The late Peter Gomes once commented on Eastern Orthodox baptism...
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The late Peter Gomes once commented on Eastern Orthodox baptism and said: "... when a child is baptized -- and by 'child' I mean an infant, not a squalling seven year old but a real infant, literally still damp -- after the baptism has been performed the minister or priest or bishop takes his very large pectoral cross -- twice the size of mine -- and forcefully strikes the little child on its breast, so hard that it leaves a mark, and so hard that it hurts the child and the child screams. In the West, we give the child roses. What is the difference here?
The symbolism of the Eastern baptism is clear, indicating that the child who has been baptized into Christ must bear the cross, and that the cross is a sign not of ease... or of prosperity or of success, but of sorrow, suffering, pain, and death; and by it those things are overcome."
The symbolism of the Eastern baptism is clear, indicating that the child who has been baptized into Christ must bear the cross, and that the cross is a sign not of ease... or of prosperity or of success, but of sorrow, suffering, pain, and death; and by it those things are overcome."
