Mara’s Big Fat Greek Baptism
What is the adage about second children?
Thane was baptized at 10 months old. Almost twice that later, we still did not have an official date for Mara. We love the church in Ottawa and the priest is very welcoming, so we had the right location, we just happened to be 1000 miles from it. Our August trip though finally seemed to be the right answer.
The right answer was not without snags. Since we were driving and only there a week, we could not do the ceremony over a weekend, making it impossible for out of town family to be there. Also, it was falling during the massive Ottawa Greek Festival, who knew what complications that would bring.
Turned out it was no issue at all….and made it even more of a success!
We had a double baptism…Jay was chrismated first…with Pappou as his sponsor. He was already Catholic, so converting to Greek Orthodox was not a big ordeal. Apparently Pappou scratched him during the service, but Jay did not notice (the priest mentioned it). Jay’s was pretty straightforward. Asked a few questions, had some oil, got a haircut and he was done.
Then it was on to the main event. All the kids looked very cute dressed up. Yanick served as our photographer again, much to Giagia’s dismay as he ducked here and there for the perfect shot. Too bad we had the camera on the wrong setting (that’s why they are all fuzzy).
Mara did very well, albeit a little fidgety, but she did not utter a peep or a cry. At one point during it, Mara decided to give kisses and laugh after each kiss. She did this with me, daddy, and her nouno (godfather). (She would have given her Nouna, Lisa Marie, kisses too if she could have made the trip!).
I went back to get her undressed and all fidgeting ceased. Miss Mara realized the event was about her, and she was not going to miss a moment. She loved the olive oil bath so much that when the priest thought he was done, she quickly pointed out that she was enjoying it too much, please do continue. He laughed and gave her one more dunk in the holy water.
When Nouno did get her back to dry her off, she settled quietly in his arms. She looked like an infant more than a toddler, it was so peaceful.
Then I took her back to get her dressed in her new Christening gown.
After the service ended, one of the dancers came in to get us. We were to be introduced to the community and lead the Kalamatianos, a traditional Greek dance. They brought us to the festival, told them about the rite of baptism and introduced Mara Danaë. We then danced, Pappou in the audience, Jay, Thanos, Dimitri, Yanick, Steve with Mara in his arms, and me at the end. It was great, and Steve, who I have never seen dance, “danced” as we moved around the circle. OK, it was more like walking in the circle for him but he did very well. We then danced a few more times and Thanos loved every moment of it. At one point, a dad came up with his little boy about Thane’s age and asked if Thane could show him how to do the dance!
We then sat for dinner, and I like to add that Mara had 400 people at her Baptism dinner! We got some very good Greek food, Greek drinks, and Greek desserts. It felt like our big family again.
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