A Reflection on Baptism - by St. Basil

We imitate Christ’s death by being buried with him in baptism. … The bodies of the baptized are in a sense buried in the water as a symbol of their renunciation of the sins of their unregenerate nature. As the Apostle says: “The circumcision you have undergone is not an operation performed by human hands, but the complete stripping away of your unregenerate nature. This is the circumcision that Christ gave us, and it is accomplished by our burial with him in baptism.” Baptism cleanses the soul from the pollution of worldly thoughts and inclinations: “You will wash me,” says the psalmist, “and I shall be whiter than snow.” We receive this saving baptism only once because there was only one death and one resurrection for the salvation of the world, and baptism is its symbol. (From a work ‘On the Holy Spirit’ by Saint Basil, bishop).