When Orthodox Christians celebrate baptism. What is the sacrament of baptism and how does it occur? Traditions of celebrating baptism in Europe and in the world

Epiphany or Epiphany is one of the most important twelve holidays of Orthodoxy. Read all about the history of this event in the article!

Epiphany, or Epiphany - January 19, 2019

What holiday is it?

Forefeast of Epiphany

Since ancient times, Epiphany has been one of the great twelve holidays. Even in the Apostolic Constitutions (Book 5, Chapter 12) it is commanded: “Let you have great respect for the day on which the Lord revealed the Divinity to us.” This holiday in the Orthodox Church is celebrated with equal grandeur as the Feast of the Nativity of Christ. Both of these holidays, connected by “Christmastide” (from December 25 to January 6), constitute, as it were, one celebration. Almost immediately after the celebration of the Feast of the Nativity of Christ (from January 2), the Church begins to prepare us for the solemn feast of the Epiphany of the Lord with stichera and troparions (at Vespers), three songs (at Compline) and canons (at Matins) specially dedicated to the upcoming holiday, and church hymns In honor of the Epiphany, they have been heard since January 1: at Matins of the Feast of the Circumcision of the Lord, the irmos of the canons of the Epiphany are sung at the catavasia: “He has opened the depths, there is a bottom...” and “A stormy storm is moving in the sea...”. With its sacred memories, following from Bethlehem to the Jordan and commemorating the events of Baptism, the Church in the pre-festive stichera calls on the faithful:
“We will go from Bethlehem to the Jordan, for there the Light is already beginning to illuminate those who are in darkness.” The coming Saturday and Sunday before Epiphany are called Saturday and the Week before Epiphany (or Enlightenment).

Eve of Epiphany

The eve of the holiday - January 5 - is called the Eve of Epiphany, or Christmas Eve. The services of the Vigil and the holiday itself are in many ways similar to the service of the Vigil and the Feast of the Nativity of Christ.

On the Eve of Epiphany, January 5 (as well as on the Eve of the Nativity of Christ), the Church prescribes strict fasting: eating food once after the blessing of water. If the Vespers happen on Saturday and Sunday, the fast is made easier: instead of once, eating food is allowed twice - after the liturgy and after the blessing of water. If the reading of the Great Hours from the Vespers, which happened on Saturday or Sunday, is postponed to Friday, then there is no fasting on that Friday.

Features of the service on the Eve of the holiday

On all weekdays (except Saturday and Sunday), the service of the Vesper of Epiphany consists of the Great Hours, Fine Hours and Vespers with the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great; After the liturgy (after the prayer behind the pulpit), the water is blessed. If Christmas Eve happens on Saturday or Sunday, then the Great Hours take place on Friday, and there is no liturgy on that Friday; the liturgy of St. Basil the Great is moved to the day of the holiday. On the very day of Christmas Eve, the liturgy of St. St. John Chrysostom occurs in due time, followed by Vespers and after it the Blessing of Water.

The Great Hours of the Epiphany and their contents

The troparia point to the division of the waters of the Jordan by Elisha with the mantle of the prophet Elijah as a prototype of the true Baptism of Christ in the Jordan, by which the watery nature was sanctified and during which the Jordan stopped its natural flow. The last troparion describes the trembling feeling of Saint John the Baptist when the Lord came to him to be baptized. In the parimia of the 1st hour, in the words of the prophet Isaiah, the Church proclaims the spiritual renewal of believers in the Lord Jesus Christ (Is. 25).

The Apostle and the Gospel proclaim the Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord, who testified to the eternal and Divine greatness of Christ (Acts 13:25-32; Matt. 3:1-11). At the 3rd hour, in special psalms - 28 and 41 - the prophet depicts the power and authority of the baptized Lord over water and all the elements of the world: “The voice of the Lord is on the waters: the God of glory will roar, the Lord on many waters. The voice of the Lord in the fortress; The voice of the Lord is in splendor...” These psalms are also joined by the usual 50th psalm. The troparia of the hour reveal the experiences of John the Baptist - awe and fear at the Baptism of the Lord - and the revelation in this great event of the mystery of the Trinity of the Divinity. In parimia we hear the voice of the prophet Isaiah, foreshadowing spiritual rebirth through baptism and Calling for the acceptance of this sacrament: “Wash yourself, and you will be clean” (Is. 1: 16-20).

The Apostle talks about the difference between the baptism of John and the baptism in the Name of the Lord Jesus (Acts 19:1-8), and the Gospel talks about the Forerunner who prepared the way for the Lord (Mark 1:1-3). At the 6th hour, in Psalms 73 and 76, King David prophetically depicts the Divine greatness and omnipotence of the One who came to be baptized in the form of a servant: “Who is a great God like our God? You are God, work miracles. You saw the waters, O God, and you were afraid: the abyss was crushed.”

The usual 90th psalm of the hour is also added. The troparia contain the Lord’s answer to the Baptist to his bewilderment about Christ’s self-abasement and indicate the fulfillment of the Psalmist’s prophecy that the Jordan River stops its waters when the Lord enters it for Baptism. The parimia talks about how the prophet Isaiah contemplates the grace of salvation in the waters of baptism and calls on believers to assimilate it: “Draw up water with joy from the source of fear” (Is. 12).

The Apostle encourages those baptized into Christ Jesus to walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:3-12). The Gospel preaches about the appearance of the Holy Trinity at the Baptism of the Savior, about His forty-day labor in the wilderness and the beginning of the preaching of the Gospel (Mark 1:9-15). At the 9th hour, in Psalms 92 and 113, the prophet proclaims the royal greatness and omnipotence of the baptized Lord. The third psalm of the hour is the usual 85th. With the words of parimia, the prophet Isaiah depicts the inexpressible mercy of God towards people and the gracious help for them revealed in Baptism (Is. 49: 8-15). The Apostle announces the manifestation of the grace of God, “saving for all men,” and the abundant outpouring of the Holy Spirit on believers (Tit. 2, 11-14; 3, 4-7). The Gospel tells about the Baptism of the Savior and the Epiphany (Matthew 3:13-17).

Vespers on the day of the Vespers of the holiday

Vespers on the Vespers of the Feast of the Epiphany is similar to what happens on the Vespers of the Nativity of Christ: entrance with the Gospel, reading of parimia, Apostle, Gospel, etc., but the parimia at Vespers of the Epiphany Vigil is read not on 8, but on 13.
After the first three paremias to the troparion and verses of prophecy, the singers chorus: “May you enlighten those who sit in darkness: Lover of mankind, glory to Thee.” After the 6th parimia - the chorus to the troparion and verses: “Where would Your light shine, only on those who sit in darkness, glory to You.”
If on the Eve of Epiphany Vespers is combined with the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday), then after the reading of the proverbs there follows a small litany with the exclamation: “For art thou holy, our God...”, then the Trisagion and other sequences of the liturgy are sung. At Vespers, performed separately after the liturgy (on Saturday and Sunday), the parimia, the small litany and the exclamation: “For you are holy...” are followed by the prokeimenon: “The Lord is my enlightenment...”, Apostle (Cor., part 143) and the Gospel (Luke, 9th).
After this - the litany “Rtsem all...” and so on.

Great Blessing of Water

The Church renews the memory of the Jordan event with a special rite of the great consecration of water. On the Eve of the holiday, the great consecration of water occurs after the prayer behind the pulpit (if the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great is being celebrated). And if Vespers is celebrated separately, without connection with the liturgy, the consecration of the water occurs at the end of Vespers, after the exclamation: “Be the power...”. The priest, through the royal doors, while singing the troparia “The Voice of the Lord on the Waters...” comes out to the vessels filled with water, carrying the Honorable Cross on his head, and the consecration of the water begins.

The blessing of water is also performed on the holiday itself after the liturgy (also after the prayer behind the pulpit).

The Orthodox Church has been performing the great consecration of water on Vespers and on the holiday itself since ancient times, and the grace of consecrating water on these two days is always the same. At the Forever, the consecration of water was performed in remembrance of the Baptism of the Lord, which sanctified the watery nature, as well as the baptism of the orphans, which in ancient times was performed at the Forever of Epiphany (Lent. Apost., book 5, chapter 13; historians: Theodoret, Nicephorus Callistus). On the holiday itself, the consecration of water occurs in memory of the actual event of the Baptism of the Savior. The blessing of water on the holiday itself began in the Jerusalem Church in the 4th - 5th centuries. took place only in it alone, where there was a custom of going out to the Jordan River for the blessing of water in memory of the Baptism of the Savior. Therefore, in the Russian Orthodox Church, the blessing of water on Vecherie is performed in churches, and on the holiday itself it is usually performed on rivers, springs and wells (the so-called “Walk to the Jordan”), for Christ was baptized outside the temple.

The great consecration of water began in the early times of Christianity, following the example of the Lord Himself, who sanctified the waters by His immersion in them and established the sacrament of Baptism, in which the consecration of water has been taking place since ancient times. The rite of blessing of water is attributed to the Evangelist Matthew. Several prayers for this rite were written by St. Proclus, Archbishop of Constantinople. The final execution of the rite is attributed to St. Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem. The blessing of water on the holiday is already mentioned by the teacher of the Church Tertullian and St. Cyprian of Carthage. The Apostolic Decrees also contain prayers said during the blessing of water. So, in the book. The 8th says: “The priest will call on the Lord and say: “And now sanctify this water, and give it grace and strength.”

St. Basil the Great writes: “According to what scripture do we bless the water of baptism? - From Apostolic tradition, by succession in secret" (91st canon).

In the second half of the 10th century, Patriarch of Antioch Peter Foulon introduced the custom of consecrating water not at midnight, but on the Eve of Epiphany. In the Russian Church, the Moscow Council of 1667 decided to perform double blessing of water - on Vespers and on the very feast of Epiphany and condemned Patriarch Nikon, who prohibited double blessing of water. The sequence of the great consecration of water both at Vespers and on the holiday itself is the same and in some parts has similarities with the sequence of the small consecration of water. It consists of remembering the prophecies relating to the event of Baptism (parimia), the event itself (Apostle and Gospel) and its meaning (litany and prayers), invoking the blessing of God on the waters and immersing them three times Life-giving Cross The Lord's.

In practice, the rite of water blessing is performed as follows. After the prayer behind the pulpit (at the end of the liturgy) or the litany of petition: “Let us fulfill evening prayer"(at the end of Vespers) the rector is in full vestments (as during the liturgy), and the other priests are only in epitrachelion, vestments, and the rector is carrying the Honorable Cross on an uncovered head (usually the Cross is placed in the air). At the site of the blessing of water, the Cross is placed on a decorated table, on which there should be a bowl of water and three candles. During the singing of troparions, the rector and the deacon cense the water prepared for consecration (around the table three times), and if the water is consecrated in the church, then the altar, clergy, singers and people also cense.

At the end of the singing of the troparions, the deacon exclaims: “Wisdom,” and three parimia are read (from the book of the prophet Isaiah), which depict the gracious fruits of the Lord’s coming to earth and the spiritual joy of all who turn to the Lord and partake of the life-giving sources of salvation. Then the prokeimenon “The Lord is my enlightenment...” is sung, the Apostle and the Gospel are read. The Apostolic Reading (Cor., section 143) speaks of persons and events that in the Old Testament, during the wanderings of the Jews in the desert, were a prototype of Christ the Savior (the mysterious baptism of the Jews into Moses among the clouds and the sea, their spiritual food in desert and drinking from the spiritual stone, which was Christ). The Gospel (Mark, part 2) tells about the Baptism of the Lord.

After reading the Holy Scriptures, the deacon pronounces the great litany with special petitions. They contain prayers for the sanctification of water by the power and action of the Holy Trinity, for sending down the blessing of the Jordan on the water and giving it grace for the healing of mental and physical infirmities, for driving away all slander of visible and invisible enemies, for the sanctification of houses and for all benefits.

During the litany, the rector secretly reads a prayer for the purification and sanctification of himself: “Lord Jesus Christ...” (without exclamation). At the end of the litany, the priest (rector) loudly reads the consecration prayer: “Great art thou, O Lord, and wonderful are thy works...” (three times) and so on. In this prayer, the Church begs the Lord to come and sanctify the water so that it will receive the grace of deliverance, the blessing of the Jordan, so that it will be a source of incorruption, the resolution of ailments, the cleansing of souls and bodies, the sanctification of houses and “for all good.” In the middle of the prayer, the priest exclaims three times: “You Yourself, O Lover of Mankind, come now by the influx of Your Holy Spirit and sanctify this water,” and at the same time each time he blesses the water with his hand, but does not immerse his fingers in the water, as happens in the sacrament of Baptism. At the end of the prayer, the abbot immediately blesses the water crosswise with the Honorable Cross, holding it with both hands and immersing it three times straight (lowering it into the water and raising it), and with each immersion of the Cross he sings the troparion with the clergy (three times): “I am baptized in the Jordan, O Lord...”

After this, while the troparion is sung repeatedly by the singers, the abbot with the Cross in his left hand sprinkles a cross in all directions, and also sprinkles the temple with holy water.

Glorification of the holiday

On Vecherye, after the dismissal of Vespers or Liturgy, a lamp (not a lectern with an icon) is placed in the middle of the church, before which the clergy and choristers sing the troparion and (on “Glory, and now”) the kontakion of the holiday. The candle here means the light of Christ’s teaching, Divine enlightenment given in the Epiphany.

After this, the worshipers venerate the Cross, and the priest sprinkles each with holy water.

Baptism is the first of the seven Sacraments of the Russian Orthodox Church. It symbolizes the spiritual birth of a person and is a “pass” to all other church Sacraments (Communion, Confession, Unction).
One must prepare for Baptism, as for other Sacraments, no matter at what age a person decided to accept faith.
If this happened in adulthood, then this is done with him first. The priest explains the meaning of Baptism, talks about how to further build your life and follow Christ, keeping His commandments.
If an infant is baptized, then the obligation is to help the parents raise the child Orthodox Christian falls on the shoulders of the recipients ( godfathers and mother). Public conversations in in this case spend with future godparents, and you need to pay very close attention to them. During such meetings, they must explain everything so that the godparents understand the essence of what is happening.
Recipients must know the basic christian prayers: " ", "Virgin Mother of God, rejoice" and " ". After renouncing Satan three times and confessing fidelity (“combination”) to Christ during the Sacrament of Baptism, the godparents will have to recite this prayer by heart. It is significant for all Orthodox Christians, because it contains the dogmas of the Russian Orthodox Church, so it is important not only to learn it, but also to understand its essence.
During the Baptism of adolescents or, in Orthodox terminology, adolescents (children from 7-14 years old), the rites are the same as for adults and infants. True, there are some small peculiarities in preparing for the Sacrament, which the priest will tell you about.
After the Sacrament of Baptism has been performed, godparents are given the responsibility to pray for their godchildren. They must teach the child the first prayers so that he himself can communicate with God in this way.
Godparents can submit notes for the Divine Liturgy, order prayer services, and magpies. You can read about how to do this correctly in. This is especially important on birthdays, baptisms, and on the Day of the Angel of Godchildren. You can turn to God for your godchildren at home during morning and evening prayer readings.
Participating in the spiritual life of their godson is the main task of the godparents, because they promise God to help the godson learn the Law of God and become a Christian. That is why it is imperative to bring your godchildren to Communion, talk about the basics of Christian teaching and, of course, first of all, to your by example show what it means to live according to the commandments of Christ.

The Orthodox holiday Epiphany is celebrated on January 19. Why is this holiday extremely important for Christians? The thing is that on this day Christians remember the event recorded in the Gospel - the baptism of Christ. This happened in the waters of the Jordan River, where at that time John the Baptist, or Baptist, was baptizing Jews.

history of the holiday

The Orthodox holiday of the Baptism of the Lord is also called Epiphany as a reminder of the miracle that took place: the Holy Spirit descended from heaven and touched Jesus Christ immediately as he emerged from the water after immersion and a loud voice said: “Behold, this is my beloved Son” (Matthew 3:13). -17).

Thus, during this event, the Holy Trinity appeared to people and it was witnessed that Jesus is the Messiah. That is why this holiday is also called Epiphany, which refers to the twelve, i.e. those celebrations that are designated by Church doctrine as events related to the life of Christ.

The Orthodox Church always celebrates Baptism on January 19th. Julian calendar, and the holiday itself is divided into:

• 4 days of pre-feast - before the Epiphany, during which liturgies dedicated to the upcoming event are already heard in churches;
• 8 days of post-feast - days after the great event.

The first celebration of Epiphany began in the first century in the First Apostolic Church. main idea This holiday is the memory and glorification of the event in which the Son of God appeared in the flesh. However, there is another purpose for the celebration. As is known, in the first centuries many sects arose that differed in dogmatic principles from the true church. And heretics also celebrated Epiphany, but explained this event differently:

• Ebionites: as the union of the man Jesus with the Divine Christ;
• Docetes: they did not consider Christ to be half-man and spoke only about His Divine essence;
• Basilidians: did not believe that Christ was half-god and half-man and taught that the dove that descended was God's mind, which entered into a simple man.

The teachings of the Gnostics, who had only half-truths in their teaching, greatly attracted Christians and their a large number of turned into heresy. To stop this, Christians decided to celebrate Epiphany, simultaneously explaining in detail what kind of holiday it was and what happened at that time. The Church called this holiday the Epiphany, confirming the dogma that then Christ revealed himself to be God, being originally God, One with the Holy Trinity.

In order to finally destroy the Gnostic heresy regarding Baptism, the Church combined Epiphany and Christmas into a single holiday. It is for this reason that until the 4th century these two holidays were celebrated by believers on the same day - January 6, under the general name of Epiphany.

They were first divided into two different celebrations only in the first half of the 5th century by clergy under the leadership of Pope Julius. Christmas began to be celebrated on January 25 in the Western Church, so that the pagans would turn away from celebrating the birth of the sun (there was such a pagan celebration in honor of the sun god) and began to cleave to the Church. And Epiphany began to be celebrated a few days later, but since the Orthodox Church celebrates Christmas in a new style - January 6, Epiphany is celebrated on the 19th.

Important! The meaning of Epiphany remains the same - this is the appearance of Christ as God to his people and reunification with the Trinity.

Icon "Baptism of the Lord"

Events

The Feast of Epiphany is dedicated to the events that are set out in the 13th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew - the Baptism of Jesus Christ in the waters of the Jordan River, as it was written by the prophet Isaiah.

John the Baptist taught the people about the coming Messiah, who would baptize them into fire, and also baptized those who wished in the Jordan River, which symbolized their renewal from the old law to the new one that Jesus Christ would bring. He spoke about the necessary repentance, and washing in the Jordan (which the Jews had done before) became a prototype of Baptism, although John did not suspect it at the time.

Jesus Christ began his ministry at that time, He turned 30 years old, and he came to the Jordan to fulfill the words of the prophet and announce to everyone the beginning of His ministry. He asked John to baptize Him too, to which the prophet, very surprised, replied that he was not worthy to take off Christ’s shoes, and He asked him to baptize. John the Baptist already knew then that the Messiah himself was standing before him. Jesus Christ responded to this that they should do everything according to the law so as not to confuse people.

While Christ was immersed in the waters of the river, the sky opened, and a white dove descended on Christ, and everyone nearby heard the voice “Behold my Beloved Son.” Thus, the Holy Trinity appeared to the people in the form of the Holy Spirit (dove), Jesus Christ and the Lord God.

After this, the first apostles followed Jesus, and Christ himself went into the desert to fight temptations.

Traditions on the holiday

The Epiphany service is very similar to the Christmas service, since when the Church adheres to strict fasting until the consecration of the water.

In addition, a special liturgy is served. Other church traditions are also observed - the blessing of water, the religious procession to the reservoir, as did the Palestinian Christians who walked In a similar way

for baptism to the Jordan River.

As on any other important Christian holiday, a festive liturgy is served in the church, during which the clergy dresses in festive white vestments. Main feature The service becomes the blessing of water, which occurs after the service.

On Christmas Eve, the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great is served, after which the font in the church is consecrated. And at Epiphany, the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom is served, after which communion is celebrated and the water is re-blessed and a religious procession to the nearest body of water for consecration.

About other significant Orthodox holidays:

The troparions that are read tell about the division of the Jordan by the prophet Elijah and about the baptism of Jesus Christ all in the same river, and also point to the fact that believers are spiritually renewed in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Passages from Scripture are read about the greatness of Christ (Acts, the Gospel of Matthew), the power and authority of the Lord (Psalms 28 and 41, 50, 90), as well as about spiritual rebirth through baptism (the prophet Isaiah).

Bishop's service for Epiphany

Folk traditions

Today Orthodoxy resembles the mixing of two rivers with pure and muddy water: pure is doctrinal Orthodoxy, and muddy is folk, in which there are extremely many admixtures of completely non-church traditions and rituals. This happens because of the rich culture of the Russian people, which is mixed with the theology of the church, and as a result, two lines of traditions are obtained - church and folk.

Important! It’s worth knowing folk traditions, because they can be separated from the true, church ones, and then, knowing the culture of your people is simply a must for everyone.

According to folk traditions, Epiphany marked the end of Christmastide - at this time the girls stopped fortune telling. Scripture prohibits fortune telling and all witchcraft, therefore Christmas fortune telling just a historical fact.

IN Epiphany Christmas Eve the font in the temple was consecrated, and on the 19th the reservoirs were consecrated. After church service People procession of the cross they went to the ice hole and, after prayer, plunged into it to wash away all their sins. After the consecration of the ice hole, people collected water from it into containers to take home blessed water, and then plunged themselves.

Swimming in an ice hole is purely folk tradition, unconfirmed by the doctrinal teaching of the Orthodox Church.

What to put on the holiday table

Believers do not fast on Epiphany, but do so in advance - on Epiphany Eve, the eve of the holiday. It is on Epiphany Christmas Eve that it is necessary to observe strict fasting and eat only Lenten dishes.

Articles about Orthodox cuisine:

On Epiphany you can put any dishes on the table, but on Christmas Eve only Lenten ones, and the presence of sochiva is required - a dish of boiled wheat grains mixed with honey and dried fruits (raisins, dried apricots, etc.).

They also bake Lenten pies, and wash everything down with uzvar - dried fruit compote.

Water for Epiphany

Water has a special meaning during the Epiphany holiday. People believe that she becomes pure, sanctified and holy. The Church says that water is an integral part of the holiday, but it can be sanctified by prayer anywhere. The clergy bless the water twice:

• on Epiphany Eve the font in the church;
• water brought by people to temples and reservoirs.

The troparion of Epiphany records the necessary consecration of the home with holy water (a church candle is also used for this), but swimming in an ice hole is a purely folk tradition, not obligatory. You can bless and drink water whole year, the main thing is to store it in glass containers so that it does not bloom or spoil.

According to Tradition, all water on the night of Epiphany is sanctified and, as it were, acquires the essence of the waters of the Jordan, in which Jesus Christ was baptized. All water is sanctified by the Holy Spirit and is considered holy at this moment.

Advice! It is recommended to drink water during communion along with wine and prosphora, and also drink several sips daily, especially on days of illness. It should be remembered that, like any other object, it is consecrated in the temple and requires respectful treatment.

Is water holy for Epiphany?

The clergy answer this question ambiguously.

Consecrated water, brought to temples or in reservoirs before bathing, according to the Traditions of the elders, is sanctified. Traditions say that on this night the water becomes similar to the water that flowed in the Jordan at the moment when Christ was baptized there. As Scripture says, the Holy Spirit breathes where it wants, so there is an opinion that at Epiphany holy water is given wherever they pray to the Lord, and not just in the place where the priest performed the service.

The process of blessing water itself is a church celebration, telling people about the presence of God on earth.

Epiphany ice hole

Swimming in an ice hole

Previously, in the territory of Slavic countries, Epiphany was called (and continues to be called) “Vodokhreshchi” or “Jordan”. The Jordan is the name given to the ice hole, which is carved with a cross in the ice of a reservoir and which was consecrated by the clergyman at Epiphany.

Since ancient times, there has been a tradition - immediately after consecrating an ice hole, take a swim in it, because people believed that in this way they could wash away all their sins. But this applies to worldly traditions,

Important! Scripture teaches us that our sins are washed away by the Blood of Christ on the Cross and people can only accept salvation through repentance, and swimming in an icy pond is only a folk tradition.

It's not a sin, but spiritual meaning in this action no. But bathing is just a tradition and should be treated accordingly:

• this is not mandatory;
• but the execution can be done reverently, because the water was consecrated.

Thus, you can swim in an ice hole, but you must do this with prayer and after the festive service in the Church. After all, the main sanctification occurs through the sinner’s repentance, and not through bathing, so one should not forget about personal relationships with the Lord and visiting the temple.

Watch the video about the Feast of Epiphany

In Epiphany in all Orthodox churches Water-blessing prayers are performed, and some priests, together with the parish, go in procession to the nearest river or lake to bless the water there. Where bodies of water are frozen, special ice holes in the shape of a cross are prepared for this occasion.

In order for you and me to understand why such attention is paid to water on this holiday, let’s remember this event itself, which happened almost two millennia ago.

Before entering public service, The Lord Jesus Christ came to the Jordan River to John the Baptist. John the Baptist, or as he is also called, the Forerunner of the Lord, was a prophet, that is, a man to whom the Lord revealed the future. By God's providence, he was born a little earlier than Jesus Christ. By that time, as the Gospel narrates, he lived in the desert and preached repentance and the imminent coming of the Savior to the world.

"Repent!"- he said, - “Because the Kingdom of Heaven has come near!” He baptized all those who repented, that is, washed them, in the waters of the Jordan River. And then Jesus Christ Himself came to be baptized. Seeing Him, John felt bewildered: the Lord Himself came to be baptized by him, a mere mortal who is not worthy even to untie the strap on the Savior’s shoes?

Thus we must fulfill all righteousness! - the Lord answered his bewilderment.

Then John laid his hand on the Savior’s head and immersed himself in water. And as soon as the Savior rose from the water, the Heavens opened up. The Spirit of God in the form of a dove descended on Him, and the voice of God the Father said from Heaven:“This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!”

What is the meaning and significance of this event?

We know that it was after baptism that Jesus Christ began his public ministry, that is, he began to openly teach the people. Maybe He needed to repent and cleanse himself of sins before this? No! Christ is completely sinless; He has nothing to repent of. Having received water baptism, He instituted the Sacrament of Baptism and showed us WHAT we must first do to become Christians - BE BAPTIZED!

This is the first church sacrament in which we participate if we want to be with Christ! It is extremely important, because in it we renounce the evil one, are united with Christ, die to sin and are born to eternal life.

It is no coincidence that baptism is called the second birth. In it, the Lord calls us to become sons of God, to become His family. You see, guys, what an honor and responsibility this is! How important it is to remember this kinship throughout our lives, so as not to lose the greatest grace given to us at baptism. If we break the promise we (or our godparents made in our place) to God at Baptism, then all that remains of our Christianity is only one name, an empty phrase.

But let's return again to the events of the Epiphany. On that day, all Three Persons of the Holy Trinity were revealed to man- God the Father spoke from heaven, God the Son was baptized and God the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove. This revelation is called the Epiphany and therefore the feast of the Epiphany itself is also called Epiphany.

And finally, about water. Since the Son of God Himself was baptized, then, of course, the waters of the Jordan were sanctified by Divine grace. In memory of this, water is blessed in all temples. It is usually kept reverently throughout the year, and it never spoils and effectively helps against mental and physical ailments.

Happy holiday to you, Dear friends. God bless you!

Nowadays, the Orthodox Church celebrates many major holidays. The most important among them are Easter, that is, the Resurrection of Christ, twelve “great twelves” and five more “great non-twelves”. In addition to them, the days of remembrance of especially revered saints are celebrated with great solemnity. For each celebration, the day, the form of worship, and sometimes even everyday details are firmly established: what color should the clergy’s robes be, what food is allowed for festive table…

But in early Christianity, all these holidays, besides Easter, did not exist. And later they “wandered” from one date to another, then merged, then found themselves separated, and the traditions of celebrating were very different in different places. Simply put, church holidays settled and accepted modern form not right away.

Most of them were born slowly, in disputes and agreements that could drag on for decades or even centuries. All this happened mainly between the 4th and 10th centuries, in a huge, long-vanished country. It is called the Eastern Roman Empire or, more simply, Byzantium. And from there, church regulations regarding holidays diverged to different parts of the Christian world.

On the feast of the Epiphany - difficult fate.

"We must fulfill all righteousness..."

Today is Epiphany Russian Orthodox Church celebrates January 19 according to the new style (January 6 according to the old style), and its meaning is now transparent to every believer. This holiday is a remembrance of how Jesus Christ appeared on the banks of the Palestinian River Jordan and asked for baptism from the prophet John the Baptist. He, seeing the essence of Christ, was surprised and asked whether he himself should be baptized by Christ? John baptized people for the remission of sins, but why should a being who has a sinless divine essence be cleansed of sins? And is it appropriate for the Master to receive baptism from His servant? To this the answer was received: “We must fulfill all righteousness.” Then John the Baptist bowed his head before the will of God, and Jesus entered the green, opaque waters of the Jordan, which had been revered as a sacred river since ancient times. John the Baptist performed the rite of baptism, which became the prototype of the modern sacrament.

Schema-Archimandite John Maslov wrote the following about the Baptism of Christ in the Jordan River: “By being baptized by John, Christ fulfilled “righteousness,” i.e. fidelity and obedience to the commandments of God. Saint John the Baptist received the command from God to baptize the people as a sign of the cleansing of sins. As a man, Christ had to “fulfill” this commandment and therefore be baptized by John. By this He confirmed the holiness and greatness of John’s actions, and to Christians eternal time gave an example of obedience to the will of God and humility.”

During Baptism, a miracle happened: the Holy Spirit descended on Christ in the guise of a dove, “And there was a voice from heaven, saying: Thou art my beloved Son; I am well pleased with You!”(Luke 3:21-22). Thus it was revealed to all the people that Jesus was not only the Son of Man, but also the Son of God. Therefore, the holiday now has a second name - Epiphany.

In the old days in Rus', every hole in the ice of a river or lake, created for the sake of baptismal consecration of water, was called Jordan. Even though the Jordan River carries waves in warm places, there are palm trees along its banks, and the water in it never freezes, but still Orthodox man distinguishes it somewhere near Ryazan or Belozersk, in twenty-degree frost, among the snowdrifts swept by a blizzard. At this moment, time disappears, space disappears, thousands of waters from different centuries and countries merge into a single symbol of Jordanian water, sanctified by the presence of Christ.

White Robe Day

They began to celebrate the Baptism of the Lord very quickly - even during the lifetime of the apostles. But at that time it was called differently and had a different meaning.

The disciples of Christ and the disciples of His disciples indulged in memories of how the living God appeared in the world of people, how the Magi bowed to Him, how He taught and how He showed an essence higher than human. Therefore, three different events - the incarnation of God in the human body (Christmas), the Adoration of Him by the Magi and the first signs of His true origin (Baptism) - were united in their imagination. Three different, according to modern concepts, holidays remained, as it were, a single celebration. Initially common name This identity was “Epiphany” (in Greek, “Appearance”), later another, now well-known, version prevailed - “Theophany” (that is, “Epiphany”). The ancient Apostolic Constitutions said: “May you have great respect for the day on which the Lord revealed the Divinity to us.” The clergy - the heirs of the true witnesses of the Epiphany, the apostles - have served on this day in white robes since ancient times.

Nowadays, signs of the ancient unity of Christmas and Epiphany are barely discernible. For example, both holidays have Evecherie (Christmas Eve) with strict fasting, and there are some similarities in the divine service.

But some churches, such as the Ethiopian Orthodox and Armenian Gregorian, still celebrate a single holiday.

"Drawing water at midnight..."

It is not at all a simple question when Epiphany became an independent holiday. It happened all over the place Christendom not at the same time. But from the second half of the 5th century, Epiphany is almost universally celebrated as a separate holiday, and the word “Epiphany” becomes its synonym, no longer relating to Christmas.

The Church Council of the mid-6th century officially called the 12 days between Christmas and Epiphany holidays - from December 25 to January 6, but these two great celebrations were already distinguished.

Home distinctive feature Baptism is the consecration of water. This custom arose in ancient times and over time turned into a kind of “calling card” of the holiday.

For a long time There were disputes about how many times the blessing of water should be carried out - once or twice? For example, it was only in 1667 that the Russian Church finally decided to bless water twice - both on Vespers and on the feast of Epiphany itself. As a rule, the first time consecration takes place in churches, and the second time - on rivers, lakes, and ponds.

Moreover, the two blessings of water go back to two different church traditions.

The first of them is connected with the order established by the early Christians: to baptize converts on the Eve of the holiday. That is why the holiday once had a third name: it was called the “day of Enlightenment” - as a sign that the Sacrament of Baptism cleanses a person from sin and enlightens him with the light of Christ.

But subsequently there were so many who wanted to accept the faith of Christ that one day was clearly not enough for this. Baptisms began to be performed on other dates. The custom of consecrating water on Evening Day - even if none of the converts are in the temple - has been preserved.

At first she was blessed only once, at midnight. Back in the 4th century, Saint John Chrysostom wrote about the blessing of water as follows: “Christ was baptized and sanctified the nature of the waters; and therefore, on the feast of Epiphany, everyone, having drawn water at midnight, brings it home and keeps it all year round. And so the water in its essence does not deteriorate from the continuation of time, drawn now for a whole year, and often two and three years remains fresh and undamaged, and after such a long time is not inferior to the waters just drawn from the source.”

It was only in the 10th century that the blessing of water was moved from midnight to Vespers.

The tradition of consecrating water a second time has different roots.

Initially it concerned only the Jerusalem church. There, the second consecration of water began to be performed in the 4th - 5th centuries, since there was a custom of going out to the Jordan River to bless water in memory of the Baptism of the Savior himself. From there, the custom of the second consecration of water gradually spread throughout the Orthodox world.

Since time immemorial there has been a custom of drinking Epiphany water for health and sprinkle it on all corners of the house - to “drive away evil spirits».

Bishop Hilarion (Alfeev) explains this custom as follows: “The Lord Jesus Christ Himself came to the Jordan to John to plunge into the waters of the Jordan - not to cleanse them from sin, but in order to sanctify them, transform them, fill them with life... And He descended into the waters of the Jordan to take upon Himself the burden of sin and death and the water element again to become the element of life. Since then, every year we consecrate the water, and this water becomes a great shrine. This water, in which God Himself is present, sanctifies everything that is sprinkled with it, it heals people from illnesses.”