Can a Native Grandmother Be a Godmother to Her Grandson?

So it’s impossible for ordinary, particularly unchurched parents to immediately figure out who might be the godfather or godmother of their newborn child. Let’s try to immediately find out the answer to a frequently asked question: “Can a grandmother be her granddaughter’s godmother?” To do this, we must try to understand the very essence of the sacrament of baptism and why it is done.

Who to take as godparents? Can a grandmother be a godmother to her granddaughter?

Expanding deeper into the seemingly simple topic “Can a grandmother be godmother to her granddaughter”, it is worth noting the main thing - in such a sacred action as Baptism, a person’s body is immersed three times in water with the words invoking the name of the Holy Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit . This thereby washes a person from original sin and from all other sins committed before baptism. Symbolically, this means that by the grace of the Holy Spirit a person is spiritually reborn and becomes a member of the Church and the Blessed Kingdom of Christ.

So, baptism (baptism - immersion in water) of a person is one of the seven Sacraments performed in the Orthodox Church (together with Repentance, Communion, Blessing of Anointing, Confirmation, Ordination and Wedding). In turn, according to the teachings of the Christian Church, the Sacrament is a sacred act in which the invisible grace of God is communicated to a believer under a visible image.

Can a Native Grandmother Be a Godmother to Her Grandson?

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Can grandma

The priest who performs the Sacrament of Baptism is not related to the person being baptized, but remains the performer of the Sacraments. Canonically, a priest can baptize his children, but established tradition does not approve of this, because parents are already obliged to raise their child in the Christian faith together with their children. There is another custom. If a child dies and there are no adopters, the priest can simultaneously take on the responsibilities of the celebrant of the Sacrament and the child’s godfather.

Monastics do not have the right to be godfathers. There have been exceptions in the history of the Church when archimandrites were godparents of reigning persons, especially heirs to the throne. But the exception does not negate the rule.

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Based on this, our godmother is our grandmother. My mother-in-law. I chose my godmother not based on age characteristics or health conditions, but to fulfill the main task - the spiritual education of the child. And most importantly, she wanted it herself. It is very important!! That is, the person is mature and already aware of the consequences of her decision.

Holy Scripture speaks categorically about one baptism. For at baptism a mysterious sacred act takes place, during which a simple person becomes a Christian. If for some reason he falls away from the Orthodox faith, when he wants to return again, he is accepted through repentance, and not re-baptism. Moreover, the “sacraments” of other religions are graceless and invalid.

Who can be godparents and who can't

If you want your child to be raised in the Orthodox faith, choose only believers who know prayers and regularly attend church services. If people do not visit the temple and believe, as they say from time to time, then great doubt arises about their serious attitude to the sacrament and their duties.

If the sister is a believer, an Orthodox person, she can become a godmother. But it is desirable that the godmother is already quite an adult, because she will have to bear responsibility not only for herself, but also for her godson. Many who have adult sisters take them as godparents. After all, no one will take care of a godson like a loved one.

Can a Native Grandmother Be a Godmother to Her Grandson?

Why do you create such fears? No priest will forbid baptizing a child if the godfather has not done everything you listed! In our church, people come to baptize at the end of the service, and no one asks (or rather, everyone sees perfectly well) when people came.

about the Creed for sure. and you also need to be physically resilient enough, because before the christening you need to stand for a service for at least two hours and confess and hold the child in your arms for the whole process, and this is another hour and a half, standing. 010: I definitely wouldn’t be able to be a godmother, if only for that reason. I’m not even talking about the fact that a godfather is a spiritual parent, a mentor, and should be a very close person to the child and parents.

Can a grandfather be a godfather?

From an everyday point of view, the godfather should be a person you trust, a Christian in worldview (that is, wears a cross), and at the same time as distant a relative as possible, and, preferably, not a relative at all. This is how the child’s circle of useful people expands: it’s difficult to turn to a father’s friend for help, but it’s easy to turn to a godfather.

No, it cannot, just like the adoptive godparents must be young enough and should not be immediate relatives. The meaning of godmotherhood and fatherhood is that after the sacrament is performed, godparents are responsible for you and your upbringing before God and people as for their own child. And it used to be a rule that if a child lost his parents, he was accepted into the family of godparents, like his own child - a kind of insurance, spare parents!

ABOUT THE NAME AND GODPARENTS

2. You are the godmother of your nephew. And one more thing: when I was about 10 years old, my relatives “made” me my nephew’s godmother. A friend asks me to be her daughter's godmother. Can I be a godmother in this case? Marriage between a child's godfather and godmother is strictly prohibited. We have a godmother. My beloved and I (I am 33 years old, she is 27 years old) are godparents of one child (a boy). It is up to you to agree or refuse to be the child’s godfather. Therefore, any other people, whether relatives or not, can be godparents to the child.

Father knows my mother-in-law well, he knows that she constantly goes to church, and he allowed it without any questions. My acquaintances and friends who recently baptized their children did not make such demands. I understand that this remains on everyone’s conscience... Tell us about your experience, how were you told whether it was necessary or not? Or maybe one confession will be enough for the husband. But the most authoritative of the theologians of the Russian Church, Saint Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow, resolutely forbade such marriages. So I think your mother has reason to be worried.

Can a grandfather be a godfather?

Here's the question. In the city where we live, we no longer have baptized friends or male acquaintances. The grandfather of the future son on his husband’s side agreed to become the godfather. Is it possible. And is it necessary for a boy to have a godmother, or can he do without her?

In order to baptize a child, it is necessary to choose godparents. And the Orthodox Church strictly sets the requirements for who can be godparents, so it is important to know and follow these rules. Baptism The sacrament itself is performed directly in the church. There are no age restrictions for joining Orthodoxy, so this ritual can be performed by a person at any age.

Can a grandmother give citizenship to her grandson?

Good afternoon. My son has a residence permit in the Russian Federation. Maybe he can obtain citizenship in a simplified form by providing his grandmother’s Russian citizen’s passport. That is, can a grandmother give citizenship to her grandson? Thank you in advance.

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j) simplified acquisition of citizenship for persons recognized by a special commission as native speakers of the Russian language (this opportunity exists for persons permanently residing in the territory of the Russian Federation or whose relatives in the direct ascending line (parents, grandmothers, etc.) live or have lived in the territory of the Russian Federation) .

Can a husband and wife be godparents for one child?

We received the priest's answer to this question in one of the Moscow churches. The priest explained that people close to you who are Orthodox Christians can be godparents for a child. If you are confident in a person and can rely on him in any situation, then you can safely choose him as godparents for your child. Not only your friend, but also a relative can be a godfather. You can even take your mother or father as godparents for the child. Your siblings or cousins can also act as godparents. Don’t be afraid to take on people who already have godchildren as godparents. After all, you are allowed to have as many godchildren as you like.

Can a grandmother baptize her grandson without parental consent?

Things are getting worse for me, my husband wants to baptize the child. I don't want. Despite all this, I know the Bible better, I don’t believe in evil eyes, and I suppress other pagan nonsense, for everything is from God. And this smart guy doesn’t even know the 10 commandments, but he’s trying to get him to get baptized.

Probably, it all depends on the priest - how to agree. Now they are asking to present a birth certificate - if you are so against it, do not give the certificate. Although, with a personal agreement with the priest, she will probably resolve this issue. In addition, the mother must participate in the ritual. So without you, the ceremony will not be performed according to all the rules.

How are godparents chosen for a child? Who shouldn't be a godfather?

Choosing the right godparents for a child is extremely important in relation to the help that is expected from them during the ceremony itself. And first of all, this applies to the godmother. She, among other things, must take care of the gift for the child and the various things necessary for performing the sacrament, such as a baptismal shirt, a towel and, of course, a pectoral cross that will be worn on him. By the way, it should be noted that during the sacrament her presence is necessary, while the godfather can only participate in it in absentia.

It is also very important to take into account that after washing in the font, the child is picked up by his godmother, and care must be taken to ensure that this does not cause stress for the baby. It is highly desirable that the candidate for this role has held him in her arms before, and he is familiar with her features. The same can be said about the godfather. In the entire range of issues related to how godparents are chosen for a child, this occupies one of the main places.

The best christening gift from grandmother to grandson

Christening gifts from a grandmother to her grandson can be different. You can give your child an icon depicting the Holy Trinity, Jesus Christ and the events with his participation described in the Gospel, the Blessed Virgin Mary, angels and saints of God, an icon dedicated to various holidays and events of sacred history, or a small icon depicting the child’s patron saint. Remember that the item you donated will be kept in your family as a family heirloom and will remind you of this memorable day. An icon with the image of the patron saint in a silver frame can be hung over the child’s crib as a talisman. On such a day, you can present the child with a children’s Bible with illustrations, a book about the life of a saint, or a children’s prayer book.

What should be a christening gift from a grandmother to her grandson? On the day of baptism, according to tradition, a grandmother can give her grandson a gold or silver spoon “for the first tooth.” Its stalk can be decorated with the head of an angel or any animal (kitten, bunny). To ensure that the baby grows up healthy, he is given his first complementary foods from this spoon. You can give a set of silver children's dishes - a plate, cup and spoon (they are sold in a jewelry store or souvenir department). Another option is silver bells-amulets that hang over the baby’s crib. You can give your granddaughter gold jewelry that she will wear when she grows up - earrings, a chain with a pendant, a ring.

Question to the priest

— Is it possible for a mother or father, grandmother or grandfather to be godparents to their child or grandson?
— According to the canons and traditions of the Orthodox Church, a mother and father cannot become godparents of their own child. They are already entrusted with the responsibility of spiritual education of their child. The task of godparents is to help the blood parents in the Christian upbringing of the adoptive child, and in the event of the death of the parents, to try to replace them as far as possible. Grandparents can become godparents of their grandchildren.

— Catholics in their churches and cathedrals sit on benches during services, Muslims pray sitting on carpets... Why do Christians endure long services?

- There are several explanations for this. Firstly, Orthodox Christians during services can also sit at certain moments (for example, during the reading of the Psalter). But the fact is that in our churches there is simply no space to place benches or chairs. Then everyone who wants to pray will simply not be able to enter the temple. In Orthodox Greece there are chairs in churches, but there are many more churches there than in Russia. For example, on the Greek island of Corfu there are 800 temples per 110 thousand people. As a rule, these are small churches attended by regular parishioners from nearby houses. Therefore, everyone there has, relatively speaking, their own place. Now compare with the situation in Pokrovsk, where the population is twice as large and there are 100 times fewer churches.

There are benches in Orthodox churches, and weak, sick or simply very tired people can always sit down. However, zealous parishioners try to stand through the entire service without talking or moving around the church unnecessarily. After all, this is our small sacrifice to God. If we cannot always give God our heart and attentive prayer, then let us try to devote at least part of our time and our work to Him. In addition, services in Greek and Russian monasteries, in which monks can sit part of the time, last from 5 to 9 hours. And we come to the temple for 1.5–2 hours. This time you can stand.

I know from experience that it is easier to pray standing: you feel more collected, focused on prayer, and, strange as it may seem, more free. This is probably why regular parishioners do not have such a question.

— When you go to a temple, there are always people asking for alms, and often these are people who drink, homeless people, gypsies with children. How does the Church feel about this and should they be served?

“We need to approach this differently, because different life circumstances bring a person to poverty. For some, this is a consequence of great grief, an accident that broke a person. And someone begs for alms, falls down because of their own laziness, because of an unwillingness to work or fight their passions (for example, alcoholism). And it is usually impossible to decide at first glance which case is in front of you. Therefore, if you want to help a person, but you doubt that the money will go to good causes and not to the next portion of alcohol, it’s better to serve him a loaf of bread. By the way, “professional” beggars, for whom alms are a constant source of income, and not a gesture of despair, will most likely refuse food and ask for money (and sometimes they will name the amount). I think it’s not worth giving to such people at all.

If you want to really help someone (not limiting yourself to 50 kopecks accidentally found in your pocket), contact the social service of the Holy Trinity Cathedral. The head of this service, Nina Alekseevna Naumova, will tell you about people who have disabled children who themselves are seriously and seriously ill. These people, as a rule, will never stand near the temple with an outstretched hand, but their need is no less acute than that of those you listed. Your help will definitely reach the recipient and will not bring you such painful thoughts.

— How often should you confess and receive communion?

- This question is personal, the answer to it depends on the questioner: how often does he go to church, how much of a church member? Currently, there is a practice according to which regular parishioners who regularly attend divine services try to receive communion and confession at least twice a month, as well as on the twelve great holidays. But in any case, you should ask for a blessing from the priest, who will determine for you how regularly you should start receiving Communion.

As for confession, it is difficult to determine any pattern. You need to confess every time you feel that you have committed actions that need to be repented of. Moreover, this needs to be done quite often: the more often a person thinks about his actions and brings repentance to them, the more attentive his life is and the greater the likelihood that he will sin less often. Indeed, in the Sacrament of Repentance, the Lord not only forgives a person’s sins, but also gives strength to correct his life.

“We had a child, I wanted to baptize him, but my husband says that he is still too young for this, the baptism ceremony must be performed at a conscious age. Is it so?

— In the Orthodox Church, the Sacrament of Baptism is currently performed on both adults and children. At the same time, an adult must be familiar with the basics of the Christian faith that he is going to accept, and with the rules of life for a Christian. To do this, nowadays people who are going to receive the Sacrament of Baptism must undergo public conversations.

A child, especially an infant, cannot recognize or understand this. But the Church baptizes him according to the faith and prayers of his parents and successors. This means that parents - both godparents and blood - make a promise to God and the Church to raise their child in Orthodoxy.

Of course, there is some truth in my husband's words. Conscious faith, sometimes hard-won, is perceived as a personal choice. While faith acquired, so to speak, by tradition, is not always valued. But still, if you and your spouse are believers, it is better to have your child baptized in infancy. After all, then the Church will pray for him, you will be able to remember him during the Liturgy. And the mother’s prayers, combined with church-wide prayer, can save the child from many troubles.

— Nowadays there are many mixed marriages, when spouses are representatives of different religions. How does the Orthodox Church relate to the transition from one faith to another? How is this ritual performed?

— The Orthodox Church professes that Christianity is the only true religion of all world religions. This is not snobbery, not a disdainful attitude towards dissenters, but simply an honest position. If we carefully study the basic tenets of world religions, we will see that in many ways they are opposite. For example, in Christianity there is a doctrine of a Personal God, but in Buddhism there is none at all. Christianity teaches that God is Love, and Christ is the Son of God and Lord; Islam is dominated by the idea of God as a strict Judge, and Christ is perceived as one of the prophets. You cannot say about the same thing that it is both black and white at the same time, and you also cannot say that you are a Christian and a Muslim in one person. You need to choose something.

Therefore, the Church has a good attitude towards the transition from other religions to Orthodoxy. Muslims, Buddhists, as well as people who profess all kinds of occult ideas about the world, must become familiar with the basics of Christianity, confess and accept the Sacrament of Baptism. Protestants of traditional denominations and Catholics convert to Orthodoxy through repentance and participation in the Sacrament of Communion, before which they confess the Orthodox Creed.

When, on the contrary, Christians renounce the confession of Christ as God, the Church treats them poorly due to the reasons stated above. There can, of course, be no ritual on the part of the Church here. A person voluntarily falls away from church fellowship and can be accepted back through repentance.

As for marriages, it can probably be argued that there are now many families in which the spouses, although formally belonging to a certain religion, do not profess any of them in their lives.

— Nowadays, trips to holy places are very popular, in particular to Diveevo, which are always accompanied by bathing in holy springs. I would like to know if there are any canons for such ablution? They say, for example, that you must plunge into the source with your head.

- According to pious tradition, one plunges headlong into the source, three times, with the prayer “In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” However, it should be noted that bathing in holy springs is not an indispensable and obligatory attribute of visiting holy places, but serves only as an addition to the pilgrimage trip.

If you are going to Diveevo or another revered place - a monastery or temple, first of all you should attend a service there, if possible, confess and receive communion, get acquainted with the history of the monastery, read a canon or akathist to a revered saint. And then, if you have the determination and your health allows, plunge into the source. You need to carefully ensure that bathing, purchasing icons, and butter do not overshadow the main thing in your heart—a prayerful appeal to God and the saints.

The baptism of a baby is one of the most important family holidays. Since young parents usually have little understanding of church canons and traditions, the main burden of organizing the event falls on grandmothers. There is a lot of trouble ahead: you need to make sure that everything goes smoothly and according to the rules. Another difficult task is to choose what to give your granddaughter for her christening from her grandmother.

On the day of baptism, it is customary to give a measured icon - an image of the Patron Saint, made in the full height of a baby. On this holiday, she will automatically acquire protective power and will serve as a talisman for the baby. Canonical images of the Virgin Mary and the child’s guardian angel are also considered a good gift. In this case, it is not necessary to chase the size of the icon. A small image given from the heart is enough.

Church shops now sell many other baptismal attributes that can leave the day of a granddaughter’s spiritual birth in the memory for a long time. You can, for example, buy an amulet, a children's Bible, or a set from the “Lives of the Saints” series. Having learned that amazing books were given specifically for christening, the girl will definitely begin to read them as she gets older, gaining invaluable experience of the Christian faith.

Things that have the status of “keepers of memories” will also be a good choice. These include small boxes for the first tooth and lock of hair, a tag with a bracelet from a baby’s hand. Later, when the child leaves his home, they can be handed over in a solemn atmosphere, and at the same time remember the caring grandmother and the exciting day of christening.

On such a day, a mature woman, wise with experience, will not miss the opportunity to buy for her granddaughter some useful thing that her parents have not yet had time to take care of. For example, a blender, a wet vacuum cleaner, a playpen, a warm blanket, a walker, a small chair, a humidifier, a heater.

Any clothes made from natural fabrics will do, because inexperienced parents often chase beautiful synthetics, and a wise grandmother cannot like this in principle. A very valuable gift would be hand-knitted items - hats, suits, socks, blankets, booties. Such a thing always keeps the warmth of a loved one and will also serve as a kind of amulet. Below we have collected for you some interesting christening gift ideas for your granddaughter.

Is it possible for a grandmother to become a godmother for her granddaughter?

It was my grandmother who baptized my eldest son! I am 11 years apart from her, and throughout our childhood we lived in the same apartment (this is my mother’s sister), almost everyone mistook us for sisters. Later I baptized her son, it turns out my uncle)))) there are no prohibitions from the church on this! You simply can’t think of better godparent relatives, well, this is from my own experience. And you proceed from your personal relationships, well, it’s worth taking into account the age of this grandmother (I don’t know, maybe she’s 70 years old! I don’t understand these matchmakers and daughters-in-law.).

Our granddaughter is already nine months old, and soon we want to baptize her in the church. My matchmaker, my daughter-in-law’s mother, which means the child’s grandmother, wants her to be the godmother. It seems to me that this is not entirely correct, the grandmother and granddaughter are too closely related. But I have no idea how to convince my matchmaker of this.

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Can a grandmother be a godmother: features of choice, responsibilities, instructions from clergy

At least three Sundays in a row, future godparents must attend services. A conversation is held with them. The priest is talking, finding out whether the prospective godparents can become godparents. Godparents attend lectures on faith and baptism. These are read in almost every temple.

Firstly, there should be no makeup on your face. We go to the temple to God, and not to the podium. Someone will laugh: they say, what kind of cosmetics when it comes to grandma? Not all grandmothers are of this age. Some people become like this at the age of 40, so why not take care of themselves now?
Secondly, we dress decently for church. This means that the future godmother must wear a dress or skirt below the knees. If this is a dress, then it is closed. If the choice fell on a skirt and a jacket, then the latter should be completely closed. A scarf or hat is put on the head. The presence of a woman with her head uncovered in the temple is unacceptable.
Thirdly, take care of comfortable shoes. You will have to stand for quite a long time, your legs will get tired.
The godmother should not have women's days.
You can't be late for christenings. This is disrespect towards the priest.
Many people are interested in the question of how much it costs to baptize a child. The size of the donation must be checked with the candle box of the temple in which the baby is planned to be baptized.
Is it necessary to thank the priest for the sacrament performed? Everything here is individual, depending on the capabilities of the baby’s family and godparents.
Baptismal accessories are purchased by godparents. They also pay for the baptism. The parents are responsible for the festive table.

Theme: Godparents

As far as I know, a husband and wife cannot be godparents of the same child, and then the godfather marries the godson/cannot get married. Because in the eyes of God they seem to become spiritual relatives and marriage between godparents or between godfather and godson is incest. This does not apply to the relatives of the godparents and the godson, only the godson and godparents, i.e. The godson and the children of the godparent can get married. And of course, godparents must be baptized themselves. There is also an age limit. And that's it, there are no more restrictions.

We discussed our godparents with our friends and tried to remember what the restrictions were. So maybe who knows. Can uncles and aunts be godparents? Can girlfriends be godparents to each other's children? Those. It’s clear that one can be the godmother of the other’s children, but in this case, can the second be the godmother of the first’s children? Can the godmother's children and the godson himself marry each other later? Can both husband and wife be baptists of the same child?

Can a grandmother be a godmother?

It was then that, as a sign of royal or grand-ducal favor, they agreed to be considered the godparents of this or that baby without the presence of one of the godparents. But, since we are talking about today's situation, you will have to do as you want.

Of course, it would be better if the child had both godparents. Let you choose better than some good pious person who could take the blessing from his confessor to the role of godfather or godmother.

Can a Native Grandmother Be a Godmother to Her Grandson?

Girls are more often given beautiful outfits and dresses than boys; you can also give all kinds of jewelry boxes or music boxes with angels, etc. for growth. A very practical gift for a girl from her grandmother would be a special headscarf for visiting the temple, which will not twist and cause inconvenience. In addition, such a scarf will look unusual and very beautiful.

You should definitely give your grandson a life-size icon. It is an icon depicting a guardian angel or some other saint and is usually painted to order. This process takes at least a month. The icon is made the size of a baby, which is why it is called measured or life-size. It is generally accepted that such an icon is capable of protecting and protecting the hero of the occasion throughout his life. However, a measured icon costs a lot of money, so not every family can give such a gift to a child. Previously, in order to give a life-size icon, relatives together collected funds for it. And the tradition itself associated with the measured icon originated in Rus' many centuries ago. She has always been especially revered among other gifts.