Baptism of "Elizabeth" and Ivana

Sveti Spas (Church of Salvation) in Skopje, Macedonia

If case you haven't already guessed Baba Ivana was the whirlwind behind the girls being baptized. However, I must admit after having visited several monasteries and churches over the last seven weeks I was intrigued by the idea. Macedonian culture, customs and history or so tied to Orthodox Christianity that it was something we could not leave without experiencing. You are talking centuries upon centuries of customs all topped off by the fact that their father, Dejan, was baptized in the exact same church as a baby.

As with everything else in Macedonia there was a list of procedures to follow and much preparation to do. It cost around $60 per child to have the baptism and then we also had to supply the church with a list of requested donations such as soap, towels and oil. Ok. Then we had to have a godmother and godfather for the girls. Of course, Baba calls upon her best friend, Ivana, who was also Dejan's godmother and her son, Igor, served as godfather. Igor's older brother, Ivica, had served as Dejan's godfather but he is now living in London so Igor took his place. As custom, they brought robes for the girls to be used during the baptism as well money.

It was ironic that on the way to the church Ivana was listening to her ipod and out of the 100 or so songs on it, she filled the car with the sound of her singing, Jesus Loves Me. The ceremony was lovely and there was no doubt the Lord's presence was felt in the room. Ivana wore a swimsuit rather than being nude. Truman was allowed jeans and a white t-shirt. I think we were all tense Ivana was going to burst out crying at the strangeness of the situation but she was a trooper - a true, stoic Macedonian. And you could tell Truman was moved by experience.

Sveti Spas is Baba Ivana's sister, Tica's church and the priest that did the ceremony, Goran, was a family friend, who had promised to try and be the one to perform the ceremony. Check. All just kept going on with seemingly divine intervention. The ceremony took around 30 minutes with the actual baptism taking place in a special room and concluding in the main church. (I also need to add this is the only time you can take photos of the inside of a church so I was thrilled). I obviously didn't understand the entire ceremony as it was in Macedonian. But generally it went down as the priest clearing any bad spirits from the girls, then blessing them in Christ. He took three small snips of their hair (which he gave us as a keepsake) to represent the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They also lit incense as the priest took them around the room bowing at certain points to represent them going forth in their walk with Christ.

I was hoping to be baptized as well but being pregnant omitted me from that experience. I guess I will be doing so someday with our newest family member. While they usually do this as babies, I really liked having the girls older and hopefully they will both remember the experience. This was also a time I wished my family had been with us to experience such a wonderful event.

After experiencing the ceremony, Dejan and I were both moved to ask the priest for our own family saint to be chosen. Again, another Macedonian custom. Most families have their own saint and on the special day during the year your particular saint is celebrated, your family must also do the same.

Dejan and I had to go to the front of the church and the priest asked Dejan to open some special book to a random page three times. The priest told us two of the picks had been St. Mary (Sveta Bogorodica) and the other one was Sveti Nikola (yes, i.e. Santa Claus). Again, irony or better yet divine intervention abounded. Sveta Bogordica was celebrated by Dejan's father's family and Sveti Nikola is celebrated by Baba Tica's family. I had always thought Sveti Nikola would be cool as Ivana was born in December and the anticipated new family member is expected for December as well. But..... while traveling through all of these churches and monasteries over the last few weeks I was repeatedly drawn to St. Mary and even purchased two icons of her. So, St. Mary it was but I think we will always consider them both dear to our family.

I would without hesitation say this was one of the highlights our our trip to Macedonia. And I will even admit that once again, my mother-in-law was right.

Note: As with every "event" in Macedonia, it now means it must be followed by a celebration. Somehow we are going to host 30 plus people in Baba and Dedo's apartment tonight. God help me.