 Source of image: www.nbrb.by
|
| CHRISTENING
The Belarusians, Russians, and Poles believed that the natural and main purpose of a family was the birthing and upbringing of children, i.e. carrying on the family line. At all times, folk culture viewed children as the grace of God and a blessing for the family, while childlessness was seen as a misfortune. A mix of traditional baptismal customs, rites, magic spells, and beliefs was composed of three interrelated cycles - prenatal, natal, and postnatal.
The prenatal cycle included customs, beliefs, and rites designed to encourage a married couple to have children, conceive a child, and continue with the pregnancy. In traditional culture, the prenatal do's and don'ts for pregnant women were mainly based on the superstition that the same causes produce the same effect.
The natal cycle comprised customs, rites, and beliefs incidental to the behavior of the woman and the midwife's help in delivering the baby, cutting the umbilical cord, giving the baby the first bath, and ways of telling the baby's fortune at birth. The delivery, with the first child in particular, was seen as one of the most important psychophysical moments relating to the qualitative change in the state and status not only the woman herself but of her family as well, i.e. she became the mother, her husband the father, and their parents the child's grandmothers and grandfathers.
The postnatal cycle which was aimed at incorporating the newborn into the family and community included customs and rites designed to give the infant its name, visit the woman in labor, choose sponsors, have the infant baptized in the church, and celebrate infant baptism, as well as the rites of the first year of the infant's life.
On the day of the baptismal service in the church - the ceremony performed on Sunday two or three weeks after childbirth in which the newborn was formally welcomed into the Orthodox or Roman Catholic Church - the christening party was generally held, i.e. the family celebration to mark the birth of the child, Only married women and men were invited to attend. Women took various food with them and men brought cash. Godparents and the infant who returned from the Orthodox or Roman Catholic church were met by birth parents and guests on the porch. The midwife had her sheepskin coat on inside out to prevent the child from being afraid of the evil eye. As soon as godparents stepped across the threshold of the house, they were to call promptly the infant's Christian name so that the baby would begin to speak fluently and clearly in due course. Thereafter, the host invited all who were present to take their seats at the table to which the food cooked by the hostess and brought by guests was served. A special ritual dish at the christening party was the granny's porridge.
Today, some traditional rites, songs, and wishes, above all, of humanistic nature which help people to memorably mark the birth of a child and maintain good kin, friendly, and neighborly relationships are still being preserved in celebrating the christening, albeit in a changed form.
A.I. Lakotka
PhD (Architecture, History), Professor
Text from the official flyer “ CHRISTENING ” of the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus
| |
| Date : 06.05.2009 |
| Metal : Ag 925 |
| Diameter, mm : 38.61 |
| Weight, g : 31.10 |
| Mintage, St. : 25000 |
Minted by :
The Royal Mint, London,Great Britain |
Design :
S.Nekrasova |
 | 
 |
Ebay-Statistic
(Prices in Euro):
| Year |
Count |
Ave
rage |
Min. |
Max. |
| 2006 |
0 |
0,00 |
0,00 |
0,00 |
| 2007 |
0 |
0,00 |
0,00 |
0,00 |
| 2008 |
0 |
0,00 |
0,00 |
0,00 |
| 2009 |
10 |
35,07 |
30,53 |
37,50 |
| 2010 |
6 |
33,83 |
29,00 |
40,00 |
| 2011 |
0 |
0,00 |
0,00 |
0,00 |
|
This site as PDF
