How to celebrate the Epiphany. Feast of Epiphany

Every church holiday has its own authenticrituals and special traditions. It is no exception and January 19 is an important event in the Orthodox world, when the believers go to church early in the morning with decanters filled with water, decorated with green twigs and smart ribbons. How to celebrate the Epiphany? What should I do on this day? Let's try just now to disclose all the secrets of the holiday.

A bit of history

People often call people a holidayEpiphany. As the solemn event is celebrated by Christians, every Orthodox person who regularly visits the church knows. On this day, the Church glorifies Jesus Christ, who passed the consecration ceremony with water and accepted the faith. Baptism is one of the most ancient holidays: written references to it refer to the II century. Earlier it was celebrated together with Christmas - December 25. Nowadays only in some countries there is this combination of dates. For example, the Indians and Armenians continue to celebrate the Epiphany on January 6.

The Bible says that the rite of baptism over Jesusconducted by John the Baptist. During the sacrament of the Savior, the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove, it was at this moment that the heavenly voice proclaimed that this man is the Son of the Lord, the beloved and the only one who brings his favor to the world. Therefore, if you do not know how to celebrate the Epiphany, turn to the Gospel. There it is told in details that the holiday is closely connected with water, therefore its sanctification and swimming in the ice-hole are the main traditions of the solemn event.

Christmas Eve

This is the name of the evening beforea significant day, when they celebrate the Baptism of the Lord. How to celebrate this event, which is also important for Christians? Firstly, the Christmas Eve traditions are very similar to the Christmas Eve: people are walking around the streets and caroling. People all day fast, and only in the evening the family gathers at a table on which the fasting meals are presented. The main thing remains the kutya, traditionally cooked from rice or wheat, honey, raisins, poppy and nuts. Girls are guessing at the betrothed, young people are arranging the so-called seeing off Kolyada.

Secondly, it is believed that the night before Epiphanyon the street you can meet an evil spirit. She tries to penetrate the dwelling in any guise. To prevent this, Orthodox draw chalk crosses on window frames and doors. The mark has long been considered a reliable protection from the whole otherworldly. Our ancestors said that the werewolf "Fiery Serpent" is especially dangerous: he is usually an unmarried girl in the form of a fine guy. He enchants his victim, and this love is considered incurable.

Epiphany Water

It is a symbol of celebration.From the very early morning of January 19, people rush to the sanctuary to sanctify this source of life. Pour it into specially prepared jugs, which are decorated with bows and flowers. Some people use for this purpose a Christmas rain, shot from the New Year's Beauty. Epiphany is the last day when it makes the household happy with its beauty. Immediately after the Epiphany, a Christmas tree is usually burned, and toys are hidden on entresols until the next winter.

If there is an opportunity to consecrate water on the river, thenpeople try not to miss it. Father sends the service just near the ice-hole, after which people draw water from it. They bring her into the house, and a real celebration begins. No one goes to work, because work is considered a great sin on this day. After the consecration of the water, the Orthodox celebrate the Baptism of the Lord at a table in the center of which the most fertile water stands at the most honorable place. Every family member and guest takes a sip from her throat. The mistress of the house treats those present with a delicious meal: a porridge seasoned with butter, a cold, a rich borscht and square pancakes, so that the money can flow.

How to recruit water correctly

The water is consecrated on January 18 at Christmas Eve, as well as 19number after the Divine Liturgy. A real feast for all believers is the service for Epiphany in Russia. Traditions, as the event marks, what it is necessary to do on this day, the saint tells the sermon on the sermon. He also accentuates people's attention that the collected water in these two days has special properties, and it makes no difference whether you got it on January 18 or 19.

By the way, if there is no possibility to scoop the consecratedliquid from the river or bring from the church, you can use an ordinary water tap or a well. You need to dial it at night on the Epiphany in the interval between 00:10 and 01:30. Remember: it must be reserved before marking. The baptism of the Lord is a church holiday, so sincere prayer is a necessary part of the rite. Pouring water into a jar or jug, read the sacred words from the Bible. Before the procedure itself, one should also pray, asking the Lord for forgiveness for sins and thanks to his mercy.

Healing properties

Epiphany water has a special power.First, it does not deteriorate. Try to pour plain water and hold it for a month in a sealed vessel: after taking a sip after a while you will feel bitter or notes of mold in the liquid. But the water, collected on the eve of January 19, will be fresh even after years. Secondly, it protects from evil forces. Bringing her from the church, people first of all sprinkled the walls and corners of the house with liquid to protect him from demons and demons.

Thirdly, water has medicinal properties.Reading old archival data on how to celebrate the Epiphany in Russia, you can find evidence of the use of fluids in infirmaries. The patients were given to drink three sips to rid them of the hated illness. Also during the year, water was consumed by those who became victims of any disease: not only physical, but also spiritual. The liquid saved people from spoiling and evil eye, calmed down with neuroses and insomnia, removed from a state of apathy and depression.

Bathing

Dive into the hole - another populara tradition that has come to us from the depths of centuries. In Russia, about three thousand so-called Jordanians are preparing for the holiday, believers begin to dive into them on Christmas Eve. During the procedure, all participants smile, dipping three times. After warming themselves in a bath or with the help of hot tea, which they carefully bring with them in thermos. Often a hole is made in the form of a cross, which gives the procedure a great atmosphere of a Christian holiday.

Severe frosts usually strike at EpiphanyLord. How to celebrate a significant event in order to visit the polynya, and not catch a cold? Experts recommend to consult a doctor first. For example, people who suffer from arrhythmia, kidney disease and diabetes, can not jump into icy water. If you are completely healthy and there are no special contraindications, you still need to prepare the body for possible stress: one month before bathing, start to temper, enrich the diet with foods rich in vitamins and trace elements. And read the instructions on how to enter the ice water correctly and what to do after bathing in the polynya.

Traditions

There are a lot of them.Learning about how to celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany in Russia, foreigners usually grow their hands: the event is so rich in various rituals and original rituals. One of them is the release of pigeons into the wild. Opening the cells in which the birds were specially prepared for the holiday, people say thank you to the Lord for his mercy and patronage. Also, the feathered are a symbol of God's grace, which descended on the savior of mankind - Jesus - on the day of his baptism in the Jordan.

On the morning of January 19, as soon as the firstbell, the Orthodox bred a fire on the shore of the nearest pond, so that Christ could get warm by the fire after bathing. The girls at the dawn also run to the river or lake to wash their icy water. It is believed that it gives youth and beauty. After Baptism, it is also forbidden to wash in water. There is a belief that when the cross is immersed in water, the priest casts out demons out of the water, who after sitting on the beach in anticipation of a man with dirty underwear. Once it is immersed in the water, the devils return. Therefore, they said: the later women begin to erase, the more unclean will die from baptismal frosts.

Divination

Very popular entertainment, without which it is difficultto present the feast of the Epiphany. As archival sources note, the rite is far from being religious, but pagan. Despite this, girls prefer this pastime, using for this purpose any objects: wax, coffee grounds, mirrors or snow. For example, a very famous holy fortune-telling on a shoe, it was used by our great-grandmothers in time immemorial. They went out into the yard and, turning their faces to the threshold, threw their boots over their left shoulder: in which direction did the sock point, and the matchmakers would arrive from there.

Instead, they tried to find out the future with the help ofpaper and candles. The sheet was tightly clamped in hands, put on a saucer and set on fire. When the paper burned, by its shadow located on the wall, they tried to find out what surprises fate had prepared in the coming year.

In a word, there are a lot of such fortune-telling.Of course, it is not necessary to believe in the authenticity of rituals, but it's worth trying: it's fun and entertaining. In the Russian outback still do not understand how to celebrate the Epiphany without mysterious rituals and fortune-telling. After all, they are an important part of the holiday.

Folk signs

Being observant, our ancestors alsohave developed a whole system of predictions for ordinary weather. They claimed that the summer would be dry if Baptism is cold and clear, and rich for harvest, when the sky is cloudy. Full month foreshadowed a big spring spill, and a starry night - a good collection of berries and peas. The thunderous summer was spoken by the southern wind, about a happy year - snow, especially if it began during the Divine Liturgy. Lai dogs signaled to the hunters about a successful season, which awaits them in the near future.

Let's draw a conclusion.How do Orthodox people mark the feast of Epiphany? Fun and relaxed. They use not only Christian traditions, but also pagan rites, which makes it even more colorful and unusual. Epiphany is the last important event that ends the day of the whole cycle of winter svyatok. After him came a temporary lull, people were preparing for the Great Lent and were waiting for the next significant date - a bright Easter, with which many signs are also connected. But that's another story ...