We had the Churching at the beginning of Vespers on Saturday night. The exorcism was done after Vespers. Fr. Gregory was kind enough to come up a day earlier than normal to make this possible since St. James is still without a priest. Our little Leo was much older than the regular 40 days typical for churchings because his pediatrician had strongly recommended that he stay away from the public until he was three months old. Having already recovered from a major infection she didn't want his health to be further compromised by getting the flu or some other germ. This was our first time back in church; we had even missed all of Holy Week and Pascha.
I designed and sewed Leo's baptismal gown myself. I had found similar ones being sold on Etsy and loved them but they were going for a hefty price. For a fraction of the cost, and with my modest sewing skills, I managed to make a very nice gown for him. Inside the neck of his gown I sewed a
piece of the savanon that Metropolital PHILIP wore when he blessed St. John Chrysostom's new church building.
In the background you can see the ambitious work on our church's iconography project. All those icons and more were completed in three months time!
The servant of God Leo is baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit!
Father Gregory was afraid Leo was too big to go all the way under the water so he opted for the Greek version, where the baby is put in the font and doused over the head with water.
Washed clean, he now receives the chrism of the Holy Spirit. He fussed a bit at his baptism but he didn't cry out.
His hair was tonsured in the sign of the cross as his first offering to God.
Peeking over his godmother's shoulder, newly dressed in his baptismal gown: "Hey Mama, this isn't so bad after all!"
He was worn out afterward but he woke up in time to receive Communion for the first time. His godmother said that he smiled as she took him up to the chalice.
The cross that he was given is from the Patriarchate of Alexandria!
May God grant the newly illumined servant of God Leo many, many years!
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