Mnohaya Lita!

Yesterday was the christening of my godson's son. For the record, my godson Kyle is actually my cousin's son... which I think makes him my first cousin once removed. Which would make his son Gabriel... ummm... I have no idea. First cousin twice removed, I think. Complicated. Anyway, the christening was held at St. Mary's Ukrainian Church... no matter what Kyle's faults, at least the boy decided to baptize his son in the Ukrainian church. He was well trained, lol.

The christening was scheduled for 11 AM (which is more like 11:30 AM, Ukrainian time). When I got out of the shower at 10 AM, I saw that I had 3 missed calls, all from Kyle. I called him back immediately.

"What's up?" I said.

"Well... I'm in a bit of trouble," he replied.

Yeah, what else is new? "Okay, what do you need?" I asked.

He hesitated. "A godmother."

Yes, you read that right. The godmother that Kyle and Natalie had chosen for baby Gabriel called at 9:30 the morning of the christening and BACKED OUT. She didn't want to stand in front of people. She didn't think she was mature enough. (I got news for you, kiddo... no one involved is mature enough...) She asked Natalie (the baby's mother) if someone else could stand up and hold the baby for her... and Natalie informed her that it doesn't quite work that way.

So Kyle called in a favor... and of course, I accepted. It's always an honor to be chosen as a godparent. Even if I wasn't the first choice. I really don't mind that I wasn't their first choice... they're young, they have friends... and I'm already a godmother. But in all honesty, anyone who backs out of being a godparent less than two hours before the ceremony probably wouldn't be a very good godparent. So maybe it worked out for the best. Like my aunt said, God works in mysterious ways.

If any of you have ever been to a Ukrainian mass, you know how LONG it is. (And anyone who's been to St. Mary's... Sam, Tim, Miguel... you know how much their priest loves to talk.) A normal mass is about an hour and a half. Add the Baptism, Confirmation and reception of First Communion, and we're looking at a two hour ordeal.

(Sidenote, for those not familiar with the Ukrainian rite: in our tradition, a child is baptized and confirmed at the same time... and as of a few years ago, they also receive their First Communion the same day. Communion in the Ukrainian Church is a cube of bread soaked in wine... not the dry host that you receive in the Roman Catholic Church. So the baby gets the wine until he's old enough to have the bread.)

The ceremony started in the back of the church with baby Gabriel dressed in a onesie and wrapped in a red cloth. During this part, the parents and godparents renewed their baptismal vows. Then we proceed to the front of the church for an anointment of healing, which is followed by the actual baptism. Gabriel's onesie was removed and he was placed in the baptismal font, where water was poured over him. He was wrapped in a white cloth and handed back to his mother.

At this point, Natalie and I got to take Gabe back to the crying room to change him into his cute little christening suit (and... darn the luck... we missed Father's homily during that time). Once we returned, the ceremony continued. Now Gabe was wrapped in the white cloth again for his chrismation (which is when he was anointed with chrism... his confirmation). Then we were FINALLY allowed to return to our pew for the rest of the mass.

At communion time, Kyle took Gabriel up to receive the his First Communion. According to Kyle, Gabe seemed to enjoy the wine... typical Silva, lol. The mass continued... and then finally, blessedly... it was over, and everyone sang "Mnohaya Lita," which is a blessing for the baby, translating to, "God grant him many happy years." And then it was really over. Except for the taking of pictures. SIGH. And THEN it was over. (!)

Then we did what every good Ukrainian family does after a ceremony... we ate. And it was good. (Mmmm... kielbasa... )

So now I have two godsons. My godson and my godson's son. Crazy stuff, huh? And isn't the baby a cutie???