Botez

Botez

Two family traditions that are cause for public ceremony in Romania are the wedding and the Christening. Last fall Nancy and I attended a Nunta, a wedding. This past weekend we were invited to join with many of our neighbors for a Botez. The young lady being Christened was six weeks old and she is the grandchild of our landlord and upstairs neighbors, Teo and Doina. The family is Orthodox and the service was performed in a small chapel off the orthodox theological seminary here in Cluj. A priest presided and he had a student assistant and two student cantors.

Bianca Maria was given her name, dunked in the holy basin three times, sprinkled with oil and had various rites done to her, including placing her on a white cloth on the floor of the alter. She was an excellent subject, remaining quiet for all except the third dunk into the water. The picture included above is just after that third dunk.

The parents of the child do not do much during the ceremony but admire. The work is left to two sets of God parents. The women take turns holding the baby while the men hold the candles. At one point they are led by the priest in walking two circles of the alter with a white ribbon tying them together. I am not sure of the significance of the rituals, but I do know that it is very important for every child to be associated with their name or patron saint. It is almost as if they have two birthdays a year – one on their birth date and the second on the celebration of the day of the saint for whom they were named. There is no Saint Bianca so Maria will serve as her patron.

After the ceremony at the chapel, the party moved to a hotel dining room where we enjoyed a full five course dinner and much celebration. The baby was provided a room to sleep in and she only made her appearance eight hours later when the cake showed up. Meanwhile the rest of us ate and danced and sipped our wine and danced and ate some more. The day lasted from 12:30 to nearly 10 that night.

Bianca’s older sister, Iulia Ioana, just turned four. A charming, irrpressable young lady. We often hear Iulia when she is visiting her grandparents and she brings our apartment block to life. Notice that all the feminine names end in the letter ‘a’. All Romanian women’s names do except for Carmen. Not sure how Carmen slipped in, but every other name ends in ‘a’. We wish these two particular ladies well as they progress through their youth. There is much for them to look forward to for their country is changing rapidly.