Invitation to Godparents & Godchildren by Metropolitan Cleopas of Sweden

January 30, 2022
Beloved brethren,

As we make our way into the year 2022, together with our rich liturgical calendar, we are continuing our Sunday Dedications, which were first established last year.
Our 5th Sunday Dedication will focus on the role of Sponsor (godfather/godmother) – an important concept and feature in the life of the Church. Naturally, the act of sponsoring someone relates to the Holy Sacrament of Baptism – our first introduction to the faith. Through Baptism, the newly illuminated member undergoes a spiritual rebirth. Inside the baptismal font, which is the spiritual womb of the Church, the old corruptible man dies and the new one, who is incorruptible, is reborn, as was the case with our Lord Jesus Christ.
The baptism of a new member always serves as an occasion of great joy. Let us remember the words of our Lord Himself, Who assures that “he that believes and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16). This joy extends up to the heavens as well, because beginning on the day of our baptism, an angel is sent to accompany us for the remainder of our lives, while God henceforth turns a watchful eye upon the person who has clothed himself with Him, as St. Paul writes to the Galatians noting “for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”
The godparent takes on the important role of guarantor toward the Church with regard to its newest member and their progress in the faith. This role is not exclusively limited to offering gifts on special occasions throughout the year or fulfilling some sort of social obligation. In fact, ever since the time that infant baptisms were instituted, the godparent substitutes for the child in expressing its will. He or she speaks for the child when confessing the true faith, rubs all of the child’s body with holy oil to help it slide away from the snares of the devil and be ready for the struggle to prepare the Gospel of peace, and together with the child’s parents, assumes the responsibility for the child’s Christian upbringing.

With these thoughts in mind and full realization of the sanctity of the Sacrament of Baptism, along with the significance of the role of the godparent, we invite all of you who have been blessed to become godparents or desire to do so to come to the St. George Cathedral of Stockholm (Birger Jarlsgatan 92) on Sunday, February 6, 2022. Following the Divine Liturgy, which begins at 10 a.m., I ask that you join us for the Sunday Dedication, where you will have an opportunity to attend a timely introduction on the role of godparents and accept the thanks of our local Church for showing yourselves worthy to take on this all-important spiritual responsibility.
Awaiting your participation at our upcoming Sunday Dedication, I remain,

With love in Christ and many paternal blessings,

† Metropolitan Cleopas of Sweden