🕊️ Theophany (also called Epiphany) is the baptism of Christ, one of the 12 Great Feasts in the Orthodox Church. We celebrate this feast on January 6th. The day before marks the end of the 12 days of Christmas, and now we move into Epiphany season!

Theophany means “The manifestation of God” since on this day, when the Lord came out of the water, the heavens were opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus. The voice of God the Father was heard from the clouds saying “This is my beloved Son. Listen to Him.” God appeared in His fullness, as Father, Son and Holy Spirit - The Holy Trinity.

In the hymns for the day, we sing:

“When Thou, O Lord, wast baptized in the Jordan, the worship of the Trinity was made manifest; for the voice of the Father didst bear witness unto Thee, calling Thee His beloved Son. And the Spirit, in the form of a dove, didst confirm the truthfulness of His word. O Christ our God Who hast revealed Thyself and hast enlightened the world, glory to Thee!”

— Troparion of Theophany

Great Sanctification of the Water

If you’ve not been to this special Feast Day service of Theophany, you’ll see the Priest blessing the waters which are used throughout the entire year! He takes the newly blessed waters, and splash those in attendance with it, giving a blessing to all who attend. I have yet to witness a priest blessing the flock without a HUGE smile on their faces. It is always full of so much joy!! I love seeing the priests light up as they splash all those in attendance.

The Holy water is bottled up in small containers and handed out for use at home. After this, the priest will then take the sanctified waters, and bless our homes! My husband is an Orthodox priest of a sizable parish, so this is a very busy season for our family, as my husband will be blessing several home a day for the next 6 weeks. He visits over 100 homes during this season!

Outside Blessing of the Waters

Lastly, many parishes also bless a body of water outside, which we call Outdoor blessing of the waters! A cherished tradition. What is find is especially endearing about this tradition, it is is a service done outside of the walls of the Church. We recognize that as the body of Christ, even our surrounding area can be blessed by Christ. There’s something really neat about seeing Orthodoxy “out in the wild” that brings me so much joy! Those who desire to join us, brave the freezing temperatures as the waters are blessed. We just so happen to live near “Jordan Lake” so it was fitting to bless the Jordan!

Diving in after the Cross

As apart of the service, a cross is tossed into the water. Different Church’s have different traditions. Some might tie a string on one and reel it back in once it’s been tossed. Some make ice crosses, so the cross can stay in the water, or some toss in the cross and several people will jump in to retrieve it! We have done every one of those traditions, but this year we had some brave men jump into the frigid waters. It’s hard to describe just how joyful it is to witness, but you can get a glimpse in the video (and photos below). Immediately after the service, we saw our first snow flakes ❄️ of the season! It was coooooold! But a sweet little miracle!

Reception of Catechumen

We are seeing quite an influx in inquirers and catechumen in our humble parish in Raleigh, NC. Currently we have a year-long catechism program which adults (and children) will attend classes with formal instruction on the Orthodox Faith. Ideally we like to do 1 big reception of catechumen on Holy Saturday, but we had nearly 100 catechumen. So now my husband receives each “batch” on 3 different occasions: Holy Theophany, Holy Saturday, and Dormition. Of course there are exceptions - babies are received throughout the year. But this has been working well for us! This Holy Theophany we received 19 catechumen through baptism and chrismation! Glory to God for all things!

Additional Resources:

Orthodox Pebbles has a great guide and lesson plan for this feast day including activities and information behind the service for this feast day which you can find through this link HERE