The Rite of Profession of Faith and Commitment to Christ
The following texts, translated from the Roman Malyj Trebnyk (1952), are based on the work of the Inter-Eparchial Liturgical Commission of the Byzantine (Ruthenian) Catholic Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh, and being made available for study by cantors enrolled in the courses of the Metropolican Cantor Institute. These texts are unofficial and provisional, and you should obtain episcopal permission before using them for any purpose other than private self-study.
At noon on Holy and Great Friday or at another convenient time between noon on Holy Friday and the Vigil Baptismal Liturgy of our holy father Basil the Great on Holy Saturday, the priest gathers the candidate(s) for baptism in the narthex of the church. The priest vests in epitrachilion and phelonion.
Deacon: Let us be attentive!
Priest: Peace be to all!
Response: And to your spirit!
The priest says to the candidate(s):
Priest: Stand with reverence and sign yourselves.
The candidate(s) make the sign of the Cross. The priest reads the following instruction:
This is the end of our instruction. This is the time of your redemption. Today you are to publish before Christ the contract of faith. We use our understanding, our tongue and our behavior for pen and ink. Watch, therefore, how you make your confession and make no mistake, lest you be deceived. When someone is about to die, they make a will and assign their inheritance to another. Tomorrow night (if on Saturday: tonight), you are going to die to sin. Now make your will, that is, your renunciation, and assign the devil as the heir of all your sins, and so dispose of your sins as an inheritance to him. Therefore, if any of you has anything belonging to the devil in your heart, throw it to him. Whoever dies no longer has power over possessions: let none of you keep in your heart anything that belongs to the devil. That is why you will stand and hold up your hands when I command, as though being searched, lest anyone has hidden anything belonging to the devil. Let no one harbor hate or anger, let no one behave with deceit, let no one listen now with hypocrisy. Throw to the devil “all that is filthy, every vicious excess.” Conduct yourselves like prisoners, for as such Christ ransoms you. Each of you shall look at the devil and hate him. Each of you must enter into your conscience, search your heart, and see what you have done. If there is anything evil in you, expel it. Let there be no hypocrisy in you, have no doubts about the mystery. The Word of God searches your heart, “sharper than any two-edged sword.” The devil now stands in the west, gnashing his teeth, tearing his hair, wringing his hands, biting his lips, crazed, bewailing his loneliness, disbelieving your escape to freedom. For this reason Christ sets you opposite the devil, that having renounced him you may take up warfare against him. The devil stands to the west because it is from there that darkness comes. Renounce him, and then turn towards the east and commit yourself to Christ. Do not be contemptuous. Behave with reverence: all that happens is very terrifying. All the powers of heaven are here: all angels and archangels. Unseen, the Cherubim and Seraphim record your voice: at this moment they look down from heaven to receive your vows and carry them to the Master. Take care, therefore, how you renounce the enemy and accept the Creator.
The priest then says:
Turn to the west and raise your hands.
The candidate(s) turn away from the altar and raise their hands palms forward. The priest asks three times:
Do you renounce Satan, and all his works, and all his angels and all his service, and all his pride?
Then the candidate(s) reply each time:
I do renounce him.
Then the priest asks once:
Have you renounced Satan?
The candidate(s) reply:
I have renounced him.
Then the priest says:
Turn to the east and lower your hands.
The candidate(s) turn toward the altar and lower their hands. The priest asks three times:
Do you unite yourself to Christ?
The candidate(s) reply each time:
Yes, I unite myself to him.
Then the priest asks once:
Have you united yourself to Christ?
The candidate(s) reply:
Yes, I have united myself to Christ.
The priest asks:
And do you believe in him?
The candidate(s) reply:
I believe in him as King and God.
And they continue:
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, the only-begotten, born of the Father before all ages. Light from light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in essence with the Father; through whom all things were made. For us and for our salvation, he came down from heaven and was incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became man. He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried. He rose on the third day according to the scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he is coming again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Creator of Life, who proceeds from the Father. Together with the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified; he spoke through the prophets. In one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. I profess one baptism for the remission of sins. I expect the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.
The priest asks again three times:
Have you united yourself to Christ?
The candidate(s) reply each time:
Yes, I have united myself to Christ.
Then the priest says:
Then worship him!
The candidate(s) bow and say(s):
I worship the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the Trinity, one in essence and undivided.
The priest says:
Blessed is God, who wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth, now and ever and forever. Amen.
Then the priest reads the following admonition to those who have committed themselves to Christ:
Behold, you have renounced the devil and committed yourself to Christ. The contract is fully written. The master keeps it in heaven. Study the articles of your agreement: remember, it will be brought forth on the day of judgment. Make no mistake about the capital, upon which interest will be required of you. Take care that you will not be ashamed at that dreadful tribunal before which all the powers of heaven tremble, and all humanity stands to be judged, with the myriads of angels, the armies of archangels, and the companies of heavenly powers, when there will be a river of fire, the undying worm , and the outer darkness. You must then acknowledge the contract you have written. If you are merciful and kind, you will have the merciful for your companions. But if you are inhuman and mean, unmerciful and abusive, slandering those who have not harmed you, then the devil will stand at your side as your companion and will say, “This person renounced me as master by words, but by deeds has served me.” Then, though angels mourn and all the righteous weep over you, the end of the process will be grave. It is said, “Whoever in this life falls into danger can find a protector, or call upon friends and be helped by relatives or even be released by payment.” But then there will be no such thing: no father to help, no compassionate mother, no brothers or sisters to stand by you, no friends to concern themselves for you. Everyone will stand naked, alone, with no one at their side, with only their own works to help them or to condemn them. Watch, therefore, and take care: you have renounced the devil, hate him until the end. You have united yourself to Christ, praise him to your last breath, walk in confession of the true faith to God the Master. Do not make a shipwreck of your faith. Have mercy upon the poor, do not despise the wicked, do not take what belongs to others, do not slander the innocent, do not give your ears to empty talk: and while you make your life secure on every occasion, fight also in defense of us who are priests. I have not hesitated to tell you the things that will help you. For the rest, it is for you to know how to watch them. For I have told you what I know, telling you these things for your benefit, lest a sword might come and take the soul out of the people of God. For the enemy watches your words and spirit and mind and movement and deeds. But do you secure yourselves that, “no opponent will be able to find anything bad to say about” you in the day of the dreadful judgment, that we may stand unashamed at the tribunal of Christ, and hear that blessed voice we have longed for, “Come, you have my Father's blessing! Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world”: to him belong all glory, honor, and worship, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and forever. Amen.
Deacon: Raise your hands in prayer!
And the candidates raise their hands palms upward for the following litany. The priest intones this litany even if a deacon is present.
Priest: For peace in the whole world, for the stability of the holy churches of God, and for the union of all, let us pray to the Lord.
Response: Lord, have mercy.
Priest: For our government and for all in the service of our country, and for the people that love Christ, let us pray to the Lord.
Response: Lord, have mercy.
Priest: For the salvation of our souls, and that Satan may be soon trampled down beneath our feet, and that this city may be kept free of violence, let us pray to the Lord.
Response: Lord, have mercy.
Deacon: Let us pray to the Lord.
Response: Lord, have mercy.
Priest: Master, Lord our God, call your servants [or: servant (name)] to your holy enlightenment and count them (him, her) worthy of this great grace of your holy baptism. Wash away their (his, her) old selves (self), and renew them (him, her) for everlasting life. Fill them (him, her) with the power of your Holy Spirit, that they (he, she) may be united with your Christ; and that they (he, she) may no longer be children (a child) of the flesh, but rather children (a child) of your kingdom.
Through the good will and grace of your only-begotten Son, with whom you are blessed, together with your all-holy, good, and life-creating Spirit, now and ever and forever.Response: Amen.
Priest: Peace be to all!
Response: And to your spirit.
Deacon: Bow your heads to the Lord.
Response: To you, O Lord.
Priest: God, our Savior, you will everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth: light the lamp of knowledge in our hearts and in the heart(s) of those (him, her) who approach(es) your holy enlightenment. Count them (him, her) worthy of this immortal gift and unite them (him, her) to your holy catholic Church, for it is yours to have mercy and to save, O our God, and to you we return praise, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and forever.
Response: Amen.
And each of the baptismal candidates approaches the priest individually and receives a blessing, and thus the service is dismissed.