Through Holy Baptism one is cleansed and absolved of the “original sin” that was committed by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The service represents Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. The individual is immersed in sanctified water three times in the name of the Holy Trinity. This symbolizes the three days Christ lay in the tomb following the Crucifixion. The ceremony of immersion is accompanied by the following prayer: “This servant of God, coming from the state of catechumen to baptism, is being baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and, being expiated by the blood of Christ from the captivity of sin, receives the adoption of the Heavenly Father, becoming co-heir with Christ and a temple for the Holy Spirit.”

Holy Baptism is the first of seven sacraments of the Armenian Church, and it is through baptism that one begins his or her life in the Church. For this reason, baptism is sometimes called the “Door of the Church,” and the sacrament itself begins in the narthex of the house of worship.

Through Holy Baptism one is cleansed and absolved of the “original sin” that was committed by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The service represents Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. The individual is immersed in sanctified water three times in the name of the Holy Trinity. This symbolizes the three days Christ lay in the tomb following the Crucifixion.