Epiphany

With the Feast of Baptism another Christian holiday is associated - Epiphany. It is believed that on the day when theThe baptism of the Lord, God revealed himself to the world in three Persons - God the Father, God the Son and God of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ (God the Son) was baptized in the Jordan River. The Holy Spirit descended upon him, and God the Father testified of Jesus Christ with a voice from heaven. Since these holidays are dedicated to one event, the Epiphany and Epiphany in some churches merged into one festival.

So, Armenian Church simultaneously celebrates the Nativity of Christ and the Baptism of the Lord under the common name of the Epiphany. AT Orthodoxy the differences between Baptism and the Epiphany are practically erased, so now these are actually two different names for one holiday. Catholics of the Latin Rite Epiphany celebrates on January 6, and on the following Sunday, Epiphany is celebrated.

The baptism of the Lord is connected in the people with different traditions, customs and rituals. The eve of Epiphany, the evening of January 18, is called Epiphany Christmas Eve. On this day it is customary to fast. Usually in the Epiphany Eve is eaten lean pies, flat cakes and osovo. On this day, people painted crosses on stove openings, doors and windows with chalk or charcoal. It was believed that this would help protect the inhabitants of the house from demonic influence.

On the day of the Epiphany the clergy dressed in white robes. This holiday is accepted in many countries consecrate water and swim in the ice. People believe that the bush in the ice hole at Epiphanyhelps to heal from disease. Usually they bathe in a shirt, three times immersed in water with a head. At the same time, it is necessary to be baptized and say: "In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit!" In Greece and Bulgaria, after the consecration of the water, solemn processions with banners are sent to the pond. A wooden cross is thrown into the water, which is considered honorable.

Holy is all the baptismal water, so it is not necessary to take it in the church. It is believed that on the day of Epiphany the Lord sanctifies all water on earth, that at least once a year all people on earth,regardless of religion, were able to accept purification. Sanctified water sprinkled with housing and things, they drink it. If the consecrated water is treated with due reverence, it will not spoil for a long time.

There are beliefs associated with healing power of baptismal water. Some believe that if on Epiphany nightput a silver bowl on the table and fill it with water, then at midnight it will begin to sway, as if repeating the moment of the baptism of Jesus Christ. Such water is drunk or washed by it, considering it curative. Healing is also considered ice and snow collected in the open field on the night of 18 to 19 January. Some people store them in the freezer to wipe themselves with baptismal ice and snow in case of illness.

In the people, the Baptism of the Lord is firmly associated with divination and fierce baptismal frosts. The Church forbids Epiphany fortune telling, because itpagan custom. But the girls do not miss the opportunity to betray their betrothed and find out their destiny, because this is the last opportunity to get a credible result of divination, after all, Christmas Eve ends with Christmas.

On the eve of Epiphany, on January 18, crosses - special ritual cookies. In the morning of January 19, breakfast with these cookies,washing it with holy water. For each member of the family, a nominal cross is baked, somehow marking it. By the way the cookies are baked, you can find out what each family member waits for in the coming year, what kind of cross they will have to bear. If the biscuit is baked evenly and has a pleasant yellow-pink color - the year will be successful and prosperous. If the cookies turned out with fractures and cracks, or even worse - burned or not roasted, the year will be difficult, diseases and sorrows are possible. Such "bad" cookies are not eaten, but fed to birds. You can not tell your household that they got "unsuccessful" cookies - you need to treat them with "spare" crosses, baked and rosy.