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Theophany (from Greek theophania, meaning "appearance of God") is one of the Great Feasts of the Orthodox Church, celebrated on January 6. It is the feast which reveals the Most Holy Trinity to the
world through the Baptism of the Lord (Mt.3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22).
The Blessing of
Waters
In the liturgical calendar
of the Eastern Orthodox Church, January 6th marks the feast of Theophany (also known as Epiphany in the West), which commemorates
the baptism of Jesus Christ in the river Jordan by the prophet John (known also as the Forerunner, because he prophesied the
coming of Christ). Theophany marks the end of the Christmas season, which you may know as the 12 days of Christmas, the period
of time in which the good news of “God with us” is revealed to the world.
Not surprisingly, the
central image of Theophany is that of water. In the Scriptures, water is a powerful symbol, being referred to over 600 times
in a wide variety of contexts. The feast of Theophany, in which God Himself enters into the waters of the Jordan, is the culmination
of the meaning of water throughout the Bible.
For the people of the
ancient Near East, water had a dual significance. Primarily, it was a primordial and destructive element. God created the
world as a kind of “bubble” of order and life in the midst of the waters. The sky was a solid dome above which
were “the waters above the heavens.” (Genesis 1:6-7) The earth rested upon the waters, on pillars sunk into the
deep. (see Psalm 136:6 and 1 Samuel 2:8) And waters encircled the world, raging at its boundaries. (Job 38:8-11)
According to the Scriptures,
God’s hand held back the waters, which allowed His good creation to continue existing in peace and order. However, when
God wanted to chastise His people, to remind them of what things would be like without Him, He allowed the waters to cover
the world again. The most prominent example, of course, is the Great Flood that only Noah, his family and his ark of living
creatures survived.
In addition, we hear
Jonah using water as a metaphor for God’s punishment of his disobedience: “For You cast me into the deep, into
the heart of the seas, and the flood was round about me; all Your waves and Your billows passed over me.” (Jonah 2:3)
And the Psalmist echoes a similar sentiment: “Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep
mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me.” (Psalm 69:1-2)
Water, then, is the
scriptural image of what happens where God withdraws His hand from us. In a broader sense, it represents all of our human
sufferings, those parts of our life that are uncertain, messy, difficult, frustrating; those circumstances that do not go
as expected or wanted, that lie beyond our control, that defy our attempts to make them submit, to come to order or conform
to our expectations. The waters symbolize those events that disturb us, upset us, or shake us up.
But if, in the Scriptures,
the waters embody primeval chaos, destruction and death—humanity without God’s providential care—then they
are also the source of life for the world. In the creation account, the waters brought forth “swarms of living creatures.”
(Genesis 1:20) As the divine Gardener, God uses the waters to bring life to plants and animals. (Psalm 104: 12-16) Water gushing
from the rock at Meribah sustained the people of Israel in the wilderness. (Exodus 17:7) In the Scriptures, water is death
and water is life, both at the same time.
This dual significance
of water in the Scriptures is fulfilled in the incarnation and baptism of Christ. On one hand, Christ descends into the waters
of a world separated from God, submitting Himself to suffering and death out of love for humanity. On the other hand, the
waters become the wellspring of eternal life when Jesus emerges and is revealed as the beloved Son of God (Matt. 3:17) who
would rise from the dead and deliver creation from the forces of eternal destruction.
In the end, the theological
point of Theophany is simple: the sufferings and sorrows of human life are the very wellsprings where God appears to us and
embraces us. Far from being a distant deity, cold and unfeeling, God comes to share and transform and redeem the messes and
pains of our world from the inside out, loving us so much that He enters the bitter waters of our human life, transforming
it with the sweetness of His divinity.
source: Father
Marcus Burch, OCA
Mark 1:9-11 (King James Version)
And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of
Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan. And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw
the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: And there came a voice from heaven,
saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
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| The Holy Glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John |
Orthodox priests pray during a water blessing ceremony on Epiphany Day at Eretria village on the island of
Evia, northeast of Athens January 6, 2011. REUTERS/Yiorgos Karahalis
Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians,
kisses the wooden cross after it was being retrieved by Apostolis Oikomoniv from the water during an Epiphany ceremony to
bless the water in the Golden Horn in Istanbul, Turkey, Friday, Jan. 6, 2012. Similar ceremonies to mark Epiphany Day were
held across Greece on river banks, seafronts and lakes. Bartholomew I, spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians
threw the cross into the water and swimmers raced to be the first to retrieve it.(AP Photo )
Bulgarian men dance in the icy waters of the Tundzka river during
a celebration for Epiphany Day in the town of Kalofer, east of Sofia, January 6, 2012. REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov
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| Bartholomew I, Theophany celebration 2013 (Photo by N. Manginas) |
Swimmers catch a metal cross during an epiphany ceremony to bless the waters in southeastern coastal resort
of Ayia Napa, Cyprus, Friday, Jan. 6, 2012. Similar ceremonies to mark Epiphany Day were held across Greece and Cyprus at
the sea and dams. An Orthodox priest throws a cross into the water and the swimmers race to retrieve it first. Photo: Petros
Karadjias / AP
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| Patriarch of Serbia - Theophany 2011 (Julian Calendar) photo: Sebian Patriarchate |
Orthodox priests offer prayers during an Epiphany ceremony at the Ishim
river in Astana January 19, 2007. Orthodox Christians abiding by the Julian calendar celebrate Epiphany thirteen days later
than most Western churches (or Orthodox under the modified calendar). Reuters/Shamil Zhumatov
Bulgarian men dance in the icy waters of the Tundzha river during a celebration for Epiphany Day in the town
of Kalofer, east of Sofia January 6, 2011.
REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov
Greek Orthodox pilgrim Othon Papadopoulos kisses a wooden cross thrown by Metropolitan Athanasios Papas into
the Bosphorus as part of Epiphany day celebrations in Istanbul January 6, 2011.
REUTERS/Murad
Sezer
Ukrainians take a dip in an icy pond to mark the upcoming Epiphany in Kiev, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2010.
Braving temperatures of -10 degrees Celsius (14 Fahrenheit), thousands queued overnight and into dawn Tuesday in Kiev to dunk
themselves into a hole in the ice and rise again in a ritual symbolizing rebirth, to mark the Orthodox Epiphany. (AP
Photo/str)
Greek Orthodox swimmer Apostolis Oikomoniv holds the wooden cross in the Bosphorus river's Golden Horn after
a mass as part of celebrations of the Epiphany day at the Church of Fener Orthodox Patriarchiate in Istanbul, on Jan. 6, 2012.
Photograph by: Mustafa Ozer, AFP/Getty Images
Swimmers hold
a cross made of ice after it was retrieved from the Savsko lake in Belgrade January 19, 2012 (Julian Calendar) during Epiphany
day celebrations.
Great Blessing of Waters @ Falls Park on the Reedy in downtown Greenville, SC. Faithful of
St George Greek Orthodox Cathedral and St John of the Ladder Orthodox Churches gather to bless the Reedy River.
Theophany (Epiphany) in Bulgaria is known as Bogoyavlenie, meaning “The Manifestation of
God”. The day is celebrated with the throwing of a wooden cross to the sea, river, or lake by a priest. The wooden cross
is then contested by many young men in Bulgaria who compete to retrieve it.
2013, after the Great Blessing of Water this afternoon for the feast of Theophany. Members of St. George Greek Orthodox
Catheral and St. John of the Ladder Orthodox Church of the Greenville area.
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