I had a story once.
The pastor came to me and asked me to baptize his son, said Father N, a priest he knew.
We met on our farm and talked. Well, that’s a conversation. A few fathers stood and talked, and I quietly huddled around. I was hoping to hear something useful. You didn’t.
Once upon a time, as I wrote, this man came to the temple to talk about the baptism of a child. Found a priest, and it was Father N. It was revealed that he was a pastor of a Western Protestant church. There is a representative office here in Moscow. The man himself is Russian.
— A nice man, we are almost the same age, recalled the father. — Both came to believe in the ’90s. Only I am Orthodox, and he is to himself. At that time, these Protestant movements were very fashionable. They were going to the cinemas…
And the man kept saying, I really want to baptize my son. Very!
But it was important for Father N to understand why this man, a pastor, suddenly wants his child to be baptized in our Orthodox Church.
— My son has autism, he explained. We baptize only adults and only on condition that a person can clearly proclaim the faith in his own name. Consciously understand, explain and confess it. And I realized now that he never… She’ll never be able to do that! And I can never baptize my boy with us.
The situation was unconventional, and Father N asked for a short reprieve. Of course, he did not think to refuse. I just wanted to advise on how best to do it. Especially since the pastor insisted on full immersion. This was a mandatory condition. And the child is special, and he is about seven years old.
As a result, the father offered them to find two Orthodox priests who, as is customary with infants, would pronounce vows for the child. Then I met three more times with my parents and potential godparents.
The boy was dipped in an adult font. Father N and godfather held his hands on both sides of the font.
— Everything was very solemn, recalled the father. — The boy behaved perfectly. It was evident that he was in a world of his own. This was my first encounter with autism. I told this family that I would always be happy to talk to them. Unfortunately, they didn’t come here again. I was a little worried that I could not lead them to our faith. And then I remembered the words of a wise priest: “You must not be persuaded.” We must bear witness to Christ.”
Father N paused and thought for a moment. And then he said to me and to my father,
— You know what I learned from this story? That our Church is alive!
And that the God in whom we believe is important and needs every person. Anybody. Healthy, sick… Strong and disabled…
Who can utter the Creed, who will never speak, and who understands little from our human point of view. Our healthy children and the pastor’s child who has autism. Through the Sacrament of Baptism, our Church gives birth to all of us into a new life. And we are all children of God. He’s waiting for everyone. This is the testimony of Christ!
I stood there talking to Father N and thought…
I have Mary with Down syndrome. And she, too, never consciously utters the Creed and will probably never fully understand what Christianity is.
And she remembered Olenka. A girl of seventeen, with deep mental retardation, who does not speak at all, does not realize much, and who once came with her mother to our farmstead.
She was very noisy, which caused discontent, and her mother — condemnation. And my Masha downer smiled at her and extended her shoulder blade. And Olenka laughed back. I gave my daughter a piece of paper.
They were standing there, looking at each other and saying something. And God smiled at them from heaven. Because He knew that these children, His children, understood the point. There is nothing above love. This is Christianity…
I remembered Romka. A boy with paralyzed legs, who moved around the playground crawling, spoke poorly and was severely behind in development. And when someone took the bucket from my Sonka and she began to cry at the top of her voice, Roma crawled up to her and held out his toy: “Don’t cry!” This boy knew the most about God. And confessed him like no one else.
I remember that guy… He was an adult, but with the face of a little boy. And with the same consciousness. There was no thought in his eyes.
But one day at the service I saw him listening to the gospel. He’s all lit up. Eyes became meaningful. He was a perfectly healthy man. I don’t know if he understood the words… At that moment he felt Christ in his heart. And that grace transformed him. He felt the most important thing: God exists.
You know, I don’t have any hard theological questions, I’m just a housewife. It is difficult for me to talk about the subtleties of baptism in different confessions. But then I remembered all these people. They will never be able to “consciously proclaim their doctrine.” They cannot interpret Scripture and analyze the Bible.
What a joy that God needs them all! God needs us all! The Lord I believe in.
And our Church is alive! Where there’s room for everyone. And everyone in it feels God. And may bear witness to Him.
Author: Elena Kucherenko (Pravmir)
The Holy Land Charitable Foundation
Soul investment!
Orthodox stories from life
