How do I choose a godfather and godmother for my child?

First of all, it is important to understand why a child needs godparents. The fact is that the rite of Baptism itself is to introduce a child to the Orthodox faith, and he is usually too young to make this decision on his own. At the age of eight or forty days old (in these days it is customary to baptize children in Orthodox Christianity), the child can not show true faith and repentance, so the godparents vouch for the education of the child in the traditions of Orthodoxy, as long as he can consciously and independently accept the native faith.

The role of the father and mother godparents is much greater than accepting an infant from the font and reciting a prayer during the Sacrament. Godparents assume responsibility for the spiritual upbringing of the child and give a strict account for their recipient before the Lord on the Day of Judgment.

Thus, being a godparent is a great responsibility for life, so the choice of godparents should be taken seriously. A Christian upbringing can only be given by one who himself lives according to God's law and sincerely prays for his godchild.

Godparents take upon themselves the responsibility to introduce the child to the sacraments, to explain to them the essence of Christ's teaching, and to teach them faith and godliness. The bond between this person and his spiritual recipient is eternal and deeper than that of the parents according to the flesh. The fate of his own soul and that of the infant he receives from the font depends on the actions of the godparent.

According to church tradition, a child must have at least one spiritual receiver of the same sex as the person being baptized. For a girl it is the godmother and for a boy it is the godfather.

Who can be the godfather or godmother?

According to the rules of the Church, the lines of blood and spiritual kinship should not coincide, so it is not recommended to choose brothers, sisters, grandparents and other close relatives for the role of godparents. Parents of the child also can not be his godparents.

It is forbidden to choose a man and a woman living in a common-law marriage as godparents, since the Church considers common-law marriage a grave sin - adultery. Godparents cannot be bound to each other by fleshly ties, since their bond is spiritual in nature.

The godfather must be at least 15 years old at the time of the baptism of the child, and the mother must be at least 13. Before this age, they cannot vouch for the faith of the person being baptized, because they themselves do not understand the essence of the Christian faith well enough. People of another faith, who are immoral or have not been baptized, cannot be baptized for the same reason.

Monastics cannot be godparents.

The most important thing in choosing godparents is to be guided only by Christian considerations, completely excluding such formal and secular factors as personal gain, friendship, convenience or discomfort in communicating with the future godparent. The godparent of a child should be a person who will really pray for him and walk with him on the path of Christ's teaching. It is desirable to choose as godparents a man of prayer - a consciously believing Orthodox Christian.

A person who is to be baptized should have at least one spiritual receiver of the same sex as himself. For a girl, this is the godmother, and for a boy, the godfather. For centuries, however, it has become customary to have two godparents, a father and a mother, by analogy with parents in the flesh. A close spiritual bond is established between the spiritual receiver, the godchild, and their relatives.