Today is a Great Day: On Baptism in Prison

Juwann stands at the front of the prison chapel, dressed in the same jumpsuit he has worn for the past ten years as an inmate of the Pennsylvania state corrections system. But this is no ordinary day. Beside him is Rassophore Monk Michael, a monastic of the nearby St. Tikhon’s Monastery, and soon to be godfather. Before him are three Orthodox priests in white and gold vestments, for today is the day Juwann will be baptized into Christ. “Let us pray to the Lord,” one priest intones, before the other thirty people in attendance, most of them in the same clothes as Juwann, answer, “Lord, have mercy.”

Imagine what the opening prayer of this service means to someone sentenced to spend the rest of their lives amidst a constant threat of violence. In Thy Name, O Lord of truth, and in the Name of Thine Only-begotten Son, and of Thy holy Spirit, I lay my hand upon Thy servant, who has been found worthy to flee unto Thy holy name, and to take refuge under the shelter of Thy wings. Remove far from him his former delusion, and fill him with the faith, hope and love which are in Thee; that he may know that Thou art the only true God…Inscribe him in Thy Book of Life, and unite him to the flock of Thine inheritance…Let Thine eyes ever regard him with mercy, and let Thine ears attend to the voice of his supplication.

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