Baby Drowns During Baptism

[Apotheoun]

[i]This story is so terribly sad. Prayers for all involved.[/i]




[b]Priest in Moldova, Father Valentin, Allegedly Drowns Baby During the Child's Baptism[/b]

[i]July 28th 2010
New York Daily News[/i]

It all went so very wrong.

A priest in Moldova has been accused of accidentally drowning a 6-week-old baby during the boy's baptism, according to London's Daily Mail.

The baby's relatives said he died Friday after the priest, who is referred to only as Father Valentin, did not cover the tot's mouth and nose when he immersed the child in water three times.

The priest said he isn't to blame for the child's death in the Eastern European country. But the child's family thinks otherwise.

"We couldn't believe it but we thought the priest must know what he's doing, but he didn't. When we got him back there was nothing that could be done anymore," the baby's godmother, Aliona Vacarciuc, 32, told London's Sun.

"We all saw it. The priest didn't put his hand over the baby's mouth to stop water going in as he should have done and as they do at every other baptism," said the child's father, Dumitru Gaidau, 36.

The baby died on the way to the hospital, Gaidau told a local television station. Dr. Sergiu Raileanu said the cause of death was drowning.

Police have launched a manslaughter investigation. If the priest is found guilty, he could spend up to three years behind bars.


Source: [url="http://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2010/07/death-of-infant-after-baptism-in.html"]Mystagogy[/url]

[Brother Adam]

That is terrible.

[Archaeology cat]

[dominicansoul]

that IS terrible, but when you think about it...this little soul's baptim caused his death, but it also brought about his birth into eternal life...he's now living in glory in Heaven

[Apotheoun]

Below is a video of a standard Eastern Orthodox baptism:

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5p4sjcFFTSo[/media]

[mcts]

[quote name='Apotheoun' timestamp='1281716342' post='2156515']
Below is a video of a standard Eastern Orthodox baptism:

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5p4sjcFFTSo[/media]
[/quote]

Whats that thing he's doing with his head from 0:56-0:59?

[mcts]

[quote name='mcts' timestamp='1281717019' post='2156525']
Whats that thing he's doing with his head from 0:56-0:59?
[/quote]

Also, he didnt' cover the baby's mouth. Wasn't that the problem from the OP?

[Apotheoun]

[quote name='mcts' timestamp='1281717019' post='2156525']
Whats that thing he's doing with his head from 0:56-0:59?
[/quote]
It looks to me as if the priest is making the sign of the cross with his head, while also breathing upon the infant (the priest does this action three times). That said, I do not see this specific action in the rubrics in my copy of [u]The Great Book of Needs[/u], but my translation of the ritual may not be complete, or it could be that this ritual action is unique to the Russian Orthodox Church.

[Apotheoun]

[quote name='mcts' timestamp='1281717255' post='2156528']
Also, he didnt' cover the baby's mouth. Wasn't that the problem from the OP?
[/quote]
I have never been to a baptism where the priest covered the child's mouth.

[Ziggamafu]

Every immersion-based infant baptism I've seen involved dipping the child (up to the chest) in body-temperature water and then sprinkling water three times. I would never allow my newborn to be fully immersed under water.

[let_go_let_God]

I have a couple of questions.

What is the necklace for at 3:40?

Why were they cutting the baby's hair at 6:25?

God bless-
LGLG

[mcts]

[quote name='Apotheoun' timestamp='1281718363' post='2156544']
I have never been to a baptism where the priest covered the child's mouth.
[/quote]

The OP made it sound like it was commonplace and that the Priest was being negligent by not doing so.

[Apotheoun]

[quote name='Ziggamafu' timestamp='1281722645' post='2156567']
Every immersion-based infant baptism I've seen involved dipping the child (up to the chest) in body-temperature water and then sprinkling water three times. I would never allow my newborn to be fully immersed under water.
[/quote]
Full immersion is the Tradition of the East. Infusion is only used when the person to be baptized is ill.

[Apotheoun]

[quote name='mcts' timestamp='1281724486' post='2156572']
The OP made it sound like it was commonplace and that the Priest was being negligent by not doing so.
[/quote]
Yes, I agree the source quoted by the Mystagogy website does make it sound that way, but again - based upon my own experience - I have never seen a priest cover a a child's mouth when baptizing him.

Edited August 13, 2010 by Apotheoun

[Apotheoun]

[quote name='let_go_let_God' timestamp='1281723713' post='2156568']
I have a couple of questions.

What is the necklace for at 3:40?[/quote]
It is - although I cannot see it clearly - most likely a baptismal cross.

[quote name='let_go_let_God' timestamp='1281723713' post='2156568']
Why were they cutting the baby's hair at 6:25?

God bless-
LGLG[/quote]
That is the Baptismal Tonsure, which normally involves the clipping of four locks of the newly illuminated person's hair in the form of a cross.