angel of Christ, my holy guardian,the protector of my soul and body:forgive me for all the sins I have committed this day.Deliver me from all the evil of my militant enemy,that I may not anger my God by any sin.

Pray for me, your sinful and unworthy servant,that you may show me worthyof the goodness and mercy of the All-Holy Trinity,the Mother of my Lord Jesus Christand all the Saints. Amen.

Before a baptism, the Church asks God to join to the child’s life “a shining angel”. This is the Russian prayer book’s evening prayer to that guardian angel.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Church Slavonic of the Russian prayer book. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: St Tikhon’s Seminary Press, Orthodox Daily Prayers, 1982.

Where it comes from, and the Church Slavonic

To a saint · The saint of the baptismal name

Prayer to your patron saint

Pray to God for me,holy (name), you who pleased God,for I run with all my heart to you,who are quick to help me and to pray for my soul.

Traditional wording, 1982

Pray to God for me holy (your Patron Saint),for with fervor I run to you,swift helper and intercessor for my soul!

This one line from the Russian morning prayers asks the saint whose name you were given at baptism to pray for you. Say it for yourself, or for a godchild with the saint’s name.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Church Slavonic of the Russian prayer book, with St Tikhon’s 1982 translation beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: St Tikhon’s Seminary Press, Orthodox Daily Prayers, 1982.

The book leaves a blank before “(your Patron Saint)” for the saint’s name.

Where it comes from, and the Church Slavonic

Scripture for this

¹⁶Meanwhile, the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain Jesus had designated. ¹⁷When they saw Him, they worshiped Him, but some doubted. ¹⁸Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. ¹⁹Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:16-20 Jesus sends His disciples to baptize all nations in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is the Gospel at a baptism.

³Or aren’t you aware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? ⁴We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may walk in newness of life.

Romans 6:3-4 In the Epistle read at a baptism, Paul teaches that we are buried with Christ so that we may walk in newness of life.

¹⁶As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the water. Suddenly the heavens were opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and resting on Him. ¹⁷And a voice from heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased!”

Matthew 3:16-17 At Jesus’s baptism the heavens opened, the Spirit came down like a dove, and the Father spoke: “This is My beloved Son.”

Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.”

John 3:5 Jesus teaches Nicodemus that no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.

³⁸Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹This promise belongs to you and your children and to all who are far off—to all whom the Lord our God will call to Himself.”

Acts 2:38-39 On the day of Pentecost Peter urges the crowd to repent and be baptized. The Holy Spirit is promised to them and to their children.

²To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. ³I thank God, Whom I serve with a clear conscience as did my forefathers, as I constantly remember you night and day in my prayers. ⁴Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy. ⁵I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am convinced is in you as well.

2 Timothy 1:2-5 Paul prays night and day for his beloved child Timothy, as a godparent prays for a godchild.

Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.

A psalm for this

Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
Psalm 32:1

The Book of Needs has this psalm sung three times right after the baptism, before the newly baptized is dressed in a new robe.

Psalm 32 Read the whole psalm, with St Athanasius’s advice on when to pray it.

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