Baptism

===Apparel===
Until the [[Middle Ages]], most baptisms were performed with the candidates naked—as is evidenced by most of the early portrayals of baptism (some of which are shown in this article), and the early Church Fathers and other Christian writers. Deaconesses helped female candidates for reasons of modesty.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.womendeacons.org/the-woman-deacons-role-at-baptism/ |title=The Woman Deacon's role at Baptism  |access-date=June 23, 2022| publisher=Wijngaards Institute for Catholic Research}}</ref>

Typical of these is [[Cyril of Jerusalem]] who wrote "On the Mysteries of Baptism" in the 4th century (c. 350&nbsp;AD):

{{blockquote|Do you not know, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ, were baptized into His death? etc... for you are not under the Law, but under grace.

1. Therefore, I shall necessarily lay before you the sequel of yesterday's Lecture, that you may learn of what those things, which were done by you in the inner chamber, were symbolic.

2. As soon, then, as you entered, you put off your tunic; and this was an image of putting off the old man with his deeds.<ref>{{bibleverse|Colossians|3:9}}</ref> Having stripped yourselves, you were naked; in this also imitating Christ, who was stripped naked on the Cross, and by His nakedness put off from Himself the principalities and powers, and openly triumphed over them on the tree. For since the adverse powers made their lair in your members, you may no longer wear that old garment; I do not at all mean this visible one, but the old man, which waxes corrupt in the lusts of deceit.<ref>{{bibleverse|Ephesians|4:22}}</ref> May the soul which has once put him off, never again put him on, but say with the Spouse of Christ in the Song of Songs, I have put off my garment, how shall I put it on?<ref>{{bibleverse|Song of Songs|5:3|}}</ref> O wondrous thing! You were naked in the sight of all, and were not ashamed; for truly ye bore the likeness of the first-formed Adam, who was naked in the garden, and was not ashamed.

3. Then, when you were stripped, you were anointed with exorcised oil, from the very hairs of your head to your feet, and were made partakers of the good olive-tree, Jesus Christ.

4. After these things, you were led to the holy pool of Divine Baptism, as Christ was carried from the Cross to the Sepulchre which is before our eyes. And each of you was asked, whether he believed in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, and you made that saving confession, and descended three times into the water, and ascended again; here also hinting by a symbol at the three days burial of Christ.... And at the self-same moment you were both dying and being born;<ref>Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lecture 20 (On the Mysteries. II. of Baptism) {{Bibleverse|Romans|6:3–14}} http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/310120.htm</ref>|author=Cyril of Jerusalem|title=Catechetical Lecture 20 (On the Mysteries. II. of Baptism)|source=Romans 6:3–14}}

The symbolism is threefold:

1. Baptism is considered to be a form of rebirth—"by water and the Spirit"<ref name="bibleverse|John|3:5">{{bibleverse|John|3:5}}</ref>—the nakedness of baptism (the second birth) paralleled the condition of one's original birth. For example, John Chrysostom calls the baptism "λοχείαν", i.e., giving birth, and "new way of creation...from water and Spirit" ("to John" speech 25,2), and later elaborates:

: {{Blockquote|For nothing perceivable was handed over to us by Jesus; but with perceivable things, all of them however conceivable. This is also the way with the baptism; the gift of the water is done with a perceivable thing, but the things being conducted, i.e., the rebirth and renovation, are conceivable. For, if you were without a body, He would hand over these bodiless gifts as naked [gifts] to you. But because the soul is closely linked to the body, He hands over the perceivable ones to you with conceivable things. (Chrysostom to Matthew, speech 82, 4, c. 390&nbsp;A.D.)}}

2. The removal of clothing represented the "image of putting off the old man with his deeds" (as per Cyril, above), so the stripping of the body before for baptism represented taking off the trappings of sinful self, so that the "new man", which is given by Jesus, can be put on.
[[File:Rosa Hagström & Lars Ridderstedt II 1948.jpg|thumb|upright|Long laced gown worn at a typical Lutheran baptism in Sweden in 1948]]
3. As Cyril again asserts above, as Adam and Eve in scripture were naked, innocent and unashamed in the Garden of Eden, nakedness during baptism was seen as a renewal of that innocence and state of original sinlessness. Other parallels can also be drawn, such as between the exposed condition of Christ during His crucifixion, and the crucifixion of the "old man" of the repentant sinner in preparation for baptism.

Changing customs and concerns regarding modesty probably contributed to the practice of permitting or requiring the baptismal candidate to either retain their undergarments (as in many Renaissance paintings of baptism such as those by [[da Vinci]], [[Tintoretto]], [[Van Scorel]], [[Masaccio]], [[de Wit]] and others) or to wear, as is almost universally the practice today, baptismal robes. These robes are most often white, symbolizing purity. Some groups today allow any suitable clothes to be worn, such as trousers and a [[T-shirt]]—practical considerations include how easily the clothes will dry ([[denim]] is discouraged), and whether they will become see-through when wet.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}

In certain Christian denominations, the individual being baptized receives a [[cross necklace]] that is worn for the rest of their life as a "sign of the triumph of Christ over death and our belonging to Christ" (though it is replaced with a new cross pendant if lost or broken).<ref name="Samaan2010"/><ref name="Konstantopoulos2017"/> This practice of baptized Christians wearing a cross necklace at all times is derived from Canon 73 and Canon 82 of the [[Third Council of Constantinople|Sixth Ecumenical Council (Synod) of Constantinople]], which declared:

{{blockquote|...all the [[Sunday School|Church (Sunday) School]] children [must] wear a cross knowing how spiritually beneficial it is for them. By wearing a cross the child is protected from evil forces, it invites the grace of the Holy Cross of Christ, it brings His Divine blessing upon the child, it gives the child a sense that he or she belongs to Christ, that he or she has a special identity, that of a Christian, it is a reminder that Christ is always with him/her, it reminds the child that Jesus died on the Cross to save him/her, that Jesus Christ is our Only Savior and the True God. By wearing a cross the child feels the love of God and gives the child hope and strength to overcome any obstacle in his or her life.<ref name="Konstantopoulos2017"/>|author=Konstantopoulos|source=2017}}