… as at baptism

The Candidate at a Monastic Profession, a penitent like the Candidate for Baptism, comes as though to a second baptism. He is referred to in the Office itself as a Catechumen. He is unclothed in the Narthex, as though about to be baptized by immersion, and to signify that he is to put off the old man and put on the new. The Candidate takes Vows, similar to the baptismal vows of renunciation, faith, and obedience to the end of life. The Vows are taken, as at Baptism, in answer to formal and explicit questions. A new name is given, as at Baptism, which commonly has the same initial letter as the baptismal name; and the head is shorn, as at Baptism. The Habit given to the Monk or Nun at the Profession may be compared to the baptismal garments of the newly-baptized, consisting of the Chrisom-Robe, called in the Office of Baptism the Tunic of righteousness; the Girdle; and the Chrisom-Veil, known as the baptismal Cowl, or Cap. The Cross, the lighted candle, and the kiss correspond to those given at Baptism. And on the eighth day there follows the laying aside of the Cowl, after analogy of the laying aside of the baptismal robes.

In the Penitentiale of Theodore of Tarsus (a:b. 668-690) it is stated that the Monk covers his head with his Cowl for seven days, and on the seventh day the Abbot removes the head-covering, just as the Priest takes away the infant’s head-covering ; because, according to the opinion of the Fathers, the Monastic Profession is a second baptism, in which all sins are remitted as in baptism.

Monasticism in the Orthodox Church, 58-59