Why is proper baptism performed by full immersion? What should you do if you don’t know how you were baptized? #

The 50th Apostolic Canon prescribes deposing a bishop or priest who does not perform the Sacrament of Baptism with three full immersions. The New Testament provides several examples of baptism, all of which were performed in bodies of water: John the Forerunner baptized in the Jordan; the Ethiopian eunuch was baptized in a river; and according to Tradition, St. Peter baptized three thousand people in the Pool of Siloam after his sermon on Pentecost.

The Greek word baptisma, translated into Russian as крещение (“baptism”), originally meant “immersion.” Additionally, the spiritual and symbolic meaning of baptism necessitates full immersion. Baptism represents death and burial, specifically the union of the baptized person with Christ, who died on the Cross and was buried in the tomb. St. Paul writes about this in his Epistle to the Romans:

“Do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? Therefore, we were buried with Him by baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so too we might walk in newness of life”
(Epistle to the Romans, lection 91).

St. Ambrose of Milan explains these words as follows:

“Baptism is like death—when you are immersed in water; but it is also undoubtedly a likeness of resurrection—when you arise. As the Apostle explains, just as Christ’s rising is a rebirth, so too is rising from the font a rebirth.”

If the sacrament of baptism is not performed with full, triple immersion, the meaning of the sacrament itself is violated, and it is not considered valid; the person is deemed unbaptized. Christ died and was fully buried in the tomb, not partially. Likewise, a Christian desiring to die with Him and rise to new life must be fully immersed in the baptismal waters and rise cleansed of sin. The immersion is performed three times, expressing the baptized person’s faith in the Holy Trinity.

Among Roman Catholics, the practice of baptism by pouring or even sprinkling instead of three full immersions arose. This incorrect Latin practice was adopted by Russian new-ritualists after the 17th-century Schism, where pouring or sprinkling instead of triple immersion became widespread. However, even before the Schism, such practices were observed in western Russian territories influenced by Uniatism and Latin customs.

The Nomocanon appended to the Great Book of Needs by Patriarch Philaret prescribes rebaptizing in three immersions anyone coming from regions affected by Uniatism who had not been baptized with three full immersions. He explicitly states that even those baptized by pouring by an Orthodox priest of the Eastern Greek confession should be fully rebaptized. The same rule applies to those from western Russian lands where pouring was common, and who cannot confirm how they were baptized. Thus, if a person does not know how they were baptized, they must be fully baptized with three immersions; otherwise, they cannot be considered baptized.

— Priest Mikhail Rodin.