Often in our life, we come to a point where we realize that we are not able to control the situation and that we are required to do as much as possible of what is in our power. Life brings sometimes pleasant and sometimes unpleasant surprises. And to those surprises, we need to respond with faith in God and thought that with each temptation we acquire more experience, and therefore, the next temptation to come we’ll easily overcome.
Life is a gift from God and we should value it. Children are the greatest joy for parents, but also they can be the greatest pain if they are under threat of danger. It may happen to us to be put to the ultimate test: how will we respond if our child is in threat of danger, especially in the first couple of hours or days of its birth?
In those moments we need to know that God never leaves us and He is always there to help us, but we should turn to Him with prayer. In order for the infant to be spiritually healthy and to become part of the Orthodox Church, it should be baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, thus fulfilling the commandment that God gave to the Apostles (Matt. 28:19).
Baptism is performed by an Orthodox priest. In an emergency, when life of the baby is endangered and it urgently needs to be baptized, but an Orthodox priest cannot be contacted, the baptism can be performed by a layman who is not a priest, but who has been baptized and profess the Orthodox faith (the mother, the father, the grandmother or another Orthodox Christian). Such baptism is called clinical or emergency baptism.[1]
The emergency baptism is made by triple immersion or, in a pinch, if the child is in an incubator, through the opening from the side by a sprinkling of water and saying the words “The servant of God (name) is baptized in the name of the Father – Amen. And the Son – Amen. And the Holy Spirit – Amen.” Immediately after being uttered these words, you should get in touch and call the priest from the closest Orthodox Church, who over the survived baby will fully perform the act of Baptism, excluding the triple immersion.[2]
In Melbourne, you can contact the following priests:
Very Rev Jovica Simonovski
mob. 0412 049 194; e-mail: veryrev.j.simonovski@gmail.com
Very Rev Ljupce Karevski
mob. 0412 554 410; е-mail: rev.karevski@hotmail.com
Very Rev Trajko Mojsov
mob. 0430 060 515; е-mail: father.mojsov@gmail.com
Very Rev Tone Gulev
mob. 0413 270 938; е-mail: revgulev@bigpond.com
Very Rev Dusko Spirkoski
mob. 0401 090 899; е-mail: rev.dspirkoski@gmail.com
[1] http://www.stvladimiraami.org/faqs.shtml
[2] http://www.povardarska-eparhija.org.mk/pe//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=393&Itemid=68
