Feast of Baptism

In the evening, January 18, Epiphany Eve begins. For believers in the Orthodoxy of the peasants, the feast of Baptism is one of 12 great religious holidays. As on Christmas , the entire family gathers at the Christmas Eve on Epiphany. Served only lean dishes. On the table must be present kutya - a dish of rice, raisins and honey. The Feast of the Baptism of Christ comes on January 19. From the 18th to the 19th of January the water consecration begins. Lines of believers to drag on to temples or to ponds for holy water, dip into a font or in an ice hole to wash away sins. On this day, even water from the tap is considered holy, and it is attributed to the healing properties. Priests claim that one drop of baptismal water is enough to consecrate any amount of ordinary water.

Baptism is an Orthodox holiday, which preserved its customs and traditions in its original form. According to the tradition of the holiday, baptism is performed, the procession is made during a large gathering of people on the river or the nearest large pond, a hole is cut in the form of a cross, and the priest consecrates the water. Bathing in the ice-hole washed away sins and a true believer, according to the belief, does not suffer from anything during the year. Plunging into the water, a person renounces the devil and swears allegiance to Christ, combined with the spirit of the saints.

Baptism - the history of the holiday

If we look back on Baptism, the story of the feast of the Epiphany - the baptism of the Lord, held a sufficiently clear line between the old and new covenants. Ivan Chrysostom wrote: "The appearance of the Lord is not the day he was born, but on the day he was baptized." Baptism, this is perhaps the very first event in the public activities of Jesus Christ. It was after him that his first disciples joined Christ.

Today, the feast of baptism in some places has become pagan. People who are far from the Orthodox religion, refer to the holy water as a guardian. Moreover, on Christmas Eve, instead of strictly fasting, they eat all kinds of food and drink alcohol, which is in principle unacceptable for an Orthodox Christian. According to the words of the apostle Paul: "The grace that God has given us and the communion to the shrine must be carefully preserved for as long as possible, so that they can continue to grow spiritually."

Holy water taken at Epiphany, you can sprinkle the house. Sprinkle the hands with a pinch, making crosswise movements, starting from the right side of the entrance doors, moving clockwise.