The importance of deeper understanding of the Orthodox rite of the Holy Baptism for spiritual life

In the introduction of an important book on the ecumenical implications of our common Baptism, Thomas F. Best and Dagmar Heller noted that^[1]

“in the recent decades worship has proved to be increasingly significant for the ecumenical movement. Through the liturgical renewal movement which has developed since the 1950s, many churches have discovered a surprising degree of common ground in their understanding and practice of worship. Yet worship is also the place where the divisions among the churches become immediately and painfully evident – and not just at ecumenical gathering, but also in the life of local congregations. As contacts among local Christians increase, lively and sensitive questions arise about worship, particularly in relation to special liturgical moments such as baptism and eucharist”^[2].

The churches’ delegates at the Fifth World Conference on Faith and Order “affirmed and celebrated together «the increasing mutual recognition of one another’s baptism as the one baptism into Christ»”^[3].

„Many churches are now emphasizing that baptism is baptism into Christ, not into this or that historic denomination. In baptism one becomes not a Methodist, Lutheran or Roman Catholic, but a Christian”^[4].

This affirmation can be misleading because for us, Orthodox Christians, the Holy Mysterion of Baptism offers the Christian identity, but in the same time the Orthodox one. In the prayer of  Chrismation the celebrant prays that the Triune God would  “confirm him (her) in the Orthodox Faith”. In the Orthodox ordo, Baptism is not separated from the Chrismation. One cannot regard Baptism separate from the entire Church life, because the Baptism introduces the candidate in this very Church life. As Rev. Alciviadis C. Calivas noted:

“Baptism unites the believer not only with Christ but with his people, the Church. One is baptized into the community of faith to share its life, its values, its vision. Baptism, by bringing us into the glorified life of Christ and making us part of his deified humanity, integrates us into the Church, His body, where dying and rising is daily experienced in ascetic discipline in the life of prayer and in the Eucharist”^[5].

Professor Grigorios Larentzakis also outlined that through “Baptism and Christmation, the newly baptized person does not just become a Christian as an individual, but also becomes a member of a most intimate community through his or her life within the existential mysterium  ecclesiae”^[6].

The Faith and Order Consultation which took place in Ditchingham, England, in 1994, explored the pattern or structure (the ordo) of Christian worship as increasingly a point of contact and common experience among many churches. Dealing with the ordo of Baptism and its ecumenical implications, Gordon Lathrop wrote from the beginning of his study that a sense of the meaning of Christian baptism and of the common shape of its practice throughout the world may be discovered in surprising places, for example in a classic text from the history of the Church which is not about baptism at all, but it “may disclose to us in clarity the vibrant importance of the basic pattern of baptizing” and about the Eucharist^[7]:

“Do not speak Jesus Christ yet set your heart upon the world…. My desire (eros) has been crucified and there is not in me any fire which feeds off material stuff (pyr philoulon), but rather there is water living and speaking in me, saying to me from within, «Come to the         Father!». I do not delight in the food of death nor the pleasure of this life. I want the bread of God, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ, descended from David, and I         want the drink             of his blood, which is deathless love (agape)”^[8].

In this way Saint Ignatius describes the martyrdom „he expects and for which he longs, using the imagery of the central matters of the Christian community: the word of God, the water of new birth into the body of Christ, the love-feast of the Eucharist”^[9]. Proclamation and conversion, the speaking water, the meal, such was the ordo of the making of Christians in Antioch. Gordon Lathrop added that

“one was to live through this pattern repeatedly, not repeating the water-washing but listening to its «voice», acting on its invitation . Furthermore, although this ordo could be taken to reflect the practice which Ignatius would have known at Antioch, he could expect it to be understood at Rome: in these central matters the churches were at one.... The local church of Antioch is in communion with the local church in Rome”^[10].

Going back to the „Ditchingam ordo”, this outlines the baptismal event as two things, „formation in faith” (which might include both „speaking Jesus Christ” and renounciation the ways of evil and death)  and „water-washing”, side by side, leading to a third thing, „participation in the life of the community”. The same pattern can be found in Saint Ingnatius’s words quoted above:

proclamation, conversion, turning away from evil; the „speaking water”; the meal of God/witnes in the world.           

Gordon Lathrop also quoted the text from Saint Justin the Martyr and Philosopher (+165), described as “the first full direct description which we possess of what happens in Christian baptism”:

“We shall now also explain the way in which we dedicated ourselves as votive gifts to God, having been made new through Jesus Christ, lest in omitting this we should appear to do something wrong in our explanation. As many people as are persuaded, as believe     these things taught and spoken by us to be true, and as promise to try to live thus, are         taught to pray and ask God, while fasting for the forgiveness of sins, while we pray and fast together with them. Then they are led by us there where water is, and they are reborn      in the way of rebirth with which we ourselves were reborn. For then they do the washing      in the   water in the name of the Father and Lord God of all things and of our Saviour       Jesus Christ and of the Holy Spirit… And this washing is called illumination, since the understanding of those who learn these things is illuminated… But, after thus washing those who are persuaded and who assent, we lead them to          those who are called brothers and sisters, where they are assembled to make common prayer with strength for themselves and for those illuminated and forall others everywhere… When we have ended the prayers, we greet one another with a kiss. Then the brothers and sisters set out before the president bread             and a cup of mixted wine…. And for the rest we continually remind each other of these things. Those who have the means  help all those who are in want,        and we continually meet together. And over all that we take to eat we bless the Creator of all things through God’s Son Jesus Christ and through the Holy Spirit. And on the day          named after the sun, all, whether they live in the city or the            countryside, are gathered together in unity…”^[11].        

The pattern resulting from this text would be:     

teaching the faith and enquiring about the conduct; praying and fasting of candidates and community; procession to the water; washing; procession to the place of community prayer;

Eucharist; continual reminding, thhrough Sunday Eucharist and care of the poor^[12].

From the probably earlier Syrian book: The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles (The Didache), we also find out the way in which the Baptism was performed:

„Baptize thus: having first recited all these things, baptize «in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghoast», in running water. If you have no running water, baptize in other water; if you cannot baptize in cold water, use warm. If you have neither, pour water on the head thrice «in the name             of the Father, and the Son, and the   Holy Ghoast». Before baptism, the baptizer and baptized should fast, and others who can: and you must order the baptized to fast for a day or two”^[13].

In this ancient writing, one  can find  a similar ordo:

moral instruction (1:1-6:3) fasting and prayer (7:4-8; „before the Baptism”, 7:4);

Baptism in the name of the Triune God,  in „living water” (7:1-3)

Eucharist after Baptism (9-10); the life of the community, including reception of travelling teachers (11-13), giving to the poor (13:4), the every-Sunday Eucharist (14).

„In fact, this primitive order for making a Christian ultimately becomes the order of the «catechumenate», known to us from many sources from the 3rd century on:

enquiry about willingness to change conduct; hearing the gospel/teaching the words for faith; prayer (and fasting); washing; leading to the meal, to «mystagogy», the learning of the mysteries in which one was now participant; and to the resultant weekly assembly, witness and care for the poor”^[14].

In the New Testament, although it is not a book of rituals, we can find references to the ordo of Baptism. For example the episode of the healing of a boy with an unclean spirit:

„... And Jesus said to him, «If you can! All things are possible to him who believes». Immediately the father of the child cried out and said: «I believe; help my unbelief!». And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, «You dumb and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again». And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse; so that most of them said, «He is dead». But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, «Why could we not cast it out?». And he said to them, «This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer and  fasting ^[15]” (Mk.9:23-29).

We can discern in this text most of the constitutive elements of the baptismal ordo:

the explicit confession of faith in a wonderful, humble way: „I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mk.9,24); the exorcism done by Jesus Christ; the great importance of prayer and fast; death, rebirth, resurrection and a new life in Christ^[16].

The founding of the first Christian community in the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) and its spiritual and community life implied the:

preaching (“formation in faith”); reception of the message („they were cut to the heart”); repentance and conversion;

Baptism for the forgiveness of sins; receiving of the Holy Spirit; formation in faith ( „they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching – te didahe ton apostolon, doctrina apostolorum); community life („fellowship – koinonia), agape carried out by the distribution of  goods to „all, as any had need”;

Eucharist ( „breaking of bread – te klasei tou artou); prayers  (tais proseuhais).

It is important to outline the close relation, from the begining of the Church, between the preaching (i.e. the word) and Holy Mysteria (Baptism, receiving of the Holy Spirit and Eucharist preceded by repentance - in the Orthodox Church the candidate receives the three mysteria in the same day -). In other words the Church was constituted by word (preaching) and mysteria.

„Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, «Brethren, what shall we do?» And Peter said to them, «Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit»... „So those who received his word were baptized… And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching- te didahe ton Apostolon, doctrina Apostolorum and fellowship- te koinonia, communicatione, to the breaking of bread- te klasei ton arton, fractionis panis and the prayers- tais proseuhais, orationibus”(Acts 2).      

In Acts 2:42 we find the four biblical foundations of the universal Church (the apostles' teaching- te didahe ton Apostolon, doctrina Apostolorum-, the fellowship - te koinonia, communicatione-, the breaking of bread- te klasei ton arton, fractionis panis- and the prayers- tais proseuhais, orationibus) in which the identity and integrity of the Church are expressed. The unity of the Church in the New Testament is a symphony of local churches with specific local elements, however they are in communion of faith, love and mysteria. Today we must observe the same pattern, because it is impossible to envisage an authentic unity of the Church without the common confession of the faith, followed by an authentic koinonia, the sharing of Holy Communion - communio in sacris and prayers for all (cf. 1Tim 2:1).

Rom 6 is an explicit text regarding the meaning  of the Baptism: death, cleansing from sin, resurrection, new life. Saint Paul depends on the Christian baptism leading to the meal for his analogy with the crossing of the sea leading to eating the manna and drinking from the rock (1Cor10).         

Gordon Lathrop also pointed out that if 1 Peter may be considered to be a baptismal catechesis and a church order, the order of making Christians is the same there too:

proclamation of the resurrection and teaching about ethical transformation (1:3-21); purification (1:22) and “new birth” (1:23) communal love (1:23; 2:1) eating and drinking (2:2-3) participation in the community, royal priesthood, people of God (2:4-10) moral instruction (2:11sq.).

As a conclusion we should outline that every Baptism into Christ is a participation in His Baptism (Mark 1:9-11 and parallels; although Jesus received Saint John the Baptist’s Baptism, what happened there – the immersion, the parousia of the Holy Spirit, and the voice of the Father - is a model for the Christian Baptism, because the entire oikonomia of salvation was accomplished for us), passions, death, resurrection and ascension. The candidate goes into the water with Christ, the Holy Spirit confers the gifts (in the Orthodox “rite of initiation” the Chrismation immediately follows the Baptism) and the voice of the Father calls the neophyte a beloved child ( i.e. the newly baptized is adopted by God the Father, baptismal уίοθεσία), a participant in the body of Christ by receiving for the first time the Holy Communion. The candidate is buried into the water together with Christ in order to be raised with Him and receive a new life.

1. The Orthodox ordo of Baptism^[17]

At the 3rd Consultation on ecclesiology between CEC and CPCE, Phanar, 2006, professor Grigorios Larentzakis affirmed that “Baptism in the Orthodox Church today has the same central significance as it had in the early church”^[18] and then presented the ordo of the Orthodox Baptism. We can find many explanations about the Baptism in the works of Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, Saint John Chrisostomos, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Saint Ambrose of Milan and Saint Nicolas Cabasilas.

I would like to present briefly the significance of the baptismal ordo^[19] and then I shall call your attention on the baptismal adoption (υίοθεσία) by the Father, which is possible due to Christ who takes form in the candidate through the Holy Spirit.

The term baptism comes from the Greek noun to baptisma which means immersion, the verb  baptidzo which means to dip, to place into a liquid, to dunk.  There are many prefigurations of the Baptism,  in the Old Testament, e.g.:the primordial water, the flood, circumcision, the crossing of the Red Sea, the water which burst out of the rock when Moses hit it with his crook (Exod 17,1-7), the crook envisaging the cross.         .

The Orthodox Church has three rites for infants which are closely linked to Baptism. The first rite is for the mother and child on the first day of birth. In this rite the Church expresses her thanksgiving for the safe delivery of the mother and her joy at the appearance of a new life. Blessing the newborn infant the Church anticipates its new and second birth through water and the Spirit (John 3:5). A second rite is conducted on the eighth day after birth, when the newborn child receives its name from its parents. The child is given a Christian name as a sign of its new identity with the faith community. The third rite is conducted on the fortieth day after birth. The new-born child is to be brought to the Church in imitation of the New Testament event, when Saint Mary, the Theotokos, brought the infant Christ into the Temple to fulfill the requirements of the Law. On this day the mother is blessed and the infant “churches”, or is accepted as a peripheral member of the Church, until it is fully incorporated into her life through baptism.

The first act of the baptismal service begins in the narthex (entrance) of the church. This is to show that the one being received is not yet a member of the Church. The purpose of baptism is to bring him into the Church. To enter into the temple of God is to be with Christ, to become a member of His body. The priest then calls upon the sponsor (or the candidate if he is adult) to renounce the devil and all his works for the child:“Do you renounce Satan, and all his angels, and all his works, and all his services, and all his pride?”

Fr. Alexander Schmemann explains the meaning of this renunciation

“The first act of the Christian life is a renunciation, a challenge. No one can be Christ’s until he has, first, faced Evil, and then become ready to fight it…. The exorcisms mean this: to face Evil, to acknowledge its reality, to know its power, and to proclaim the power of God to destroy it. The exorcisms announce the forthcoming baptism as an act of victory”^[20].

The renouncing of Satan is done facing the west because the west is where the sun disappears and was regarded by the ancient Greeks as the place of the gates of Hades. Then the priest faces east whence the light of the sun rises and asks the godparent to accept for the child Him who is the Light of the World. “Do you unite yourself to Christ?” The priest then makes the sign of the cross on the child’s body. This is repeated often during the service. The cross is essentially is the sign of victory which puts the devil to flight. In the old days, slaves were branded, as are animals today, to show to what master they belong. Today, the sign of the cross brands us as belonging to Christ.

The godparent is then asked to confess faith in Christ on behalf of the infant. At this point the godparent reads the confession of faith contained in the Nicene Creed. By reading the “symbolon tes pisteos,” the godparent confesses the true faith. From the moment the child is received into the Church, emphasis is placed on his individuality. He is given his own particular name by which he shall be distinguished from every other child of God. This expresses our belief that the child has the dignity of his own selfhood in the eyes of God. It is the Church’s acceptance of him as an individual in his own right. The new name expresses also the new life received through baptism.

Olive oil is blessed and then applied by the priest to the various members of the child’s body: hands, feet, ears, mouth, in order to dedicate them to the service of Christ. Especially in the Greek Church, the sponsor then anoints the entire body of the infant with olive oil. This custom had its beginning among the ancient Greek wrestlers who anointed their bodies with olive oil to make it difficult for the opponent to maintain a grip on them. In Baptism, the child is anointed with olive oil to express our prayer that with Christ’s help the infant may be able to elude the grip of sin. We descover the significance and purpose from the text of the prayer of consecration of the oil^[21].          

The baptismal font in the language of the Church Fathers is the Divine Womb whence we receive the second birth as children of God. Baptism is truly a birth.

“But to all who receive him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God; who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12, 13).

The baptismal font is not only a womb but also a tomb where we die to sin. We believe that Christ died for our sins. To show that we, and not Christ, are worthy of death because of our sins, we are immersed in the baptismal font. The immersion in water symbolizes death, since a person cannot live long under water. Through baptism we share mysteriously in Christ’s death. As Saint Paul says,

“We were buried therefore with him [Christ] by baptism into death so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life”(Rom 6) .

The baptized person rises out of the baptismal font a new man, cleansed of every sin and promising, like Saint Paul, to surrender his life to Christ, his Saviour:

“He died for all that they who live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him who died for them”.

The triple immersion symbolizes the three days our Lord spent in the tomb as well as the Baptism in the name of the Holy Trinity (the human being is imago Trinitatis) since the baptismal formula used in the Orthodox Church is:

“The servant of God — is baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

The infant is baptized in its naked state to denote that just as we came out of our mother’s womb naked so we emerge naked out of the womb of God—the baptismal font. The removal of all clothes also signifies the old slough of skin which will be cast off entirely through Baptism. Nakedness without shame refers also to the original state of man in Paradise where he was not ashamed of the body which God had created and had called good.

The new clothes signify the entirely new life that we receive after we are “buried with Jesus in His death” (Rom. 6:4). In the early Church the newly baptized did not put on the old clothing he had taken off. He put on a new white robe, which was worn at all the services during Easter week - in the early times most baptisms were performed at Easter. The white robe expresses the purity of the soul that has been washed from sin. It recalls also the shining robe in which Christ appeared at the Transfiguration. There is now a likeness between the one baptized and the transfigured Lord.   Saint Paul calls it a putting on of Christ: “For as many of you as have been baptized in Christ, have you put on Christ” (Gal. 3:26, 27). Baptism is more than an external cleansing. It is a deeply rooted ontological transformation. 

However dark may be the night that surrounds us, Baptism remains the mysterion of entrance into light. It opens the eyes of the soul to see Christ, the light of the world (John 1:19). It makes us sons of light (I Thess. 5:5). In the early Church, the baptismal candle was always kept by the one baptized. It was given to the newly baptized with the scriptural admonition:

“Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matt 5:16).

The baptismal candle was brought to Church on feast days, on the anniversary of one’s Baptism and for the midnight Easter liturgy. If the person was married, the same candle was lighted at the wedding. If he was ordained, he would light it at his ordination. When the final hour of life approached it was lighted again as the soul went forth to meet its Judge. It was a constant reminder for the Christian to live and die by the light of Christ.

The newly illumined Christian is then robed in a white garment, the symbol of regeneration, newness, kingship, and future immortality. The white garment, which is the color of royalty, symbolizes the gifts of baptism and reminds the neophyte of his responsibility to remain whole and be faithful to the baptismal pledge. At this point the mystery of the holy Chrism (myron) is administered. The neophyte is anointed with the consecrated oils by the celebrant using the liturgical formula “The seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit. Amen”. Chrism is applied to the sense and other parts of the body in the pattern of the Cross, signifying the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. The gift of the Holy Spirit takes the neophyte beyond the restoration of the fallen nature. The continuous presence of the Holy Spirit makes possible the constant, progressive, personal growth of the Christian into the image and likeness of God. He or she is also given a cross to wear. The Holy Mysterion of Chrismation is anchored in the events of Jesus’ Baptism and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples at Pentecost, yet, in the Lord's declaration “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God” (John 3:5).

In the apostolic period this mysterion was celebrated in two ways: through the laying of hands and through the anointing with the special oil, this latter practice appeared because the apostles could not be present at every baptism. We have several important biblical references: Acts 8:14-17;19:1-6; IICor 1:21-22; I John 2:20-27. The liturgical formula “The seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit. Amen” is based on the words of Saint Paul. The ones who have heard “the word of truth, the gospel of salvation, and have believed in him, were sealed- esphragisthete with the promised Holy Spirit which is the guarantee of our salvation” (Eph 1:13-14; cf. also 4:30, where “the day of redemption” may also refer to the Baptism).

It is very important to mention that Saint Hieronimus argued the opinion that the Holy Spirit is conferred only through the prayer of the bishop^[28]. The first Eastern critique of the practice of Confirmation appeared at the Council which took place in Constantinopol in 867 because of the dissatisfaction caused by the Frankish bishops sent by Pope Nicholas I to anoint the Bulgarian Christians. Among the Greek polemists arose from now on the misconception of the double Baptism of the West, while in the XIII century, the Western authors came to deny the existence of the Confirmation among the Eastern Christians. Pope Alexander IV (1243-1254) imposed the recognition of the Confirmation among the Eastern, as a distinct and separately conferred sacrament; it was then also established by the Confession of faith imposed to the Byzantine emperor Michael VIII and especially by the Council of Lyon (1274). Starting with the Confession of faith signed by patriarch Dositei of Jerusalem (1672) in which the three terms: bebeosis/to hagion myron and to hagion chrisma are equaled, we speak in the Eastern Church about Baptism, Christmation and Eucharist as about the three out of seven Mysteria.

But there is both an intrinsic unity and a distinction between the mysteria of Baptism and Chrismation. They are intimately related theologically and liturgically^[29]. Chrismation is the second mysterion but it is also, together with the Eucharist, the very fulfillment of Baptism. While Baptism incorporates us into Christ's new risen existence, Chrismation makes us partakers of His Spirit, the very source of this new life and of total illumination. Chrismation causes a mysterious new and hidden life to flow in us. It imparts to persons the energies and the gifts of the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 11:23 and Gal 5:22). Chrismation is called the seal (sphragis). The neophyte receives the Holy Spirit as the source, the pledge and the seal of unending life. Anointed with the chrism, we are marked forever as the sheep and soldiers of Christ. We belong to Him and to His holy Church. Human nature purified by Baptism is made ready to receive the manifold gifts of the Holy Spirit. As Fr. Schmemann says:

“Confirmation [Christmation] is thus the personal Pentecost of man, his entrance into the life of the Holy Spirit…his ordination as truly and fully man…. His whole body is anointed, sealed, sanctified, dedicated to the new life: «the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit», says the priest as he anoints the newly baptized «on the brow, and on the eyes, and the nostrils, and the lips, and on both ears, and the breast and on the hands, and the feet»…. The whole man is now made the temple of God…”.

The Greek word for confirmation is chrisma, which means anointing. The one anointed with “chrisma” becomes christos, that is, the anointed one, which is the meaning of the name Christ. Thus, by this mysterion we are made Christians or other christs (anointed ones), due to Christ’s presence in us through His Holy Spirit. Chrismation is the ordination of the laity. According to Orthodox belief, every baptized lay person is ordained a priest by this mysterion (cf. 1 Pt 2:8-10),  receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit to become a deputy or an ambassador for Christ in this world. Thus Chrismation, once canonically performed, cannot be repeated.

The chrism that is used for the ritual of anointing is a mixture of olive oil, balsam, wine, and some forty aromatic substances, symbolizing the fullness of sacramental grace, the sweetness of the Christian life and manifold and diverse gifts of the Holy Spirit. The chrism is also called the Holy Myron, and is the antitype, the visible tabernacle of the Holy Spirit. By ancient custom the right to prepare and consecrate the chrism belongs to the bishop and its administration to the presbyters. Each autocephalous Orthodox Church, through all her bishops, has the right to prepare and consecrate chrism, periodically on the Holy Thursday.

In the ancient Church, Baptism was immediately followed by the celebration of the Eucharist.The newly-illumined Christians, holding lighted candles proceeded from the baptisterion with the clergy to the nave of the Church to join the faithful for the Eucharist. Vestiges of this ancient practice form the next sequence of actions in the baptismal rite. A procession around the font, with the singing of “As many as have been baptized in Christ, have put on Christ. Alleluia” (Gal 3:27) is followed by the reading of two excerpts from the New Testament: the Epistle to the Romans (6:3-11) explains the meaning of Baptism; and the Gospel of Matthew (28:16-20) recalling the command of the Lord to the Church to instruct and baptize. The neophyte then receives Holy Communion. The new life in Christ, given in Baptism, is renewed again and again in the Eucharist. In the Orthodox Church, every baptized and confirmed infant becomes a full member of the Church and is entitled to receive Holy Communion.

After a set of petitions called the “Fervent Litany”, the neophyte participates in three additional rites. These were originally conducted on the eighth day after Baptism; they now form the last part of the baptismal rite. The celebrant washes the neophyte's forehead as an indication that the visible signs of the mysteries must now become inner realities and the very essence of life. This is emphasized with the laying on of hands upon the candidate^[30] and the tonsure. Through the laying on of hands, the neophyte and those concerned for his growth in Christ, are reminded that the Christian is armed with the Holy Spirit to war against all adverse powers. After confirming the child, the priest cuts three locks of hair from the child’s head. This is an expression of gratitude from the child, who having received an abundance of blessings through the Mysteria of Baptism and Chrismation and having nothing to give to God in return, offers part of its hair, which is the symbol of strength (see Samson in the Old Testament). The child, therefore, promises to serve God with all its strength. The tonsure, or cutting of the hair, indicates both a sacrificial offering that does not require the mutilation or humiliation of the human body and a sign of servitude and obedience. The new Christian proclaims his willingness and readiness to negate the world with its false values and to serve God with faithful devotion. 

In early times, Baptism and  Chrismation were not administered in the church, but in a separate edifice called the baptisterion. Following anointment with Holy Chrism, the newly baptized, wearing their white robes and carrying candles, were led by the clergy to the church for the celebration of the Eucharist. Here they would receive their first Communion. This is the origin of the present procession of the priest accompanied by the sponsor holding the newly baptized infant, around the baptismal font just before the neophyte is given the  Mysterion of Communion. The purpose of Baptism and Chrismation is expressed by this procession to the Eucharist. The door is now open to full and complete communion with God. During the procession the priest sings, “…as many as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ. Alleluia” (Gal. 3:27).

After this short presentation of the significance of the Orthodox ordo of the Baptism, which is somehow classic and can be easily found in detail^[33], I think that it is  important to outline the fact that we may not reduce, as it often happens, the effects of this Holy Mysterion to the receiving of the remission of sins – original and personal, if the candidate is not a baby- and of the membership of the Church. In the prayer of the blessing of the baptismal water the celebrant says:

“But do You, O Master of All, declare this water to be water of redemption, water of sanctification, a cleansing of flesh and spirit, a loosing of bonds, a forgiveness of sins, an illumination of soul, a laver of regeneration, a renewal of the spirit, a gift of sonship, a garment of incorruption, a fountain of life”.

Therefore Baptism also means redemption - not just as remission of sins but as communion with the Holy Trinity; sanctification - due to the receiving of the Sanctifier, the Holy Spirit; illumination- due to the receiving of the garment of light; regeneration (anagennesis) - the candidate dies and is born again with Jesus; renewal of the lifesupporting power of the human spirit due to the communion with the Holy Spirit, the Giver of life, that is why the Baptism is “a fountain of life”; the gift of sonship i.e. the πνευ̃μα υίοθεσία, spiritum adoptionis filiorum (Rm.8:15) – adoptive baptismal υίοθεσία .

The adoptive sonship, which is especially highlighted in the Orthodox Theology, is possible because the neophyte receives the “form- morphe of Christ”.  In the prayer before the consecration of the baptismal water the celebrant invokes the Holy Trinity saying:

“Form the Image of Your Christ in him (her) who is about to be born again through my humility”.

This English translation might be misleading because in the original Greek we read:

“Kai morphoson sou ton Christon, en to mellonti anagennasthai…”^[34].

So the meaning is that Christ would take form – morphe, not image – eikon, because every human being is created according to the image of the Image of the Father (Col 1:15), human being is eikon Eikonos, the incarnate Logos is the Archetype of the human being^[35]. It is unacceptable to consider that only through Baptism the human being receives the imago Dei. At the Baptism the candidate receives the „form of Christ”, His likeness - in an ethical but also in an onthological sense- which means His garment of light, the same garment as the one seen by the three Saints Aposteles on Mount Tabor at the Transfiguration- Metamorphosis of our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is important to underline that after the immersion, the candidate asks: „A robe of divine light bestow upon me, O You that for vesture array Yourself with Light; and bestow many mercies, O Christ our God, who are plenteous in mercy” and only after the Chrismation it is possible to sing: “As many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ”, because the Holy Spirit is the One who conforms the neophyte to Christ.

In order to understand what it means to “put on Christ” or to receive His form we have to make reference to the Carmen Christi from the epistle to the Philippians which seems to be the most interpreted text of the New Testament^[36]: “Who being in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant” (Phil 2:6-7). 

To begin with, however, a few brief definitions of terms are needed,: a) morphe – shema - eidos; b) morphe - ousia; c) morphe - eikon; d) morphe - doxa.

a) morphe – schema - eidos. In Greek, except for Homer, but usually later, morphe means form, the external aspect, and even the owner of the form, the person^[37].  In its basic sense, morphe is synonymous with eidos, idea and schema.  Despite their interchangeable use, there are obvious differences. Morphe, the form particular to a being, is not the same as eidos, the entire visible aspect. Eidos describes what can be perceived and known by others, whereas morphe describes what is objectively there. Morphe is different from schema in that it describes the individual exterior aspect as it is, whereas schema pertains to the outward representation. Morphe is the whole ( e.g. of the body) in and for itself, whereas schema is what pertains to the whole (the form, exterior characteristics, mode of presentation, etc.); morphe, forma dicit quiddam absolutum… schema, habitus, cultus, vestitus, victus, gestus, sermones et actiones.  Despite all these subtle differences, there are no clear-cut borders in their use^[38].

Even in the philosophical terminology morphe does not have an unequivocal and definite sense. Parmenides, the first to use it, talks about light and darkness as two forms of being. Plato does not use it much, but uses it as equivalent to eidos or idea signifying exterior aspect or form.  For him,

“to know the form of x does not imply knowledge of the nature of x; thus, the philosopher who, for example, knows the form of righteousness will know not only what is right but also why it is so.  Similarly, Aristotle sees the form of a thing as what makes it intelligible, it being (similar to the Forms of Plato) accessible to the intellect”^[39].

b) morphe - ousia. Exegetes underline the distinction and the indissolubility of these terms.   While many of the Holy Fathers stressed their indissolubility, in their wish to stress  the unity of being, they did not thereby equate the two terms, as affirmed by R.P.Vincent: “A common error of the Greek fathers, adopted by Calvin, Beza, and the others, was the identification of morphe with ousia, ‘essence,’ and physis, ‘nature’^[43].  J. Heriban has a list on this subject^[44].  J. B. Lightfoot states:

“Though morphe is not the same as physis or ousia, yet the possession of the morphe involves participation in the ousia also: for morphe implies not the external accidents but the essential attributes”^[45].

Therefore we can’t have the form of something or someone without having the corresponding ousia, because morphe pertains to the essential attributes of being.

“it is strained and unnatural to interpret morphe by eikon, in order to compare and contrast Adam with Christ, unless one holds the view that this hymn refers not at all to the preexistent Christ but only to the human Jesus, his life of humility and his exaltation to an earthly position of glory”^[48].

d) morphe - doxa.  If  R. P. Martin states that these are synonyms (comparing 1Cor15:49 and Phil 3:21, and interpreting in this light 2Cor 3:18 and Rom 8:29). M. R. Vincent states their distinction:

“Doxa is the manifestation, the ‘unfolded fullness’ of the divine attributes and perfections, while morphe Theou is the immediate, proper, and personal investiture of the divine essence. Doxa attaches to Deity; morphe is identified with the inmost being of Deity. Doxa is and must be included in morphe Theou, but doxa is not morphe”^[51].

The impossibility of identification of the two terms is clearly underlined when replacing doxa with morphe in texts such as Psalm 19:1: “The heavens declare the glory (doxa) of God”, Psalm 84,10 “that glory may dwell in our land “ or  Isaiah 11:10: “And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious”.

In the Old Testament it was impossible to think that God had a form open to human perception, or that He would have revealed Himself in an accessible form to the senses.  Even though there are many references to God as a being similar to us, having a face, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, lips, tongue, arms, fingers, clothes, shoes, these are such evident metaphorical expressions that the Septuagint did not include any corrective interpolations, in order to preserve the purity of the concept of God. None of the frequent Old-Testament theophanies (not even Genesis 18:1 or 32:25) describes the heavenly beings in a human form, and there is no description of the visible form of the Godhead. On the contrary, in the Old Testament the theomorphic understanding of man is more important than the anthropomorphic attributes of God.  Presenting God in a human form does not imply that He became a man.The complete lack of any image in the cult of Yahweh reflects a personal and ethical concept able to resist any attempt to give His form a sensory description. Not even in Judaism, where the transcendental aspect of God is especially emphasized, is there any place for positive assertions about the form of God^[52].  

In conclusion we can say that it is not about a Greek philosophical understanding of the term morphe from the text in question, and neither a supposedly popular concept about morphe Theou as ousia or physis. Likewise, what Paul understands by morphe Theou and morphe doulou is totally foreign to the epiphany of myth and legend. Christ did not play the role of a god in human form.  The uniqueness of Christianity is that the two natures, divine and human, were united in the Person of the Son unmingled, undivided, inseparable, unchanged, and therefore it is not about a shape-shifter, the two natures being forever united. It is not metamorphosis either, as in the Hellenistic belief or superstition.  Paul does not talk about the exchange of someone’s form with that of someone else. In 1Cor 2:8 the man Jesus is the Lord of Glory - Kyrios tes doxes.  Essentially, if not literally, the expression morphe Theou is entirely within the biblical    understanding of God.  It is highly difficult, though, to find a replacement for morphe, and especially for morphe Theou.   One might suggest “mode of existence”, “condition”, or “status”.

2.1. Metamorphosis, metamorphote – “Christ’s transfiguration on Mount Tabor, the anticipated proof of the light of the Holy Trinity that shall emanate from His resurrected body and the bodies of all who show their faith in their deeds”^[53]. 

Christ’s Transfiguration has nothing in common with the Hellenistic meaning of metamorphosis.

Matthew 17:2 “kaì metamorphote  émprosthen auton, kaì élampsen tò prósopon autoû  os helios, tà dè himátia autoû egéneto leukà os tò phos.”

Mark 9,2-3 “kaì metàmorphote émprosthen auton, kaì tà himátia autoû egéneto stílvonta leukà lían oîa gnapheùs epì tes ges ou dúnatai oútos leukânai.” 

In Capita theologica et oeconomica^[61], Saint  Maximus the Confessor talks about the two forms in which Christ reveals Himself to those who study the Scriptures in detail.  First he talks about the “common and public form” (koinen kai demodesteran morphen), through which he understands the Incarnation, about which Isaiah said “he hath no form nor comeliness” – kai eidomen auton, kai ouk eihen eidos oude kallos (Isaiah 53,2). Second, there is a “hidden form” – kryphiotera morphe through which Christ manifests himself, as he did on Mount Tabor, „Thou art fairer than the children of men - oraios kallei para tous yious ton anthropon” (Psalm 45:2)”.  This aspect of the Lord was not reserved exclusively for the three Apostles, but for all those who in time will excel in virtue^[62].

2.2. Paschal Christ’s conversion/passing on into the human life under the form of the Church

The verb morphoo is found just once in the New Testament:  “My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you – tekna mou, ous palin odino mehris ou morphote Hristos en hymin (Gal 4:19). Christ has to have human  form in order to make the life in Christ possible. He has to become incarnate in each and every one of us – a common idea in Christian mysticism^[63]. This metaphor, based on human intrauterine development, suggests that Christ has to reach maturity in the believer, grace to the ecclesial community.This is a never-ending process, a gift and a duty, as God claims His gift, establishing thus the relationship gift – Gift-giver- the one who receives the gift, the believer becoming in turn a gift-giver: “let us commit ourselves and one another and our whole life to Christ our God”^[64].

Father professor Vasile Mihoc identifies in the above Pauline text the third aspect of the maternal metaphor (after the love and the care for them), the painful process of birth:

“Christ’s formation in us is a slow and continuous process in which the Apostle has an irreplaceable role.  Staint Paul said that he suffers «again» the pain of birth «until Christ be formed in you»”^[65].

The verb morphousthai (the passive form of morphoo) means “to be modeled,” “to receive a predetermined form”.  The expression mechris ou found in Gal 4:19 indicates not only the moment of completion of this process of spiritual growth, but its duration and continuity as well, and therefore we can translate this expression in “as long as”^[66].

Becoming a Christian is described in terms specific to the process of birth, its scope being the formation of Christ in us, or in other words, to grant us the form of the Church, His Body, to which the whole of mankind is called to be a member. According to Staint Paul, Christ lives in Christians: “Christ liveth in me”(Gal 2:20); “Christ is in you” (Rom 8:10; 2Cor 13:5); „Christ in you” (Col 1:27); “Christ is all, and in all” (Col 3:11)  He lives in their hearts: “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith” (Eph 3:17)^[67]. There is no danger of confusion between Christ, Head of the Church and Christians, body of the Church, a fact stated clearly by Fr. Staniloae^[68].

Saint Cyril of Alexandria identifies Christ’s role as head of the body with the role of a begetter who rose to the deified, having in Himself the power to pull all men to Him and conform them to His likeness. It is a beginning, a principle, with the power to reach full potential; Christ was appointed Head, beginning (Arche) of those who form (anamorphoumenon) themselves through Him into incorruptibility through sanctification in the Spirit^[69].

Saint Gregory of Nyssa writes that Christ made the Church His body, and through the adding of those who are saved the Church is built in love, until all of us will become perfect, at the measure of the fulfilled age of Christ (Eph 4:13). If, therefore, the Church is the body (soma) of Christ, and Head (Kephale) of the body is Christ, Who forms (morphon) the face of the Church ( tes Ekklesias to prosopon) with His own likeness ( to idio charakteri), the hearts of the friends of the Groom, looking upon this, were stolen (they fell in love – ekardiothesan), for now they see clearer the unseen One^[70]. It means that the Church (the saints, the first christians were called saints) has (have) the same beauty (form), i.e. light, as Christ has.

Altgough  the verb morphoo appears just once in the New Testament, some derivatives of it can be found^[71].

2.2.1 The Church bestows a unique form - morphen and divine nomination to everyone altogether, througk the Holy Mysteria  

Fr. professor Dumitru Stăniloae uses the phrase the form of the Church  a number of times in his Teologia Dogmatică Ortodoxă^[72]. It is possible that the expression “the form of the Church” to come  from Saint Maximus the Confessor  who, in turn was inspired by the Christological hymn in the Epistle to the Philippians.  Saint Maximus designates man’s new status of sonship of God, as the new relationship (schesis) that substitutes for the old relationship of cause and effect, taking up the Pauline term morphe. The slave form taken by Adam (as a consequence of sin) is replaced by the Church, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, with the form and vocation (prosegorian) unique to the filial relationship of man and God, which is also the second birth (anaghenomenon) and the new creation (anademiourgoumenon). All this is possible  through the Son of God, Who assumed our “form” in its fallen state, to restore our sonship, the new creation (2Cor 5:17) which is the Church, through the Baptism  in the Holy Spirit^[73].

In the same way (tropon) the Holy Church of God shows itself doing the same things with us as God, imitating Him, as an icon (eikon) imitates its model  (arhetypo). Countless numbers of people are part of her and are reborn (anagennomenon) and recreated in the Spirit  (anademiurgomenon to pnevmati): men, women and children, different in kind and look, by kin and tongue, by life, age, opinion, trade, mores and ability, by knowledge and occupation, by fate, character and habit. But to all of them the Church gives a single form and deified name (morphen kai prosegorian), meaning the existence and name from Christ; and a single and undivided relation through faith, simple and without partiality, without letting the many and countless relations of each one be known, not even as existing, because of the universal concentration and rapport of all to her.

Fr. Staniloae underlines the fact that

“all the statements of the blessed Apostle Paul pertaining to the death, resurrection, transfiguration of man,  imprinting and clothing  him in Christ, as ethical-ontological moments are recalled in the rite of Baptism.  …Through this participation  in the crucified and resurrected Christ, the baptized take on the form of Christ, or become co-bearers of the form of Christ (symmorphoi). Their new form is the form of Christ imprinted in them, and through this in the Church”^[78].

Fr. Staniloae outlined that

At Baptism, the candidate asks of God the following: “Give me clothing of light, O One Who are clothed in light as with a cloth.”  St. Paul writes: “…And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image (kat’eikona, secundum imaginem) of Him that created him.” (Col 3:10). Here the “image” is the equivalent of “eikon” insofar it refers to the creation of the human being. Adam was not naked before sin, much less the one who lives “the life in Christ”. Fr. Staniloae said that the human body of Christ shines with the endless spiritual beauty of purity, kindness and wisdom of God, who restores and uplifts the wonderful human spirituality.This  radiance shines from Christ upon the souls and bodies of those united with Him, forming the Church^[88].           

Saint Basil the Great writes that through Baptism we are formed after our inner man in conjunction with Christ, in the measure of His incarnation, meaning the measure of His assumed humanity modeled by His Godliness^[89].  We become like Christ on a spiritual basis through His Spirit’s work in us. This transformation consists in becoming spiritual, “transforming our way of being,  thanks to the strengthening of our inner selves through the Holy Spirit” (ton tropon metaschematisthentes dia tou krataiothenai Pnevmati ton eso anthropon)^[90]. Saint Basil continues:

“Whoever receives from someone the right form of faith (ten morphosin tes eusebeias), is somewhat shaped by that someone (diaplattetai par autou) and is brought to perfection by his mentor, just like a child  (to brephe) formed in the womb of the mother. That is  why Saint Paul refers to the whole Galatian church as sons (tekna), fallen from the first teaching and somewhat aborted. Saint Paul took them again (analambon) and formed (morphon) Christ in them, from above (anothen)”^[91].

Fr. Stăniloae quotes Saint Cyril of Alexandria saying that “all who are in the body of Christ, having Him as Head, ‘are formed’ (anamorphoumenon) through Him toward incorruptibility”^[92]. To explain the text from Exodus 21: 22-23, Saint Cyril states that the fruit and offspring of the mind is faith in Christ, who models us through perfect knowledge (anaplattousa) again according to Him and forms us according to the divine type (eis theion diamorphousa typon). This being said, believers  cry out with Isaiah: “We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen” (Isaiah 26,18). And the divine Paul told those who foolishly fell from full knowledge to the lowest, partial level of knowing, meaning the Galatians: “My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you.” (Gal 4:19) Having begun  in the spirit, they sought perfection in the body, subjecting themselves to the law.  Therefore they did not accomplish the formation (morphosin) of Christ’s form in the fullest, rejecting the good seed laid in them as in a womb. Thus progress in knowledge and purity in faith leads, in all our souls, to the formation  (morphosin) of Christ’s form”^[93]. Fr. Staniloae explains:

“Christ’s form takes shape slowly in us, as the embryo in the womb…  like a seed at first, it takes clearer form as we  come to know Him better, and our being is imprinted with virtues through which  it imitates Him”^[94].

This  imprinting refers to the seal of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. 

Saint Ambrose of Milan compares the clothing received at the Baptism with the clothing of Christ on Mount Tabor.

“Christ transfigured reveals humanity  perfect and  sinless, not naked but clothed in snow-white cloth, the uncreated light of Divine Glory”^[95]. 

If the divine form refers, as we have shown, to Christ’s “clothing,” the baptized also receives this, though not in the sense of a human or pantheist autonomy. Christ dwells in the baptized, and implicitly gives them His own form. They reach full brightness as they fulfill the commandments. If Christ is hidden in us from the very moment of Baptism, as stated by Saint Mark the Ascete, He grows with our advance in spiritual life, as we grow in the intimacy of the Holy Spirit, and begins to radiate in the saint. It is not the saint who radiates, like Christ transfigured on Mount Tabor, nor does the saint somehow reflect  the radiance of Christ,  rather it is Christ Himself Who radiates in the saint. This is  what it means to see the divine Light - something very different from an exterior, impersonal phenomenon. Here is the third step of apophatic knowledge, supreme knowledge of God, the foretaste of everlasting life in His Light of unending epektasis.

3. From πνευ̃μα δουλείας to Πνευ̃μα υίοθεσία, spiritum adoptionis filiorum (Rom 8:15) – adoptive baptismal υίοθεσία

Whereas the Saint Evangelists, Matthew and Luke show us our Lord Jesus Christ’s genealogy as man^[96], describing to us how He, the One Who had been born from the Father “before all ages”, was born from a human being, from the Virgin Mary, the Saint Apostle and Evangelist John describes us how a human being can be born by God’s will. It is so remarkable to think how delicately God works with the human being, nothing is forced, amazing, artificial in this work. First the human, the Virgin Mary accepts to bear God in body, so that afterwards, God might bear the human in water and in the Holy Sprit. First the man, Joseph, adopts the Son of God made human, so that afterwards the human being consecrated by baptism to be adopted by God; He comes to us first, in the most delicate and most exquisite imaginable way, as an innocent baby in a manger in Bethleem for us to be able to most naturally come closer to Him, and, receiving Him, to be ourselves received by God; „ but to all who received Him, who believed in his name, He gave power to become children of God (tekna Theou genesthai), who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13).        

Our Saviour Jesus Christ reveals the mystery of this birth from God to Nicodemus^[97]: „Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God”(John 3:3). As Nicodemus was baffled by such a statement, Jesus explained him: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (3:5). In the prologue of the fourth Gospel (1:13), the birth “from (or in) God” is named in chapter III, birth “from above” ( v.3 şi 7), birth “from water and Holy Spirit”(v.5) or birth “in the Holy Spirit” (v.6 si 8). In this wonderful work, God is the one who gives birth and we are the ones who are born. Saint Jacob says: “the Father of lights…gave us birth to His own will through the Word of Truth, so that we could be the beginning to his own creatures” (1:17-18). Saints Apostles Peter and Paul also refer to this godly birth:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy we have been born anew (anagennesan) to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” (1Pt 1:3); „You have been born anew, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God”(1Pt 1:23); „He saved us, not because of deeds done by us in righteousness, but in virtue of his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration  (dia loutrou palingenesias) and renewal in the Holy Spirit, which he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior” (Tit 3:5-6).

The second birth, the birth in God comes about through the Holy Baptism. Jesus Christ did not receive Saint John’s baptism to cleanse Himself, but to consecrate the waters, to entirely unify the vivifying power of the Holy Spirit - the Lord and Giver of life - with the water. By the Holy Baptism, through the water that is consecrated by the descent (parousia) of the Holy Spirit, the candidate is born again as a wonderful creature bearing the seal of the holy gifts. That is why praising the God as Creator and anticipating that which will happen to the one coming for illumination, the priest marvels and says: “Great You are God, and great are Your workings, no word can suffice to praise Your wonders!”

The interpretation of υίοθεσία in Gal 4:5 also applies to the closely parallel passage of Rom8. Here, too, participation in the messianic Son of God by adoption is so integrally connected with the reception of the indwelling Spirit that the Spirit is called the Πνευ̃μα υίοθεσία (v.15), the Holy Spirit by Whom also the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled (v.4). Rom 8 containes elements of the Exodus typology, and divine adoptive sonship implies heirship with Christ in the Abrahamic promise (v.17). In the conclusion of the section dedicated to Rom 8, James M. Scott noted that despite the attempts to minimize or deny one aspect or another, Rom 8 contains both present and future aspects of υίοθεσία which are related as successive modes of participating in the sonship of the messianic Son of God by means of the Spirit^[101]. In the present aspect believers receive the Spirit of  υίοθεσία through Baptism and the continuous renewal of the baptismal gifts by means of an authentic Christian life, called by Symeon the New Theologian, Baptism in the Holy Spirit. The reference to the  Baptism is presupossed in Rom 8 (e.g. v.1:„There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”; v2.: „for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death”), also because Rom 6 is a clear description of it. In the eschatological aspect of υίοθεσία (v.23), believers, who already have the indwelling Spirit as the means of ressurection (v.11), participate in Jesus’ resurrection to the messianic Son of God in power (Rom 1:4) when Christ comes at Parousia (Rom 8:29), and they enter into the Abrahamic inheritance of universal sovereignty with the Son (Rom 4:13; 8:17,32), the Firstborn among many brothers (8:29). Here again, the influence of 2 Sam 7:14 can be felt, for the Spirit-mediated resurrection/adoption of the Son (Rom 1:4), which is proleptic to that of the sons, is interpreted in light of the promise of divine adoption in Nathan’s prophecy^[102].

Human beings are virtually sons and daughters of God, but actually they are recognised as such at the Holy Mysterion of Baptism, when they become brothers with Christ and therefore His Father becomes their Father too^[103] and His Mother becomes their Mother too, and they are really brothers and sisters.

To conclude I would like to invite you to reflect more upon the process of receiving the form of Christ through Baptism, Christmation and Holy Communion, and upon baptismal уίοθεσία, because I consider them to be essential for the Orthodox Soteriology, for the spiritual life and for the ecumenical dialogue, the more they are almost ignored in the document “Baptism, Eucharist, Ministry”^[104].

• In his contribution at the 3nd Consultation on Ecclesiology organized by CEC and CPCE, Phanar, 2006, professor Hans-Peter Grosshans pointed out that “the word mysterion used in the Eastern churches still has elements of its original meaning in ancient religion in its Christian usage... But in the Western churches this emphasis on the obligatory character of the sacraments for believers pushed too far into the background what the word mysterion really expresses: the self-communication of the triune God in these sacred actions”(p.4).„Each mystery is directly rooted in Christ. Christ himself is the primordial mystery (John 1:1-18), and the very celebrant of all the mysteries. The Orthodox Church uses the Greek word mysterion, instead of sacrament, to denote the divinely instituted rites which manifest and communicate sanctifying divine grace. The word mysterion essentially means anything hidden or incomprehensible. It has been applied by the Church to the essential beliefs and doctrines of the faith and appears several times in Holy Scripture; its chief meaning is linked to the hidden and secret will of God related to the salvation of the world, now manifest in Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word (Logos). And since the Church is to proclaim that mystery and communicate it to the people, the essential acts by which she is accomplishing this are also called mysteries. Through all these acts we are made participants and beneficiaries of the great mystery of salvation accomplished by Jesus Christ”,  Rev. Alciviadis C. Calivas, Th.D. „The sacramental life of the orthodox church”, on http://www.goarch.org/en/ourfaith/articles/article7106.asp.  In this presentation we shall deliberately  use the term mysterion, not the term  sacrament.[2] Thomas F.Best & Dagmar Heller (ed.) Becoming a Christian. The Ecumenical Implications of Our Common Baptism, Faith and Order Paper no.184, WCC Publications, Geneva, 1999, p.1. This book records the reflection and experience of some twenty Christians – liturgists, theologians, church musicians, pastors – who gathered  at a Faith and Order consultation held in Faverges, France, in 1997, to struggle with the implications of our personal identity as Christians, for the churches and for the ecumenical movement.[3] Ibidem, p.3, passage quoted from the Worship Book of Santiago Conference, p.12[4] Ibidem[5] Rev. Alciviadis C. Calivas, The Sacramental Life …[6] Grigorios Larentzakis, “Baptism and the Unity of the Churches. Orthodox Views”, paper presented at the 3nd Consultation on ecclesiology between CEC and CPCE, Phanar, 2006, p.5[7] Gordon Lathrop, „The Water that Speaks. The Ordo of  Baptism and its Ecumenical Implications” in Thomas F.Best & Dagmar Heller (ed.) Becoming a Christian p.13. In the introduction of this presentation I  rely a lot on this study.[8] Saint Ignatius, To the Romans 7:1b, 2b-3; Greek text in Kirsoop Lake, The Apostolic Fathers, vol.1, Cambridge, Harvard UP, 1959, p.234[9] Gordon Lathrop, „The Water that Speaks”, p.13[10] Ibidem, p.15[11] Saint Justin the Martyr and Philosopher, I  Aplogy 61-67, PG 6:420-432[12] Gordon Lathrop, „The Water that Speaks”, p.19[13] Didache, VII; English translation in : The Early Christian Fathers, edited and translated by Henry Bettenson, Oxford University Press, 1999, p.50[14] Gordon Lathrop, „The Water that Speaks”, p.20[15] The word fasting was added by „other ancient authorities”, according to: Nestle-Aland,  Greek-English New Testament, Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1994, footnote i, p.119[16] As it is outlined by Saint Paul in the epistle to the Romans (6:3-11), text read during the office of Baptism : “(…)all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his (…).  So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus”. The boy was “like a corpse; so that most of them said, «He is dead»”.[17] The Orthodox text of Baptism on: http://www.goarch.org/chapel/liturgical_texts[18] Grigorios Larentzakis, “Baptism and the unity…” p.4[19] I shall use here available resources e.g.: http://www.goarch.org/en/ourfaith; http://www.3saints.com/baptism.html[20] Alexander Schmemann For the Life of the World,  New York,1997, p.13[21] “Sovereign Lord and Master, God of our Fathers, Who did send to them in the Ark of Noah a dove bearing a twig of olive in its beak as a sign of reconciliation and salvation from the Flood, and through these things prefigured the Mystery of Grace; and thereby have filled them that were under the. Law with the Holy Spirit, and perfected them that are under Grace: do You Yourself bless this Oil by the power (+) and operation (+) and descent of the Holy Spirit (+) that it may become an anointing of incorruption, a shield of righteousness, a renewal of soul and body, and averting of every operation of the devil, to the removal of all evils from them that are anointed with it in faith, or that are partakers of it”[22] Preotul Profesor Dumitru Stăniloae, Teologia Dogmatică Ortodoxă, [from now on we shall use for the footnotes: TDO] Bucureşti, 2003, p.35-39[23] See the fascinating documentary about the water on:  http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2933349021550318008&hl=ro[24] The prayer of the consecration of the water is also a hymn addressed to the Creator of all.[25] Pere Cyrille Argenti,  „La Chrismation”, in Contacts, no.2 (118)/1982)[26] Ibidem, p.115[27] Ibidem, 99[28] Edmond Chavaz, Foyers chretiens, Lyon, 1981, no.50, p.12, quoted by Pere Cyrille Argenti, op.cit., 119-120 [29] This idea is outlined in the prayer before the Chrismation, „Blessed are You, Lord God Almighty, Fountain of Blessings, Sun of Righteousness, Who made to shine forth for those in darkness a light of salvation through the manifestation of Your Only-Begotten Son and our God, granting unto us, though we are unworthy, blessed cleansing in Holy Water, and divine sanctification in the Life; effecting Anointing; Who now also has been well-pleased to regenerate this Your servant newly illuminated through Water and Spirit, giving him (her) forgiveness of his (her) voluntary and involuntary sins: do You Yourself, Sovereign Master, Compassionate King of All, bestow upon him (her) also the  Seal of Your omnipotent and adorable Holy Spirit, and the Communion of the Holy Body and Most Precious Blood of Your Christ; keep him (her) in Your sanctification; confirm him (her) in the Orthodox Faith; deliver him (her) from the Evil One and all his devices; preserve his (her) soul, through Your saving fear, in purity and righteousness, that in every work and word, being acceptable before You, he (she) may become a child and heir of Your heavenly Kingdom. For You are our God, the God of Mercy and Salvation, and to You do we send up Glory, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and to the ages of ages”.[30] It is important to note that the blessing „through the hand of” the celebrant so that the newly baptized be “visited”  with the Holy Spirit”, is preserved, even if the Chrismation has already took place: “O Lord our God, Who through the fulfillment of the baptismal Font have, by Your Goodness, sanctified them that believe in You: (+) do You bless this child here present, and may Your blessings come down upon his (her) head; as You did bless the head of Your servant David the King through the Prophet Samuel, (+) so also bless the head of this servant (Name), through the hand of me, the unworthy Priest, visiting him (her) with Your Holy Spirit, that as he (she) goes forward to the prime of his (her) years, and the gray hairs of old age, he (she) may send up Glory to You, beholding the good things of Jerusalem all the days of his (her) life. For to You are due all glory, honor and worship, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and to the ages of ages”. The final doxology is addressed to the Holy Trinity, because the human being is “imago Trinitatis”.[31] Mikron Euchologion, e Agiasmatarion, Ekdosis, Apostolikes Diakonias tes Ekklesias tes Ellados, en Athenais, 1962, p. 71[32] Gaspar Martinez, Confronting the Mystery of God .Political, Liberation, and Public Theologies (Continuum, New York, London,2002). The author notes that David Tracy replaced the former Christian christocentrism by theocentric christomorphism, „in other words, the Christian God, the very centre of Christianity, can only be the rendered through the Christ form”. (p.235). One can say that the opposite is also true, i.e. for God, the human being can totaly be rendered only when he (she) received the form of Christ, his beauty (see infra).[33] http://www.goarch.org/en/ourfaith; http://www.3saints.com/baptism.html[34] Mikron Euchologion, e Agiasmatarion, Ekdosis, Apostolikes Diakonias tes Ekklesias tes Ellados, en Athenais, 1962, p. 71[35] Panayiotis Nellas, Deification in Christ. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1987.[36] Markus Bockmuehl, “The Form of God” (Phil. 2,6) Variation on a theme of Jewish Mysticism”, in: The Journal of Theological Studies, New series, April 1997, vol. 48, part 1, Oxford[37] Gerhard Kittel, Theological Dictionary of New Testament, translator and editor Geoffrey W. Bromiley, D. Litt., D.D. vol. IV, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1969, p.742[38] Ibidem, p.743, 744.[39] Anthony Flew,  Dicţionar de filosofie şi logică, Ed. Humanitas, 1996, p.145[40] J.B.Lightfoot, Saint Paul’s Epistle To The Philippians,  London, 1888, p.127-132[41] R.P.Martin, Carmen Christi, Philippians 2,5-11.  In recent Interpretation and in the setting of Early Christian Worship, Cambridge, 1967, p. 100.[42] Rev. Marvin R. Vincent, D.D., Critical and exegetical Commentary of the Epistles to the Philippians and to Philemon, Edinburgh, 1955, p. 79-80[43] Ibidem, p.82[44] Heriban Josef, Retto kai phronesis. Studio Exegetico su Filip. 2,1-5; 6-11, LAS Roma, 1983, p.234[45] J.B.Lightfoot, Saint Paul’s Epistle To The Philippians, p. 110[46] R.P.Martin, Carmen Christi, p. 108, 116[47] Peter O’Brien, The Epistle to the Philippians. A Commentary on the Greek Text,  Michigan, 1991, p. 263, 264[48] Gerald F. Hawthorne, Philippians, World Biblical Commentary, Vol. 43, Word Books, Texas, 1983, p. 82[49] Heriban Josef, Retto kai phronesis, p. 237[50] D. Steenburg, The Case Against the Synonymy of Morphe and Eikon, JSNT 34, 1988, p. 77-86[51] M. R. Vincent, Critical and exegetical Commentary p. 81[52] Gerhard Kittel, Theological Dictionary of New Testament, p. 749[53] Dumitru Staniloae, Iisus Hristos Llumina lumii si Îndumnezeitorul omului, Ed. Anastasia, Bucureşti, 1993, p. 201[54] A. D. A. Moses, „Matthew’s Transfiguration Story and Jewish Christian Controversy”, in Journal for the Study of the New Testament, Supplement Series 122, 1996, p. 120[55] F. F. Bruce, The Epistle of Paul to the Galatians, Exeter, 1982, p. 123 states that this word was used for the Apostles Peter,  James and John, and after the martyrdom of the second his place was taken by Saint  James, the brother of the Lord.[56] Ps.-Philo 12,1; Memar Marqah 4,8; 6,9; Asatir 9,22[57] Ginzberg, The legend of the Jews, vol. I, p. 8-9; G. C. Nicholson, Death as Departure: The Johannine Descent-Ascent Scheme; SBLDS63, Atlanta, Scholars Press, 1983, p. 91-98; E. Haenchen, John I: A Commentary on the Gospel of John Chapters 1-6, Philadelphia, Fortress Press, 1930, p. 204, at A. Moses, „Matthew’s Transfiguration Story and Jewish Christian Controversy”, p. 122[58] A. Moses, „Matthew’s Transfiguration Story and Jewish Christian Controversy”, p. 121, 122[59] The dominant concept in Saint Maxims the Confessor’s understanding of Christ’s Transfiguration, and indeed his entire theological “system”, is that of man’s deification.  The Transfiguration is correlated to the deification of the human nature of the Logos, and thus our own deification.  St. Maximum’s teaching on Christ transfigured on Tabor has two key points: first that of the deified humanity of Christ, and second the knowable manifestation of His Deity.  Both elements are evidenced in his treaty on the Dionisian expression “visible theophany” – tes orates autou theophaneias (De Divinis Nominibus, 1.4, p.g. 3, 592 BC, at Christopher Veniamin, The Transfiguration of Christ in Greek Patristic Literature from Irenaeus of Lyon to Gregory Palama, mss, doctorate thesis, Oxford 1991, p.186)in which St. Maximus declares that the term visible pertains to the sight of Christ’s “Holy body” – to theion autou soma or “his animated body” – he empsychomene sarx.  He then contrasts the visible theophany with what he calls the “noetic” theophany (i.e. the intelligible revelation of Christ’s divinity, received through the mind – intellect- nous) corresponding to the noetic illumination described by St. Dionisius – tes noetes autou photodosias.[59]  However, in this life noetic theophany can be experienced only partially, only in the next life will we have a deeper understanding through the mind (intellect) – hetis kata noun estai hemin methekte tote teleioteros.   Yet even in eschaton God will remain  beyond the grasp of the human mind.  God’s supreme lack of intelligibility is the existential difference between creature – he ktisis and uncreated God – aktistion, between finite – hoi peperasmenoi and infinite – to apeiron.  Nevertheless even in this life, man has a calling to participate in a noetic and intelligible way (with all his being) to God.  On Mount Tabor the three Apostles, because of their eagerness in virtue – di’ aretes epimeleian – had achieved the cleansing of their spiritual and physical senses – te enallage ton kat’aisthein energion, through the Grace of the Holy Spirit – en autous to pneuma energese.  The three moved from body to spirit, before leaving this earthly life.  This happened through the cleansing of their senses, caused by the Holy Spirit, lifting the veil of sin from their intellect (nous) – perielon tes an autois noeras dynameos ton pathon ta kalymmata. Through the cleansing of the spiritual and physical senses the Apostles are taught to know the spiritual reasons of the sacraments shown to them – ton paradeichthenton autois mysterion tous pneumatikous ekpaideuontai logous(Liber Ambiguorum 10, 1125D-1128A).             The presence of the Sanctifier effects a change in the senses of the Apostles – not a natural one but one above nature, through which the “ veil of passion” was lifted from their “power of understanding.”  Therefore, as Saint Gregory Palamas later demonstrates, there is no contradiction between the light on Tabor (seen by ascetics too) and the ability of bodily eyes to see it.  Ordinarily human eyes are blind to it, but the Grace of the Holy Spirit transforms them.[60] „The Tomos of Mount Athos in Defense of the Hesychasts”, written by Saint Gregory Palamas and signed by all the leading Athonites in 1340-1; in Filocalia VII, Bucureşti, 1977, p. 418-419[61] Saint Maxims the Confessor, Capita theologica et oeconomica I, 97, P. G. 90,  1121C-1124A[62] Idem, Quastiones et dubia 190 (CCSG 10, 131, 6-12), at C. Veniamin, op. cit., p. 193[63] G. Kittel, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, p.753[64] From the Divine Liturgy[65] Pr.Prof.Dr.Vasile Mihoc,  Epistola Sfântului Pavel către Galateni, Bucureşti, 1983, p.170[66] Ibidem[67] A bibliography on this theme on: http://www.christinyou.net/pdfs/unionwithchrist.pdf[68] “The unity Christ–Church does not imply a transformation of the Church into Christ.  The humanity of the believer, however deified, is not transformed into Christ – the Head of the Church.  The Head, whilst having a human, personal aspect, is God in nature.  The religious humanity of the believer never becomes a constituent part of the Head, as His personal human aspect, but remains “body” of the Head.  It is never united hypostatically with the One who is God by nature, but believers assume His uncreated works through the energies pouring out of Him, not the hypostatic aspect or His being.  The relation Christ – Church cannot be likened in a strict sense with the relation seed – plant, because the seed loses its existence in becoming a plant, whereas Christ remains always a spring which cannot be confused with the Church”-  Fr. D. Stăniloae, Autoritatea Bisericii, Studii Teologice (Bucureşti), 3-4, 1964, p. 186. In a conversation with  Rev. Dr. John B. Webster from Christ Church College, Oxford,  I had the occasion – after a short presentation  of Fr. Stăniloae’s expression the „form of the Church” – to observe a reserved attitude caused only by the unexpressed concern of confusing Christ with the Church, and he recommended that I read as soon as possible two of his studies: Christology, Imitability and Ethics, Scottish Journal of Theology, Vol. 39, p. 309-326; and  The Imitation of Christ, The Tyndale Biblical Theology Lecture, 1985, in Tyndale Bulletin 37, 1986, p. 96-119; likewise, Gene Outka, Following at a distance: ethics and the identity of Jesus, in the volume Scriptural authority and Narrative Interpretation edited by Garret Green, Fortress Press Philadelphia, 1987, p. 145-160, in which the absolute distance between Christ and believer is shown, suggested by the famous expression “imitatio Christi,” versus the expression “life in Christ” and the words in the title of the work last cited: following at a distance[69] Giovanni Domenico Mansi, Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, Florence-Venice, t. IV, Col 804[70] Saint Gregory of Nyssa, In Canticum Canticorum, hom.8, vol. VI, Jaeger edition, edited by H.Langerbeck, Leiden 1962[71]          Rom 8: 29 “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son – symmorphous tes eikonos tou Yiou autou, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” Here is evidenced the distinction between eikon and morphe, and we can deduce the synonymy between likeness and form.Phil 3:10  “That I may know him, and the power – dynamin of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto His death.”  - koinonian [ton] pathematon autou, symmorphizomenos to thanato auto.Here the accent is on the two subjects in the accusative – dynamin and koinonian.  Saint Paul wishes to have part of the Lord’s passion so that he could know the power of His resurrection better.The word symmorphizomenos is in the passive, indicating that he is conformed to the likeness of Christ’s death through the work of the Holy Spirit, and that he could not have been conformed on his own. The present tense indicates the continuity of the process of conformation to Christ’s death.  The future tense is not used, as it would have placed the accent on the “kingdom to come,” nor the past tense, which would have suggested the moment of baptism, which is just the beginning of the aforementioned process.Christ’s death as a metaphor for incorporation, is the most appropriate interpretation of this text, fitting in with the Pauline teaching on Christ’s death and resurrection.  Even if the apostle talks about the Christian’s union with Christ in His death as a past occurrence (Rom 6: 4-6; Gal 2:19; Col 2: 20; 3:3), the verb gegonamen in Rom 6:5 (Gal 2:19) indicates that this past event continues to have effects in the present, and symmorphizomenos in Phil. 3, 10 shows those effects: Saint Paul, who was united with Christ in His death on the cross, continues to be conformed to that death because he partakes of Christ’s suffering.  The decisive break from the old age of sin and death must be reaffirmed perpetually: “For if you live after the flesh, you shall die: but if you through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live.” (Rom. 8, 13).“Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” (Col 3: 5)  That Christ’s death is an ever present reality is shown by the text in Phil. 3: “Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ” (v. 8; cf. 2 Cor. 4, 7-10).  It is clear that it is about epektasis: “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the LORD. – metamorphoumeta apo doxes eis doxes kathaper apo kyriou pnevmatos.” (2Cor.3,18)Rom 12:2: “And be not conformed –  me syschematizeste to this world: but be ye transformed- metamorphousthe by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”  The Christian must reach the point where he has the “mind – nous of Christ.” (I Cor. 2,16)Phil 3:21: “Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. – hos metaschematisei to soma tes tapeinoseos hemon symmorphon to somati tes doxes auto…”This passage recalls Phil 2:5-11: symmorphon recalls morphe, and metaschematisei recalls schema.  The reference to vileness tapeinoseos recalls the verb etapeinosen, and likewise the words doxa and panta, and the expression kyrios Iesous Christos.The Jews thought that the resurrection was a simple restoration of the earthly body.  Pauline teaching includes an organic link with the present body, but not its resurrection.  The new body is not identical with the present body.  There will be a change of substance, but not the destruction of personal identity.[71]Symmorphon to somati tes doxes autou – the effect of this wonderful transformation is that believers will be conformed to “His glorified body.”  This conformity is not apparent.  If metaschematisei indicates a change of the exterior aspect, symmorphon indicates a profound interior change, due to the presence of Christ through the Holy Spirit.Our vile body will be changed and conformed – symmorphon to His glorified body.  St. Paul uses here, as in 2Cor. 8, 9; 5,21; Gal 3:13; 4:4 the idea of “becoming”: the Son of God became one of us so that we might become what He is.  The power of God will transform us so that we might be in conformity with Him, to become like Him[71], in the sense that the righteous will shine in the Kingdom of heaven “as the Sun” (Matt 17:2), but like the sun – Christ, with an uncreated light.The bodies of the righteous, in the future life, will have the same heavenly order, will partake of the condition of the Lord’s resurrected and glorified body, bodies that are not antithetical to the pnevma, but on the contrary, are spiritual.  “And as we have borne the image of the earthy – ten eikona tou choikou, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly – ten eikona tou epouraniou (1 Cor15:49)”.[72] E.g.: „The work of salvation whose groundwork was laid in the human nature of Christ was fulfilled in the form of the Church, which is our union with God and each other” (TDO2,206);  „The Church remains the domain in which the Revelation is relevant and through which is vouchsafed the saving grace of Christ through the Holy Spirit, as a domain in which some ask for and receive Christ and grow in Him and conform to His model” (TDO1,68).[73] Alain Riou, Le monde et l’Eglise selon Maxime le Confesseur, Ed. Beauchesne Paris, 1973, p.142.[74] Ibidem, p. 135, 136[75] Saint Maximus the Confessor, Mystagogia, 664C P.G. 91, translated into Romanian by Fr. Dumitu Staniloae, in Revista Teologica (Sibiu), no. 3-4, 1944, p.170; Mystagogia tou Agiou Maximou tou Omologetou, Eisagoge – scholia protopresbyteros Demetrios Staniloae, Ekdoseis apostolikes diakonias tes Ekklesias tes Ellados, Athenai, 1973 –the parallel Greek and New-Greek of Mystagogia, edited, with the introduction and notes of Fr.D. Staniloae, by Panayotis Nellas, Athens, 1973[76] Ibidem,664D; parallel text cited, p. 107[77] A. Riou, Le monde et l’Eglise selon Maxime le Confesseur, p. 140[78] Dumitru Staniloae, Transparenţa Bisericii in viaţa sacramentală, in Ortodoxia , no. 4, 1970, p. 508[79] Molitfelnic, Bucureşti, 1972, p. 32[80] Mikron Euchologion, e Agiasmatarion,  Athenais, 1962, p. 71[81] P. Nellas, Omul – animal indumnezeit, Sibiu, 1994, p. 86-87[82] Saint Nicolas Cabasila, De vita in Christo, PG 150, Lib. II, 525A, 537D, at P. Nellas, Omul – animal indumnezeit, p. 87[83] Ibidem , Lib. IV, 600B, at P. Nellas, Omul – animal indumnezeit, p. 85[84] P. Nellas, Omul – animal indumnezeit, p. 87[85] Fr. Pr. D. Staniloae, „Transparenta Bisericii…”, p. 514[86] Idem, TDO2, p. 218 [87] Genesis 3:21: “And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins, and clothed them”; which means the mortality but also the possibility to survive bodily after the sin.[88] Fr. D. Staniloae, „Transparenta Bisericii...”, p. 514[89] Staint Basil the Great, De Baptismo, Lib. I; P.G. XXXI, 1553, at Fr. D. Staniloae, Transparenta Bisericii…, p. 508[90] Ibid., col. 1561[91] Staint Basil the Great, Hom. at Psalm 33, PG 29, 369A[92] Ibidem[93] Saint Cyril of Alexandria, De adoratione in Spiritu et veritate, PG 68, Lib. VIII, 545 D- 548 A[94] Ibidem[95] Saint Ambrose of Milan, De Myst. 34. The same idea appears at Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Hom, 1, In Can.Canticorum[96] Matt 1 & Lk 3[97] Pr.Prof.Dr. Vasile Mihoc, Predici exegetice la Duminicile de peste an, Sibiu, 2001, p.8[98] James M. Scott,  Adoption as Sons of God: An Exegetical Investigation into the Background of Уίοθεσία in the Pauline Corpus (WUNT, 2.48; Tübingen: Mohr (Paul Siebeck), 1992, p.175. This is a very well documented and elaborated doctoral thesis ( 353 p.), dealing with the greco-roman, Old Testamen/Jewish background and the pauline letters, an authentic reference to the very important theme of уίοθεσία- adoption as son[99] Ibidem p.267-268[100] Ibidem, p.268[101] Ibidem, p.265[102] Ibidem, p.266[103] „Our Father” is the only prayer tought us by Jesus Christ. It is true, as Charles M. Mead pointed out, that God the Father is in a very special sense called the Father of Jesus Christ. Whatever may be the meaning of the passages which speak of this relation, it is clear that there is something unique in it. No one else is son to God in the same sense in which Jesus is. He is the Son, as no one else is; and God is his Father, as he is Father to no one else. In speaking to his disciples He calls God “your Father”; and in speaking of God he says “my Father, but He never associates Himself with his disciples, saying of God “our Father”. But God is also called Father of the redeemed, or the regenerate, as distinguished from men in general. In this sense of the word Christ calls God the Father of his followers ; and Paul says (Rom 8) that Christians have received the spirit of adoption, whereby they cry “Abba, Father” (Charles M. Mead,  “The Fatherhood of God”, in The American Journal of Theology, Vol. 1, No. 3. (Jul., 1897), pp. 577-600).[104] In this document, under the heading „The meaning of Baptism” we read: “ Baptism is the sign of new life through Jesus Christ. It unites the baptized one with Christ and with his people. The New Testament scriptures and the liturgy of the Church unfold the meaning of baptism in various images which express the riches of Christ and the gifts of his salvation. These images are sometimes linked with the symbolic uses of water in the Old Testament. Baptism is participation in Christ’s death and resurrection (Rom. 6:3–5; Col. 2:12); a washing away of sin (I Cor. 6:11); a new birth (John3:5); an enlightenment by Christ (Eph. 5:14); a re- clothing in Christ (Gal. 3:27); a renewal by the Spirit(Titus 3:5); the experience of salvation from the flood(I Peter 3:20–21); an exodus from bondage (I Cor. 10:1–2) and a liberation into a new humanity in which barriers of division whether of sex or race or social status are transcended (Gal. 3:27-28; I Cor. 12:13). The images are many but the reality is one”. The only reference is in the chapter dealing with“The Gift of the Spirit”: “The Holy Spirit is at work in the lives of people before, in and after their baptism. It is the same Spirit who revealed Jesus as the Son (Mark 1:10–11) and who empowered and united the disciples at Pentecost (Acts 2). God bestows upon all baptized persons the anointing and the promise of the Holy Spirit, marks them with a seal and implants in their hearts the first instalment of their inheritance as sons and daughters of God. The Holy Spirit nurtures the life of faith in their hearts until the final deliverance when they …….. enter into its full possession, to the praise of the glory of God (II Cor. 1:21—22; Eph. 1:13-14)”.
• The churches’ delegates at the Fifth World Conference on Faith and Order “affirmed and celebrated together «the increasing mutual recognition of one another’s baptism as the one baptism into Christ»”
• „Many churches are now emphasizing that baptism is baptism into Christ, not into this or that historic denomination. In baptism one becomes not a Methodist, Lutheran or Roman Catholic, but a Christian”
• This affirmation can be misleading because for us, Orthodox Christians, the Holy Mysterion of Baptism offers the Christian identity, but in the same time the Orthodox one. In the prayer of  Chrismation the celebrant prays that the Triune God would  “confirm him (her) in the Orthodox Faith”. In the Orthodox ordo, Baptism is not separated from the Chrismation. One cannot regard Baptism separate from the entire Church life, because the Baptism introduces the candidate in this very Church life. As Rev. Alciviadis C. Calivas noted:“Baptism unites the believer not only with Christ but with his people, the Church. One is baptized into the community of faith to share its life, its values, its vision. Baptism, by bringing us into the glorified life of Christ and making us part of his deified humanity, integrates us into the Church, His body, where dying and rising is daily experienced in ascetic discipline in the life of prayer and in the Eucharist”
• Professor Grigorios Larentzakis also outlined that through “Baptism and Christmation, the newly baptized person does not just become a Christian as an individual, but also becomes a member of a most intimate community through his or her life within the existential mysterium  ecclesiae”
• The Faith and Order Consultation which took place in Ditchingham, England, in 1994, explored the pattern or structure (the ordo) of Christian worship as increasingly a point of contact and common experience among many churches. Dealing with the ordo of Baptism and its ecumenical implications, Gordon Lathrop wrote from the beginning of his study that a sense of the meaning of Christian baptism and of the common shape of its practice throughout the world may be discovered in surprising places, for example in a classic text from the history of the Church which is not about baptism at all, but it “may disclose to us in clarity the vibrant importance of the basic pattern of baptizing” and about the Eucharist
• “Do not speak Jesus Christ yet set your heart upon the world…. My desire (eros) has been crucified and there is not in me any fire which feeds off material stuff (pyr philoulon), but rather there is water living and speaking in me, saying to me from within, «Come to the         Father!». I do not delight in the food of death nor the pleasure of this life. I want the bread of God, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ, descended from David, and I         want the drink             of his blood, which is deathless love (agape)”
• In this way Saint Ignatius describes the martyrdom „he expects and for which he longs, using the imagery of the central matters of the Christian community: the word of God, the water of new birth into the body of Christ, the love-feast of the Eucharist”
• Proclamation and conversion, the speaking water, the meal, such was the ordo of the making of Christians in Antioch. Gordon Lathrop added that“one was to live through this pattern repeatedly, not repeating the water-washing but listening to its «voice», acting on its invitation . Furthermore, although this ordo could be taken to reflect the practice which Ignatius would have known at Antioch, he could expect it to be understood at Rome: in these central matters the churches were at one.... The local church of Antioch is in communion with the local church in Rome”
• Going back to the „Ditchingam ordo”, this outlines the baptismal event as two things, „formation in faith” (which might include both „speaking Jesus Christ” and renounciation the ways of evil and death)  and „water-washing”, side by side, leading to a third thing, „participation in the life of the community”. The same pattern can be found in Saint Ingnatius’s words quoted above:proclamation, conversion, turning away from evil; the „speaking water”; the meal of God/witnes in the world.           Gordon Lathrop also quoted the text from Saint Justin the Martyr and Philosopher (+165), described as “the first full direct description which we possess of what happens in Christian baptism”:“We shall now also explain the way in which we dedicated ourselves as votive gifts to God, having been made new through Jesus Christ, lest in omitting this we should appear to do something wrong in our explanation. As many people as are persuaded, as believe     these things taught and spoken by us to be true, and as promise to try to live thus, are         taught to pray and ask God, while fasting for the forgiveness of sins, while we pray and fast together with them. Then they are led by us there where water is, and they are reborn      in the way of rebirth with which we ourselves were reborn. For then they do the washing      in the   water in the name of the Father and Lord God of all things and of our Saviour       Jesus Christ and of the Holy Spirit… And this washing is called illumination, since the understanding of those who learn these things is illuminated… But, after thus washing those who are persuaded and who assent, we lead them to          those who are called brothers and sisters, where they are assembled to make common prayer with strength for themselves and for those illuminated and forall others everywhere… When we have ended the prayers, we greet one another with a kiss. Then the brothers and sisters set out before the president bread             and a cup of mixted wine…. And for the rest we continually remind each other of these things. Those who have the means  help all those who are in want,        and we continually meet together. And over all that we take to eat we bless the Creator of all things through God’s Son Jesus Christ and through the Holy Spirit. And on the day          named after the sun, all, whether they live in the city or the            countryside, are gathered together in unity…”
• The pattern resulting from this text would be:     teaching the faith and enquiring about the conduct; praying and fasting of candidates and community; procession to the water; washing; procession to the place of community prayer;Eucharist; continual reminding, thhrough Sunday Eucharist and care of the poor
• From the probably earlier Syrian book: The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles (The Didache), we also find out the way in which the Baptism was performed:„Baptize thus: having first recited all these things, baptize «in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghoast», in running water. If you have no running water, baptize in other water; if you cannot baptize in cold water, use warm. If you have neither, pour water on the head thrice «in the name             of the Father, and the Son, and the   Holy Ghoast». Before baptism, the baptizer and baptized should fast, and others who can: and you must order the baptized to fast for a day or two”
• In this ancient writing, one  can find  a similar ordo:moral instruction (1:1-6:3) fasting and prayer (7:4-8; „before the Baptism”, 7:4);Baptism in the name of the Triune God,  in „living water” (7:1-3)Eucharist after Baptism (9-10); the life of the community, including reception of travelling teachers (11-13), giving to the poor (13:4), the every-Sunday Eucharist (14).„In fact, this primitive order for making a Christian ultimately becomes the order of the «catechumenate», known to us from many sources from the 3rd century on:enquiry about willingness to change conduct; hearing the gospel/teaching the words for faith; prayer (and fasting); washing; leading to the meal, to «mystagogy», the learning of the mysteries in which one was now participant; and to the resultant weekly assembly, witness and care for the poor”
• In the New Testament, although it is not a book of rituals, we can find references to the ordo of Baptism. For example the episode of the healing of a boy with an unclean spirit:„... And Jesus said to him, «If you can! All things are possible to him who believes». Immediately the father of the child cried out and said: «I believe; help my unbelief!». And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, «You dumb and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again». And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse; so that most of them said, «He is dead». But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, «Why could we not cast it out?». And he said to them, «This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer and  fasting
• ” (Mk.9:23-29).We can discern in this text most of the constitutive elements of the baptismal ordo:the explicit confession of faith in a wonderful, humble way: „I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mk.9,24); the exorcism done by Jesus Christ; the great importance of prayer and fast; death, rebirth, resurrection and a new life in Christ
• The founding of the first Christian community in the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) and its spiritual and community life implied the:preaching (“formation in faith”); reception of the message („they were cut to the heart”); repentance and conversion;Baptism for the forgiveness of sins; receiving of the Holy Spirit; formation in faith ( „they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching – te didahe ton apostolon, doctrina apostolorum); community life („fellowship – koinonia), agape carried out by the distribution of  goods to „all, as any had need”;Eucharist ( „breaking of bread – te klasei tou artou); prayers  (tais proseuhais).It is important to outline the close relation, from the begining of the Church, between the preaching (i.e. the word) and Holy Mysteria (Baptism, receiving of the Holy Spirit and Eucharist preceded by repentance - in the Orthodox Church the candidate receives the three mysteria in the same day -). In other words the Church was constituted by word (preaching) and mysteria.„Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, «Brethren, what shall we do?» And Peter said to them, «Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit»... „So those who received his word were baptized… And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching- te didahe ton Apostolon, doctrina Apostolorum and fellowship- te koinonia, communicatione, to the breaking of bread- te klasei ton arton, fractionis panis and the prayers- tais proseuhais, orationibus”(Acts 2).      In Acts 2:42 we find the four biblical foundations of the universal Church (the apostles' teaching- te didahe ton Apostolon, doctrina Apostolorum-, the fellowship - te koinonia, communicatione-, the breaking of bread- te klasei ton arton, fractionis panis- and the prayers- tais proseuhais, orationibus) in which the identity and integrity of the Church are expressed. The unity of the Church in the New Testament is a symphony of local churches with specific local elements, however they are in communion of faith, love and mysteria. Today we must observe the same pattern, because it is impossible to envisage an authentic unity of the Church without the common confession of the faith, followed by an authentic koinonia, the sharing of Holy Communion - communio in sacris and prayers for all (cf. 1Tim 2:1).Rom 6 is an explicit text regarding the meaning  of the Baptism: death, cleansing from sin, resurrection, new life. Saint Paul depends on the Christian baptism leading to the meal for his analogy with the crossing of the sea leading to eating the manna and drinking from the rock (1Cor10).         Gordon Lathrop also pointed out that if 1 Peter may be considered to be a baptismal catechesis and a church order, the order of making Christians is the same there too:proclamation of the resurrection and teaching about ethical transformation (1:3-21); purification (1:22) and “new birth” (1:23) communal love (1:23; 2:1) eating and drinking (2:2-3) participation in the community, royal priesthood, people of God (2:4-10) moral instruction (2:11sq.).As a conclusion we should outline that every Baptism into Christ is a participation in His Baptism (Mark 1:9-11 and parallels; although Jesus received Saint John the Baptist’s Baptism, what happened there – the immersion, the parousia of the Holy Spirit, and the voice of the Father - is a model for the Christian Baptism, because the entire oikonomia of salvation was accomplished for us), passions, death, resurrection and ascension. The candidate goes into the water with Christ, the Holy Spirit confers the gifts (in the Orthodox “rite of initiation” the Chrismation immediately follows the Baptism) and the voice of the Father calls the neophyte a beloved child ( i.e. the newly baptized is adopted by God the Father, baptismal уίοθεσία), a participant in the body of Christ by receiving for the first time the Holy Communion. The candidate is buried into the water together with Christ in order to be raised with Him and receive a new life.1. The Orthodox ordo of Baptism
• At the 3rd Consultation on ecclesiology between CEC and CPCE, Phanar, 2006, professor Grigorios Larentzakis affirmed that “Baptism in the Orthodox Church today has the same central significance as it had in the early church”
• and then presented the ordo of the Orthodox Baptism. We can find many explanations about the Baptism in the works of Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, Saint John Chrisostomos, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Saint Ambrose of Milan and Saint Nicolas Cabasilas.I would like to present briefly the significance of the baptismal ordo
• and then I shall call your attention on the baptismal adoption (υίοθεσία) by the Father, which is possible due to Christ who takes form in the candidate through the Holy Spirit.The term baptism comes from the Greek noun to baptisma which means immersion, the verb  baptidzo which means to dip, to place into a liquid, to dunk.  There are many prefigurations of the Baptism,  in the Old Testament, e.g.:the primordial water, the flood, circumcision, the crossing of the Red Sea, the water which burst out of the rock when Moses hit it with his crook (Exod 17,1-7), the crook envisaging the cross.         .The Orthodox Church has three rites for infants which are closely linked to Baptism. The first rite is for the mother and child on the first day of birth. In this rite the Church expresses her thanksgiving for the safe delivery of the mother and her joy at the appearance of a new life. Blessing the newborn infant the Church anticipates its new and second birth through water and the Spirit (John 3:5). A second rite is conducted on the eighth day after birth, when the newborn child receives its name from its parents. The child is given a Christian name as a sign of its new identity with the faith community. The third rite is conducted on the fortieth day after birth. The new-born child is to be brought to the Church in imitation of the New Testament event, when Saint Mary, the Theotokos, brought the infant Christ into the Temple to fulfill the requirements of the Law. On this day the mother is blessed and the infant “churches”, or is accepted as a peripheral member of the Church, until it is fully incorporated into her life through baptism.The first act of the baptismal service begins in the narthex (entrance) of the church. This is to show that the one being received is not yet a member of the Church. The purpose of baptism is to bring him into the Church. To enter into the temple of God is to be with Christ, to become a member of His body. The priest then calls upon the sponsor (or the candidate if he is adult) to renounce the devil and all his works for the child:“Do you renounce Satan, and all his angels, and all his works, and all his services, and all his pride?”Fr. Alexander Schmemann explains the meaning of this renunciation“The first act of the Christian life is a renunciation, a challenge. No one can be Christ’s until he has, first, faced Evil, and then become ready to fight it…. The exorcisms mean this: to face Evil, to acknowledge its reality, to know its power, and to proclaim the power of God to destroy it. The exorcisms announce the forthcoming baptism as an act of victory”
• The renouncing of Satan is done facing the west because the west is where the sun disappears and was regarded by the ancient Greeks as the place of the gates of Hades. Then the priest faces east whence the light of the sun rises and asks the godparent to accept for the child Him who is the Light of the World. “Do you unite yourself to Christ?” The priest then makes the sign of the cross on the child’s body. This is repeated often during the service. The cross is essentially is the sign of victory which puts the devil to flight. In the old days, slaves were branded, as are animals today, to show to what master they belong. Today, the sign of the cross brands us as belonging to Christ.The godparent is then asked to confess faith in Christ on behalf of the infant. At this point the godparent reads the confession of faith contained in the Nicene Creed. By reading the “symbolon tes pisteos,” the godparent confesses the true faith. From the moment the child is received into the Church, emphasis is placed on his individuality. He is given his own particular name by which he shall be distinguished from every other child of God. This expresses our belief that the child has the dignity of his own selfhood in the eyes of God. It is the Church’s acceptance of him as an individual in his own right. The new name expresses also the new life received through baptism.Olive oil is blessed and then applied by the priest to the various members of the child’s body: hands, feet, ears, mouth, in order to dedicate them to the service of Christ. Especially in the Greek Church, the sponsor then anoints the entire body of the infant with olive oil. This custom had its beginning among the ancient Greek wrestlers who anointed their bodies with olive oil to make it difficult for the opponent to maintain a grip on them. In Baptism, the child is anointed with olive oil to express our prayer that with Christ’s help the infant may be able to elude the grip of sin. We descover the significance and purpose from the text of the prayer of consecration of the oil
• The baptismal font in the language of the Church Fathers is the Divine Womb whence we receive the second birth as children of God. Baptism is truly a birth.“But to all who receive him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God; who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12, 13).The baptismal font is not only a womb but also a tomb where we die to sin. We believe that Christ died for our sins. To show that we, and not Christ, are worthy of death because of our sins, we are immersed in the baptismal font. The immersion in water symbolizes death, since a person cannot live long under water. Through baptism we share mysteriously in Christ’s death. As Saint Paul says,“We were buried therefore with him [Christ] by baptism into death so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life”(Rom 6) .The baptized person rises out of the baptismal font a new man, cleansed of every sin and promising, like Saint Paul, to surrender his life to Christ, his Saviour:“He died for all that they who live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him who died for them”.The triple immersion symbolizes the three days our Lord spent in the tomb as well as the Baptism in the name of the Holy Trinity (the human being is imago Trinitatis) since the baptismal formula used in the Orthodox Church is:“The servant of God — is baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”The water symbolizes the life and it is also used for cleansing. In Baptism it expresses the fact that through this mysterion, Christ cleanses us from the original and personal sin. Fr. Dumitru Stăniloae emphasized
• the relation between the baptismal water and the water
• from the first day of the creation
• The Holy Spirit made actual the virtual forms imprinted in it by the Logos, so that the forms of life started to appear. Likewise the baptismal water is sanctified by the Holy Spirit, the Giver of life, the candidate is recreated, the imago Dei is cleansed and he (she) receives the form, the beauty, i.e. the light of Christ – the incarnated Logos is the human being’s Archetype - , and therefore is adopted by the Father.    The infant is baptized in its naked state to denote that just as we came out of our mother’s womb naked so we emerge naked out of the womb of God—the baptismal font. The removal of all clothes also signifies the old slough of skin which will be cast off entirely through Baptism. Nakedness without shame refers also to the original state of man in Paradise where he was not ashamed of the body which God had created and had called good.The new clothes signify the entirely new life that we receive after we are “buried with Jesus in His death” (Rom. 6:4). In the early Church the newly baptized did not put on the old clothing he had taken off. He put on a new white robe, which was worn at all the services during Easter week - in the early times most baptisms were performed at Easter. The white robe expresses the purity of the soul that has been washed from sin. It recalls also the shining robe in which Christ appeared at the Transfiguration. There is now a likeness between the one baptized and the transfigured Lord.   Saint Paul calls it a putting on of Christ: “For as many of you as have been baptized in Christ, have you put on Christ” (Gal. 3:26, 27). Baptism is more than an external cleansing. It is a deeply rooted ontological transformation. However dark may be the night that surrounds us, Baptism remains the mysterion of entrance into light. It opens the eyes of the soul to see Christ, the light of the world (John 1:19). It makes us sons of light (I Thess. 5:5). In the early Church, the baptismal candle was always kept by the one baptized. It was given to the newly baptized with the scriptural admonition:“Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matt 5:16).The baptismal candle was brought to Church on feast days, on the anniversary of one’s Baptism and for the midnight Easter liturgy. If the person was married, the same candle was lighted at the wedding. If he was ordained, he would light it at his ordination. When the final hour of life approached it was lighted again as the soul went forth to meet its Judge. It was a constant reminder for the Christian to live and die by the light of Christ.The newly illumined Christian is then robed in a white garment, the symbol of regeneration, newness, kingship, and future immortality. The white garment, which is the color of royalty, symbolizes the gifts of baptism and reminds the neophyte of his responsibility to remain whole and be faithful to the baptismal pledge. At this point the mystery of the holy Chrism (myron) is administered. The neophyte is anointed with the consecrated oils by the celebrant using the liturgical formula “The seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit. Amen”. Chrism is applied to the sense and other parts of the body in the pattern of the Cross, signifying the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. The gift of the Holy Spirit takes the neophyte beyond the restoration of the fallen nature. The continuous presence of the Holy Spirit makes possible the constant, progressive, personal growth of the Christian into the image and likeness of God. He or she is also given a cross to wear. The Holy Mysterion of Chrismation is anchored in the events of Jesus’ Baptism and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples at Pentecost, yet, in the Lord's declaration “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God” (John 3:5).In the apostolic period this mysterion was celebrated in two ways: through the laying of hands and through the anointing with the special oil, this latter practice appeared because the apostles could not be present at every baptism. We have several important biblical references: Acts 8:14-17;19:1-6; IICor 1:21-22; I John 2:20-27. The liturgical formula “The seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit. Amen” is based on the words of Saint Paul. The ones who have heard “the word of truth, the gospel of salvation, and have believed in him, were sealed- esphragisthete with the promised Holy Spirit which is the guarantee of our salvation” (Eph 1:13-14; cf. also 4:30, where “the day of redemption” may also refer to the Baptism).From the comprehensive study on Chrismation
• signed by Pere Cyrille Argenti, we learn (due to the patristic references quoted) that in the second, third and forth centuries the receiving of the Holy Spirit took place both in East and in West immediately after Baptism
• In Saint Ambrose of Milan’ De mysteriis, the pattern is: Baptism, first anointing by the bishop, washing of the feet by the bishop (in Milan, but not in Rome), the second anointing by the bishop, the Christmation (signaculum is the Latin equivalent of sphragis). In the time of Saint Hieronimus and Saint Augustin, the Gospel reached the countryside, so it was impossible for the bishop to celebrate everywhere the Eucharist together with the priests, followed by the Baptism, so the priests performed the Baptism and the first anointing, while the bishop was to confer, later on, the second anointing and the laying of hands. In the West, the name Confirmation was given to this new ritual, from 2Cor1:21 (bebaion, confirmat). The term confirmation, appeared in the history of the Church in the period of the councils of Riez (439) and Orange (441), Pope Saint Leon the Great talked for the first time about the sacrament of Confirmation in 458
• It is very important to mention that Saint Hieronimus argued the opinion that the Holy Spirit is conferred only through the prayer of the bishop
• The first Eastern critique of the practice of Confirmation appeared at the Council which took place in Constantinopol in 867 because of the dissatisfaction caused by the Frankish bishops sent by Pope Nicholas I to anoint the Bulgarian Christians. Among the Greek polemists arose from now on the misconception of the double Baptism of the West, while in the XIII century, the Western authors came to deny the existence of the Confirmation among the Eastern Christians. Pope Alexander IV (1243-1254) imposed the recognition of the Confirmation among the Eastern, as a distinct and separately conferred sacrament; it was then also established by the Confession of faith imposed to the Byzantine emperor Michael VIII and especially by the Council of Lyon (1274). Starting with the Confession of faith signed by patriarch Dositei of Jerusalem (1672) in which the three terms: bebeosis/to hagion myron and to hagion chrisma are equaled, we speak in the Eastern Church about Baptism, Christmation and Eucharist as about the three out of seven Mysteria.But there is both an intrinsic unity and a distinction between the mysteria of Baptism and Chrismation. They are intimately related theologically and liturgically
• Chrismation is the second mysterion but it is also, together with the Eucharist, the very fulfillment of Baptism. While Baptism incorporates us into Christ's new risen existence, Chrismation makes us partakers of His Spirit, the very source of this new life and of total illumination. Chrismation causes a mysterious new and hidden life to flow in us. It imparts to persons the energies and the gifts of the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 11:23 and Gal 5:22). Chrismation is called the seal (sphragis). The neophyte receives the Holy Spirit as the source, the pledge and the seal of unending life. Anointed with the chrism, we are marked forever as the sheep and soldiers of Christ. We belong to Him and to His holy Church. Human nature purified by Baptism is made ready to receive the manifold gifts of the Holy Spirit. As Fr. Schmemann says:“Confirmation [Christmation] is thus the personal Pentecost of man, his entrance into the life of the Holy Spirit…his ordination as truly and fully man…. His whole body is anointed, sealed, sanctified, dedicated to the new life: «the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit», says the priest as he anoints the newly baptized «on the brow, and on the eyes, and the nostrils, and the lips, and on both ears, and the breast and on the hands, and the feet»…. The whole man is now made the temple of God…”.The Greek word for confirmation is chrisma, which means anointing. The one anointed with “chrisma” becomes christos, that is, the anointed one, which is the meaning of the name Christ. Thus, by this mysterion we are made Christians or other christs (anointed ones), due to Christ’s presence in us through His Holy Spirit. Chrismation is the ordination of the laity. According to Orthodox belief, every baptized lay person is ordained a priest by this mysterion (cf. 1 Pt 2:8-10),  receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit to become a deputy or an ambassador for Christ in this world. Thus Chrismation, once canonically performed, cannot be repeated.The chrism that is used for the ritual of anointing is a mixture of olive oil, balsam, wine, and some forty aromatic substances, symbolizing the fullness of sacramental grace, the sweetness of the Christian life and manifold and diverse gifts of the Holy Spirit. The chrism is also called the Holy Myron, and is the antitype, the visible tabernacle of the Holy Spirit. By ancient custom the right to prepare and consecrate the chrism belongs to the bishop and its administration to the presbyters. Each autocephalous Orthodox Church, through all her bishops, has the right to prepare and consecrate chrism, periodically on the Holy Thursday.In the ancient Church, Baptism was immediately followed by the celebration of the Eucharist.The newly-illumined Christians, holding lighted candles proceeded from the baptisterion with the clergy to the nave of the Church to join the faithful for the Eucharist. Vestiges of this ancient practice form the next sequence of actions in the baptismal rite. A procession around the font, with the singing of “As many as have been baptized in Christ, have put on Christ. Alleluia” (Gal 3:27) is followed by the reading of two excerpts from the New Testament: the Epistle to the Romans (6:3-11) explains the meaning of Baptism; and the Gospel of Matthew (28:16-20) recalling the command of the Lord to the Church to instruct and baptize. The neophyte then receives Holy Communion. The new life in Christ, given in Baptism, is renewed again and again in the Eucharist. In the Orthodox Church, every baptized and confirmed infant becomes a full member of the Church and is entitled to receive Holy Communion.After a set of petitions called the “Fervent Litany”, the neophyte participates in three additional rites. These were originally conducted on the eighth day after Baptism; they now form the last part of the baptismal rite. The celebrant washes the neophyte's forehead as an indication that the visible signs of the mysteries must now become inner realities and the very essence of life. This is emphasized with the laying on of hands upon the candidate
• and the tonsure. Through the laying on of hands, the neophyte and those concerned for his growth in Christ, are reminded that the Christian is armed with the Holy Spirit to war against all adverse powers. After confirming the child, the priest cuts three locks of hair from the child’s head. This is an expression of gratitude from the child, who having received an abundance of blessings through the Mysteria of Baptism and Chrismation and having nothing to give to God in return, offers part of its hair, which is the symbol of strength (see Samson in the Old Testament). The child, therefore, promises to serve God with all its strength. The tonsure, or cutting of the hair, indicates both a sacrificial offering that does not require the mutilation or humiliation of the human body and a sign of servitude and obedience. The new Christian proclaims his willingness and readiness to negate the world with its false values and to serve God with faithful devotion. In early times, Baptism and  Chrismation were not administered in the church, but in a separate edifice called the baptisterion. Following anointment with Holy Chrism, the newly baptized, wearing their white robes and carrying candles, were led by the clergy to the church for the celebration of the Eucharist. Here they would receive their first Communion. This is the origin of the present procession of the priest accompanied by the sponsor holding the newly baptized infant, around the baptismal font just before the neophyte is given the  Mysterion of Communion. The purpose of Baptism and Chrismation is expressed by this procession to the Eucharist. The door is now open to full and complete communion with God. During the procession the priest sings, “…as many as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ. Alleluia” (Gal. 3:27).2. “Kai morphoson sou ton Christon, en to mellonti anagennasthai…”
• the receiving of the form-morphy of Christ at the Holy Mysterion of Baptism - the christification or the christomorphism
• (- morphisation) of the human being - , the premise of the adoptive divine sonshipAfter this short presentation of the significance of the Orthodox ordo of the Baptism, which is somehow classic and can be easily found in detail
• I think that it is  important to outline the fact that we may not reduce, as it often happens, the effects of this Holy Mysterion to the receiving of the remission of sins – original and personal, if the candidate is not a baby- and of the membership of the Church. In the prayer of the blessing of the baptismal water the celebrant says:“But do You, O Master of All, declare this water to be water of redemption, water of sanctification, a cleansing of flesh and spirit, a loosing of bonds, a forgiveness of sins, an illumination of soul, a laver of regeneration, a renewal of the spirit, a gift of sonship, a garment of incorruption, a fountain of life”.Therefore Baptism also means redemption - not just as remission of sins but as communion with the Holy Trinity; sanctification - due to the receiving of the Sanctifier, the Holy Spirit; illumination- due to the receiving of the garment of light; regeneration (anagennesis) - the candidate dies and is born again with Jesus; renewal of the lifesupporting power of the human spirit due to the communion with the Holy Spirit, the Giver of life, that is why the Baptism is “a fountain of life”; the gift of sonship i.e. the πνευ̃μα υίοθεσία, spiritum adoptionis filiorum (Rm.8:15) – adoptive baptismal υίοθεσία .The adoptive sonship, which is especially highlighted in the Orthodox Theology, is possible because the neophyte receives the “form- morphe of Christ”.  In the prayer before the consecration of the baptismal water the celebrant invokes the Holy Trinity saying:“Form the Image of Your Christ in him (her) who is about to be born again through my humility”.This English translation might be misleading because in the original Greek we read:“Kai morphoson sou ton Christon, en to mellonti anagennasthai…”
• So the meaning is that Christ would take form – morphe, not image – eikon, because every human being is created according to the image of the Image of the Father (Col 1:15), human being is eikon Eikonos, the incarnate Logos is the Archetype of the human being
• It is unacceptable to consider that only through Baptism the human being receives the imago Dei. At the Baptism the candidate receives the „form of Christ”, His likeness - in an ethical but also in an onthological sense- which means His garment of light, the same garment as the one seen by the three Saints Aposteles on Mount Tabor at the Transfiguration- Metamorphosis of our Lord Jesus Christ.It is important to underline that after the immersion, the candidate asks: „A robe of divine light bestow upon me, O You that for vesture array Yourself with Light; and bestow many mercies, O Christ our God, who are plenteous in mercy” and only after the Chrismation it is possible to sing: “As many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ”, because the Holy Spirit is the One who conforms the neophyte to Christ.In order to understand what it means to “put on Christ” or to receive His form we have to make reference to the Carmen Christi from the epistle to the Philippians which seems to be the most interpreted text of the New Testament
• “Who being in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant” (Phil 2:6-7). To begin with, however, a few brief definitions of terms are needed,: a) morphe – shema - eidos; b) morphe - ousia; c) morphe - eikon; d) morphe - doxa.a) morphe – schema - eidos. In Greek, except for Homer, but usually later, morphe means form, the external aspect, and even the owner of the form, the person
• In its basic sense, morphe is synonymous with eidos, idea and schema.  Despite their interchangeable use, there are obvious differences. Morphe, the form particular to a being, is not the same as eidos, the entire visible aspect. Eidos describes what can be perceived and known by others, whereas morphe describes what is objectively there. Morphe is different from schema in that it describes the individual exterior aspect as it is, whereas schema pertains to the outward representation. Morphe is the whole ( e.g. of the body) in and for itself, whereas schema is what pertains to the whole (the form, exterior characteristics, mode of presentation, etc.); morphe, forma dicit quiddam absolutum… schema, habitus, cultus, vestitus, victus, gestus, sermones et actiones.  Despite all these subtle differences, there are no clear-cut borders in their use
• Even in the philosophical terminology morphe does not have an unequivocal and definite sense. Parmenides, the first to use it, talks about light and darkness as two forms of being. Plato does not use it much, but uses it as equivalent to eidos or idea signifying exterior aspect or form.  For him,“to know the form of x does not imply knowledge of the nature of x; thus, the philosopher who, for example, knows the form of righteousness will know not only what is right but also why it is so.  Similarly, Aristotle sees the form of a thing as what makes it intelligible, it being (similar to the Forms of Plato) accessible to the intellect”
• For Aristotle, morphe gains a fixed sense, and it becomes the centerpiece of his thinking.  The four principles of existence: form or nature, matter, the moving cause and motive can be paired down to two: form (morphe, eidos) and matter (hyle, to hypokeimenon).  This distinction is also made in different ways by L. B. Lightfoot
• R.P.Martin
• and Rev. M.R.Vincent
• b) morphe - ousia. Exegetes underline the distinction and the indissolubility of these terms.   While many of the Holy Fathers stressed their indissolubility, in their wish to stress  the unity of being, they did not thereby equate the two terms, as affirmed by R.P.Vincent: “A common error of the Greek fathers, adopted by Calvin, Beza, and the others, was the identification of morphe with ousia, ‘essence,’ and physis, ‘nature’
• J. Heriban has a list on this subject
• J. B. Lightfoot states:“Though morphe is not the same as physis or ousia, yet the possession of the morphe involves participation in the ousia also: for morphe implies not the external accidents but the essential attributes”
• Therefore we can’t have the form of something or someone without having the corresponding ousia, because morphe pertains to the essential attributes of being.c) morphe - eikon.  R. P. Martin states that eikon and morphe are interchangeable terms in the Greek version of the Scriptures, and are treated as synonyms, like “image” and “likeness” in Hebrew (selem and demuth), and that in conclusion en morphe Theou is equivalent to kat’eikona Theou
• P. O’Brien presents the same point of view, but with reservations, saying that in spite of the link between the two terms, there are differences.  Certainly neither the Septuagint nor the New Testament affirms that Adam is en morphe Theou
• This same view was shared by many others, including G. F. Hawthorne, who stated:“it is strained and unnatural to interpret morphe by eikon, in order to compare and contrast Adam with Christ, unless one holds the view that this hymn refers not at all to the preexistent Christ but only to the human Jesus, his life of humility and his exaltation to an earthly position of glory”
• J. Heriban
• and D. Steenburg express the same opinion in a semantic study which  argues that the two terms are not synonyms
• The distinction between morphe and eikon is clearly emphasized by the use of the expression morphe doulou in Phil. 2:7.d) morphe - doxa.  If  R. P. Martin states that these are synonyms (comparing 1Cor15:49 and Phil 3:21, and interpreting in this light 2Cor 3:18 and Rom 8:29). M. R. Vincent states their distinction:“Doxa is the manifestation, the ‘unfolded fullness’ of the divine attributes and perfections, while morphe Theou is the immediate, proper, and personal investiture of the divine essence. Doxa attaches to Deity; morphe is identified with the inmost being of Deity. Doxa is and must be included in morphe Theou, but doxa is not morphe”
• The impossibility of identification of the two terms is clearly underlined when replacing doxa with morphe in texts such as Psalm 19:1: “The heavens declare the glory (doxa) of God”, Psalm 84,10 “that glory may dwell in our land “ or  Isaiah 11:10: “And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious”.In the Old Testament it was impossible to think that God had a form open to human perception, or that He would have revealed Himself in an accessible form to the senses.  Even though there are many references to God as a being similar to us, having a face, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, lips, tongue, arms, fingers, clothes, shoes, these are such evident metaphorical expressions that the Septuagint did not include any corrective interpolations, in order to preserve the purity of the concept of God. None of the frequent Old-Testament theophanies (not even Genesis 18:1 or 32:25) describes the heavenly beings in a human form, and there is no description of the visible form of the Godhead. On the contrary, in the Old Testament the theomorphic understanding of man is more important than the anthropomorphic attributes of God.  Presenting God in a human form does not imply that He became a man.The complete lack of any image in the cult of Yahweh reflects a personal and ethical concept able to resist any attempt to give His form a sensory description. Not even in Judaism, where the transcendental aspect of God is especially emphasized, is there any place for positive assertions about the form of God
• In conclusion we can say that it is not about a Greek philosophical understanding of the term morphe from the text in question, and neither a supposedly popular concept about morphe Theou as ousia or physis. Likewise, what Paul understands by morphe Theou and morphe doulou is totally foreign to the epiphany of myth and legend. Christ did not play the role of a god in human form.  The uniqueness of Christianity is that the two natures, divine and human, were united in the Person of the Son unmingled, undivided, inseparable, unchanged, and therefore it is not about a shape-shifter, the two natures being forever united. It is not metamorphosis either, as in the Hellenistic belief or superstition.  Paul does not talk about the exchange of someone’s form with that of someone else. In 1Cor 2:8 the man Jesus is the Lord of Glory - Kyrios tes doxes.  Essentially, if not literally, the expression morphe Theou is entirely within the biblical    understanding of God.  It is highly difficult, though, to find a replacement for morphe, and especially for morphe Theou.   One might suggest “mode of existence”, “condition”, or “status”.2.1. Metamorphosis, metamorphote – “Christ’s transfiguration on Mount Tabor, the anticipated proof of the light of the Holy Trinity that shall emanate from His resurrected body and the bodies of all who show their faith in their deeds”
• Christ’s Transfiguration has nothing in common with the Hellenistic meaning of metamorphosis.Matthew 17:2 “kaì metamorphote  émprosthen auton, kaì élampsen tò prósopon autoû  os helios, tà dè himátia autoû egéneto leukà os tò phos.”Mark 9,2-3 “kaì metàmorphote émprosthen auton, kaì tà himátia autoû egéneto stílvonta leukà lían oîa gnapheùs epì tes ges ou dúnatai oútos leukânai.” The text suggests that the Holy Transfiguration took place for the three apostles
• They became “pillars” - styloi
• in the primary Church (Gal 2:9) in part because of their role as witnesses to this momentous event .D. A. Moses  sees morphe, eikon and doxa  as interconnected but not interchangeable. The Septuagint describes the transfiguration of Moses using the word „dedoxastai” (Exod 34:29): “kai en dedoxasmene e opsis tou chromatos tou prosopou autou” (v.30) and dedoxastai (v.35).  Matthew uses the verb metamorphote, probably to draw a parallel with Moses’ “glorification” – dedoxastai.  The wording: “Kai elampsen to prosopon autou os ho helios” is not used just as a reference back to Exodus 34,29, but as a pointer to the future. The fact that the light of God’s glory covered Moses is attested by other Judaic writings
• In Judaic tradition the light that shone on Moses’ face on Sinai and stayed with him is the primordial light lost by Adam and Eve
• Moses is shown as a “new Adam”.  It was even strongly believed that the Messiah would have this light, and thus the light of Transfiguration is a defining characteristic that confirms Jesus as Messiah.  In conjunction with the voice from on high, it confirms the legitimacy of Christ’s teachings, as the shining of Moses’ face confirmed the words he addressed to Israel
• But  the shining of Moses’ face cannot be confused with the shining of Christ’s face, Moses received the beauty (dedoxastai) of Adam before the sin, but in Christ the human nature is united with the divine one and it shares its form (metamorphote), i.e. the divine uncreated light
• Saint Gregory Palamas affirmed that on mount Tabor, Jesus Christ did not receive what he had not already had, nor did He become what He was not, but He showed His apostles what He was, opening their eyes and giving sight to the blind. Because staying the same He made Himself seen to the Apostles differently than before.  Because He is the true light (John 1:9), the beauty of glory
• In Capita theologica et oeconomica
• Saint  Maximus the Confessor talks about the two forms in which Christ reveals Himself to those who study the Scriptures in detail.  First he talks about the “common and public form” (koinen kai demodesteran morphen), through which he understands the Incarnation, about which Isaiah said “he hath no form nor comeliness” – kai eidomen auton, kai ouk eihen eidos oude kallos (Isaiah 53,2). Second, there is a “hidden form” – kryphiotera morphe through which Christ manifests himself, as he did on Mount Tabor, „Thou art fairer than the children of men - oraios kallei para tous yious ton anthropon” (Psalm 45:2)”.  This aspect of the Lord was not reserved exclusively for the three Apostles, but for all those who in time will excel in virtue
• 2.2. Paschal Christ’s conversion/passing on into the human life under the form of the ChurchThe verb morphoo is found just once in the New Testament:  “My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you – tekna mou, ous palin odino mehris ou morphote Hristos en hymin (Gal 4:19). Christ has to have human  form in order to make the life in Christ possible. He has to become incarnate in each and every one of us – a common idea in Christian mysticism
• This metaphor, based on human intrauterine development, suggests that Christ has to reach maturity in the believer, grace to the ecclesial community.This is a never-ending process, a gift and a duty, as God claims His gift, establishing thus the relationship gift – Gift-giver- the one who receives the gift, the believer becoming in turn a gift-giver: “let us commit ourselves and one another and our whole life to Christ our God”
• Father professor Vasile Mihoc identifies in the above Pauline text the third aspect of the maternal metaphor (after the love and the care for them), the painful process of birth:“Christ’s formation in us is a slow and continuous process in which the Apostle has an irreplaceable role.  Staint Paul said that he suffers «again» the pain of birth «until Christ be formed in you»”
• The verb morphousthai (the passive form of morphoo) means “to be modeled,” “to receive a predetermined form”.  The expression mechris ou found in Gal 4:19 indicates not only the moment of completion of this process of spiritual growth, but its duration and continuity as well, and therefore we can translate this expression in “as long as”
• Becoming a Christian is described in terms specific to the process of birth, its scope being the formation of Christ in us, or in other words, to grant us the form of the Church, His Body, to which the whole of mankind is called to be a member. According to Staint Paul, Christ lives in Christians: “Christ liveth in me”(Gal 2:20); “Christ is in you” (Rom 8:10; 2Cor 13:5); „Christ in you” (Col 1:27); “Christ is all, and in all” (Col 3:11)  He lives in their hearts: “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith” (Eph 3:17)
• There is no danger of confusion between Christ, Head of the Church and Christians, body of the Church, a fact stated clearly by Fr. Staniloae
• Saint Cyril of Alexandria identifies Christ’s role as head of the body with the role of a begetter who rose to the deified, having in Himself the power to pull all men to Him and conform them to His likeness. It is a beginning, a principle, with the power to reach full potential; Christ was appointed Head, beginning (Arche) of those who form (anamorphoumenon) themselves through Him into incorruptibility through sanctification in the Spirit
• Saint Gregory of Nyssa writes that Christ made the Church His body, and through the adding of those who are saved the Church is built in love, until all of us will become perfect, at the measure of the fulfilled age of Christ (Eph 4:13). If, therefore, the Church is the body (soma) of Christ, and Head (Kephale) of the body is Christ, Who forms (morphon) the face of the Church ( tes Ekklesias to prosopon) with His own likeness ( to idio charakteri), the hearts of the friends of the Groom, looking upon this, were stolen (they fell in love – ekardiothesan), for now they see clearer the unseen One
• It means that the Church (the saints, the first christians were called saints) has (have) the same beauty (form), i.e. light, as Christ has.Altgough  the verb morphoo appears just once in the New Testament, some derivatives of it can be found
• 2.2.1 The Church bestows a unique form - morphen and divine nomination to everyone altogether, througk the Holy Mysteria  Fr. professor Dumitru Stăniloae uses the phrase the form of the Church  a number of times in his Teologia Dogmatică Ortodoxă
• It is possible that the expression “the form of the Church” to come  from Saint Maximus the Confessor  who, in turn was inspired by the Christological hymn in the Epistle to the Philippians.  Saint Maximus designates man’s new status of sonship of God, as the new relationship (schesis) that substitutes for the old relationship of cause and effect, taking up the Pauline term morphe. The slave form taken by Adam (as a consequence of sin) is replaced by the Church, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, with the form and vocation (prosegorian) unique to the filial relationship of man and God, which is also the second birth (anaghenomenon) and the new creation (anademiourgoumenon). All this is possible  through the Son of God, Who assumed our “form” in its fallen state, to restore our sonship, the new creation (2Cor 5:17) which is the Church, through the Baptism  in the Holy Spirit
• Alain Riou observes that Saint Maximus the Confessor, in the first chapter of Mystagogia, tackles the theme of the ontology of the ecclesial mystery, whose fundamental categories have their origin in Christology and pneumatology
• The title of the first chapter is:“How and in what way is Holy Church the icon and likeness of God” (pos te kai poio tropo eikon esti kai typos Theou e aghia Ekklesia)
• It is  about the tropos of divine sonship through which God made Himself present in the human world, making of men His eikon, in the measure in which, being in the Church, they will imitate through synergy the uncreated energy of God. The Holy Church is in a spiritual sense, typon and eikona of God, as one that has the same work (energean) as Him, through imitation  (mimesin) and imagination (typon - in New-Greek,  morphe)
• The incarnation of the Word, “the mystery hidden of ages and by angels unknown” makes possible the adoption of the human being, not as an individual, but as a consequence of his hypostatic vocation, personal and collective, that embodies the entire creation.  The church is that unifying tropos, which returns the world to God, not from the outside, by imposing an almighty power, but from inside the world, from its heart and man himself
• In the same way (tropon) the Holy Church of God shows itself doing the same things with us as God, imitating Him, as an icon (eikon) imitates its model  (arhetypo). Countless numbers of people are part of her and are reborn (anagennomenon) and recreated in the Spirit  (anademiurgomenon to pnevmati): men, women and children, different in kind and look, by kin and tongue, by life, age, opinion, trade, mores and ability, by knowledge and occupation, by fate, character and habit. But to all of them the Church gives a single form and deified name (morphen kai prosegorian), meaning the existence and name from Christ; and a single and undivided relation through faith, simple and without partiality, without letting the many and countless relations of each one be known, not even as existing, because of the universal concentration and rapport of all to her.Fr. Staniloae underlines the fact that“all the statements of the blessed Apostle Paul pertaining to the death, resurrection, transfiguration of man,  imprinting and clothing  him in Christ, as ethical-ontological moments are recalled in the rite of Baptism.  …Through this participation  in the crucified and resurrected Christ, the baptized take on the form of Christ, or become co-bearers of the form of Christ (symmorphoi). Their new form is the form of Christ imprinted in them, and through this in the Church”
• Indeed, the text of Baptism makes a clear distinction between likeness (eikon) and form  (morphe) and derived verb.  In the prayer before the blessing of the water, the celebrant prays to the Holy Trinity  – the man is “imago Trinitatis” – saying the words: “And  let Your Christ take form in this one who will be reborn…”
• The original text is: “Kai morphoson sou ton Christon, en to mellonti anagennasthai…”
• The candidate is immersed in the baptismal water as a “faceless and amorphous matter” (hyle aneidos kai amorphos) and emerges bearing the beautiful face of Christ
• We are modeled and imprinted, and our amorphous, undefined life receives form and definition
• It is important to stress that, according to the order of Baptism text, we may sing  that we have received Christ’s clothing, Christ’s form, only after Chrismation, because the Holy Spirit is the one  Who imprints (sphragis) Christ’ s form in us. Through Baptism, Chrismation, Eucharist, and the rest of our spiritual life we are united in Christ, we receive  the Christian way of being, centered on Christ and formed  in  Christ, as well as the respective  form and befitting life.  In this way, the Father recognises on our faces His own Son’s form (morphen, formam) and recognizes in us the parts of the Only Begotten Son
• The nature of man takes the form, in other words the constitution and function of the deified human nature of Christ
• Here we have the key to understanding why God the Father adopts as son (daughter) the nephyte.Fr. Staniloae outlined that“the human body of Christ shines with the endless spiritual beauty of purity, kindness and wisdom of God, who restores and uplifts the wonderful human spirituality.  This  radiance shines from Christ upon the souls and bodies of those united with Him, forming the Church”
• “The glory filling the Church coincides with the full acquisition of the status of sons of God on the part of its members, a status which represents the most intimate communion with the Father. It consists not only in the beholding of the glory, but in partaking in the glory of the Son  possessed by the Word incarnate and the Head of Church as man.  Inasmuch as He is organically linked with the body, His glory spreads upon the whole body ”
• 2.2.1.1. From garments of skin
• to garments of light.At Baptism, the candidate asks of God the following: “Give me clothing of light, O One Who are clothed in light as with a cloth.”  St. Paul writes: “…And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image (kat’eikona, secundum imaginem) of Him that created him.” (Col 3:10). Here the “image” is the equivalent of “eikon” insofar it refers to the creation of the human being. Adam was not naked before sin, much less the one who lives “the life in Christ”. Fr. Staniloae said that the human body of Christ shines with the endless spiritual beauty of purity, kindness and wisdom of God, who restores and uplifts the wonderful human spirituality.This  radiance shines from Christ upon the souls and bodies of those united with Him, forming the Church
• Saint Basil the Great writes that through Baptism we are formed after our inner man in conjunction with Christ, in the measure of His incarnation, meaning the measure of His assumed humanity modeled by His Godliness
• We become like Christ on a spiritual basis through His Spirit’s work in us. This transformation consists in becoming spiritual, “transforming our way of being,  thanks to the strengthening of our inner selves through the Holy Spirit” (ton tropon metaschematisthentes dia tou krataiothenai Pnevmati ton eso anthropon)
• Saint Basil continues:“Whoever receives from someone the right form of faith (ten morphosin tes eusebeias), is somewhat shaped by that someone (diaplattetai par autou) and is brought to perfection by his mentor, just like a child  (to brephe) formed in the womb of the mother. That is  why Saint Paul refers to the whole Galatian church as sons (tekna), fallen from the first teaching and somewhat aborted. Saint Paul took them again (analambon) and formed (morphon) Christ in them, from above (anothen)”
• Fr. Stăniloae quotes Saint Cyril of Alexandria saying that “all who are in the body of Christ, having Him as Head, ‘are formed’ (anamorphoumenon) through Him toward incorruptibility”
• To explain the text from Exodus 21: 22-23, Saint Cyril states that the fruit and offspring of the mind is faith in Christ, who models us through perfect knowledge (anaplattousa) again according to Him and forms us according to the divine type (eis theion diamorphousa typon). This being said, believers  cry out with Isaiah: “We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen” (Isaiah 26,18). And the divine Paul told those who foolishly fell from full knowledge to the lowest, partial level of knowing, meaning the Galatians: “My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you.” (Gal 4:19) Having begun  in the spirit, they sought perfection in the body, subjecting themselves to the law.  Therefore they did not accomplish the formation (morphosin) of Christ’s form in the fullest, rejecting the good seed laid in them as in a womb. Thus progress in knowledge and purity in faith leads, in all our souls, to the formation  (morphosin) of Christ’s form”
• Fr. Staniloae explains:“Christ’s form takes shape slowly in us, as the embryo in the womb…  like a seed at first, it takes clearer form as we  come to know Him better, and our being is imprinted with virtues through which  it imitates Him”
• This  imprinting refers to the seal of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Saint Ambrose of Milan compares the clothing received at the Baptism with the clothing of Christ on Mount Tabor.“Christ transfigured reveals humanity  perfect and  sinless, not naked but clothed in snow-white cloth, the uncreated light of Divine Glory”
• If the divine form refers, as we have shown, to Christ’s “clothing,” the baptized also receives this, though not in the sense of a human or pantheist autonomy. Christ dwells in the baptized, and implicitly gives them His own form. They reach full brightness as they fulfill the commandments. If Christ is hidden in us from the very moment of Baptism, as stated by Saint Mark the Ascete, He grows with our advance in spiritual life, as we grow in the intimacy of the Holy Spirit, and begins to radiate in the saint. It is not the saint who radiates, like Christ transfigured on Mount Tabor, nor does the saint somehow reflect  the radiance of Christ,  rather it is Christ Himself Who radiates in the saint. This is  what it means to see the divine Light - something very different from an exterior, impersonal phenomenon. Here is the third step of apophatic knowledge, supreme knowledge of God, the foretaste of everlasting life in His Light of unending epektasis.3. From πνευ̃μα δουλείας to Πνευ̃μα υίοθεσία, spiritum adoptionis filiorum (Rom 8:15) – adoptive baptismal υίοθεσίαWhereas the Saint Evangelists, Matthew and Luke show us our Lord Jesus Christ’s genealogy as man
• describing to us how He, the One Who had been born from the Father “before all ages”, was born from a human being, from the Virgin Mary, the Saint Apostle and Evangelist John describes us how a human being can be born by God’s will. It is so remarkable to think how delicately God works with the human being, nothing is forced, amazing, artificial in this work. First the human, the Virgin Mary accepts to bear God in body, so that afterwards, God might bear the human in water and in the Holy Sprit. First the man, Joseph, adopts the Son of God made human, so that afterwards the human being consecrated by baptism to be adopted by God; He comes to us first, in the most delicate and most exquisite imaginable way, as an innocent baby in a manger in Bethleem for us to be able to most naturally come closer to Him, and, receiving Him, to be ourselves received by God; „ but to all who received Him, who believed in his name, He gave power to become children of God (tekna Theou genesthai), who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13).        Our Saviour Jesus Christ reveals the mystery of this birth from God to Nicodemus
• „Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God”(John 3:3). As Nicodemus was baffled by such a statement, Jesus explained him: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (3:5). In the prologue of the fourth Gospel (1:13), the birth “from (or in) God” is named in chapter III, birth “from above” ( v.3 şi 7), birth “from water and Holy Spirit”(v.5) or birth “in the Holy Spirit” (v.6 si 8). In this wonderful work, God is the one who gives birth and we are the ones who are born. Saint Jacob says: “the Father of lights…gave us birth to His own will through the Word of Truth, so that we could be the beginning to his own creatures” (1:17-18). Saints Apostles Peter and Paul also refer to this godly birth:“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy we have been born anew (anagennesan) to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” (1Pt 1:3); „You have been born anew, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God”(1Pt 1:23); „He saved us, not because of deeds done by us in righteousness, but in virtue of his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration  (dia loutrou palingenesias) and renewal in the Holy Spirit, which he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior” (Tit 3:5-6).The second birth, the birth in God comes about through the Holy Baptism. Jesus Christ did not receive Saint John’s baptism to cleanse Himself, but to consecrate the waters, to entirely unify the vivifying power of the Holy Spirit - the Lord and Giver of life - with the water. By the Holy Baptism, through the water that is consecrated by the descent (parousia) of the Holy Spirit, the candidate is born again as a wonderful creature bearing the seal of the holy gifts. That is why praising the God as Creator and anticipating that which will happen to the one coming for illumination, the priest marvels and says: “Great You are God, and great are Your workings, no word can suffice to praise Your wonders!”The term  υίοθεσία (adoption as son, not just sonship) occurs in the New Testament only in the writings of Saint Paul (Gal 4:5; Rom 8:15,23; 9:4; Eph1:5) and never in Septuagint or other Jewish sources
• Furthermore, Saint Paul is apparently the first to have used υίοθεσία in a theological context, let alone of divine adoption. In the conclusion of the work quoted, James M. Scott outlines the fact that although, by using уίοθεσία, Saint Paul clearly avails himself of a Hellenistic term, it does not necessarily follow that the Apostle, all whose extant epistles are written in Greek, has a Hellenistic legal procedure or metaphor in mind, let alone a Roman one. The Hellenistic meaning of the term must be distinguished from a Hellenistic background of the term. For example the line of argumentation in Gal 4:1-7 and Gal 3 and 4 as a whole leads to the sure conclusion that υίοθεσία in Gal 4:5 refers to a specific Old Testament/Jewish background, being set in a context framed by the Exodus typology: just as Israel, as heir to the Abrahamic promise,  was redeemed as son of God from slavery in Egypt at the time appointed by the Father (vv.1-2),  believers were redeemed as well to adoption as sons of God from slavery under the stoicheia tou kosmou  at the fullness of time and thereby became heirs of the Abrahamic promise (vv.3-7)
• But we might not confuse the status of sons of God, which was more as a promise in the Old Testament, with the one in the New Testament. As the author who has just been quoted noted, although the term appears in Rom 9:4, as one of Israel’s historical privileges, the broader context of Gal 3-4 makes it clear that believers are sons and heirs only insofar as they participate by Baptism - „ For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christi”(Gal 3:26-27) – in the Son of God who was sent to redeem them (Gal 4:4-5). Strictly speaking, Christ is the heir of Abraham (Gal 3:16) and the messianic Son of God promised in 2 Sam 7:12-14. Seen in context, уίοθεσία in Gal 4:5 must refer to the Jewish eschatological expectation based on 2 Sam 7:14. The adoption formula from 2 Sam 7:14 was applied by the subsequent Judaism not only to the Davidic Messiah but, under the influence of the New Covenant theology (cf.Hos 2:1), also to the eschatological people of God. Specifically, the 2 Sam 7:14 tradition expects that, at the advent of the Messiah, God would redeem his people from Exile in a Second Exodus; He would restore them to a covenant relationship; and He would adopt them, with the Messiah, as His sons (cf.Jub. 1:24; TJud. 24:3;4QFlor.1:11). In fact, 2 Cor 6,18 actually cites the adoption formula of 2 Sam 7:14, and that in the context of the same Exodus typology and the same New Covenant theology. As in the 2 Sam 7:14 tradition, Gal 4:5-6 connects divine adoption with the reception of the Spirit (of the New Covenant) in the heart
• The interpretation of υίοθεσία in Gal 4:5 also applies to the closely parallel passage of Rom8. Here, too, participation in the messianic Son of God by adoption is so integrally connected with the reception of the indwelling Spirit that the Spirit is called the Πνευ̃μα υίοθεσία (v.15), the Holy Spirit by Whom also the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled (v.4). Rom 8 containes elements of the Exodus typology, and divine adoptive sonship implies heirship with Christ in the Abrahamic promise (v.17). In the conclusion of the section dedicated to Rom 8, James M. Scott noted that despite the attempts to minimize or deny one aspect or another, Rom 8 contains both present and future aspects of υίοθεσία which are related as successive modes of participating in the sonship of the messianic Son of God by means of the Spirit
• In the present aspect believers receive the Spirit of  υίοθεσία through Baptism and the continuous renewal of the baptismal gifts by means of an authentic Christian life, called by Symeon the New Theologian, Baptism in the Holy Spirit. The reference to the  Baptism is presupossed in Rom 8 (e.g. v.1:„There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”; v2.: „for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death”), also because Rom 6 is a clear description of it. In the eschatological aspect of υίοθεσία (v.23), believers, who already have the indwelling Spirit as the means of ressurection (v.11), participate in Jesus’ resurrection to the messianic Son of God in power (Rom 1:4) when Christ comes at Parousia (Rom 8:29), and they enter into the Abrahamic inheritance of universal sovereignty with the Son (Rom 4:13; 8:17,32), the Firstborn among many brothers (8:29). Here again, the influence of 2 Sam 7:14 can be felt, for the Spirit-mediated resurrection/adoption of the Son (Rom 1:4), which is proleptic to that of the sons, is interpreted in light of the promise of divine adoption in Nathan’s prophecy
• Human beings are virtually sons and daughters of God, but actually they are recognised as such at the Holy Mysterion of Baptism, when they become brothers with Christ and therefore His Father becomes their Father too
• and His Mother becomes their Mother too, and they are really brothers and sisters.To conclude I would like to invite you to reflect more upon the process of receiving the form of Christ through Baptism, Christmation and Holy Communion, and upon baptismal уίοθεσία, because I consider them to be essential for the Orthodox Soteriology, for the spiritual life and for the ecumenical dialogue, the more they are almost ignored in the document “Baptism, Eucharist, Ministry”