In honor of the 6 new members of the STSA family that were baptized this past Sunday (one of the most incredible days of my life),I wanted to post this beautiful excerpt from the writings of St. John Chrysostom on what really happens during baptism:

When you come to the sacred initiation, the eyes of the flesh see water; the eyes of faith behold the Spirit.  Those eyes see the body being baptized; these see the old man being buried.  The eyes of the flesh see the flesh being washed, the eyes of the spirit see the soul being cleansed. The eyes of the body see the body emerging from the water; the eyes of faith see the new man come forth brightly shining from that new purification.

Our bodily eyes see the priest as, from above, he lays his right hand on the head and touches (him who is being baptized) our spiritual eyes see the great High Priest (Jesus) as He stretches forth His invisible hand to touch his head. For, at that moment, the one who baptizes is not a man, but the only-begotten Son of God.

Excerpt taken from Baptismal Instructions (Ancient Christian Writers)

May God give us all eyes of faith to see what is really happening around us at all times.