“For as many of you as have
been baptized into Christ
have put on Christ” Galatians 3:27
On January 19 we celebrated
one of the most important Feast days – Theophany.
Today the nature of waters
is sanctified, / and the Jordan is parted in two, / it hold back the stream of
its own waters, / seeing the Master wash himself.
At a certain moment, the
dark gray and gloomy clouds began to clear up and disappear and in their place,
you could see streaks of sunshine. The light of the white sun began to warm the
snow covered tree branches, the snow-white fields and the frozen lampposts. Everything
began to glimmer and to glow in a silver shade. It even seemed as if the birds
began to sing with more joy.
“When you, O lord were
baptized in the Jordan…” – you could hear outside in the distance
I looked out the window to
see a procession from the main cathedral, which consisted of several monastics,
and priests, walking slowly, singing piously and it seemed as if the words came
out together with the vapor. One of the nuns held the holy water in shining
golden chalice, the rest were beautifully singing the troparion of the feast
day along with the priests. The priest meanwhile, sprinkled everyone without
stopping or losing a step, both children and adults. The children were eager to
be sprinkled with holy water and their gleaming smiles joyfully met the drops
of water, while the adults seemed more cautious and stayed away from the cold water.
The feast of Theophany has
arrived, I thought to myself while observing how the sisters-novices were
helping the brothers disassemble the Nativity scene. Even the mood became a bit
dreary with the thoughts on how quickly the time has passed. There was a
feeling that one could use a few more days of the after-feast in order to
glorify and celebrate the Nativity of our Lord. Soon another evening service
will begin, during which we will be able to hear, to listen and understand
the meaning of the feast day:
Christ is baptized.
He comes up from the water.
With Himself He raises up
the world.
He sees the heavens opened
which Adam has shut
Against Himself and His
posterity.
The Spirit affirms the
divinity,
Since He rushes to join One
Who is also divine.
A voice comes from heaven,
for from heaven comes the
One Whom the Spirit affirms:
He is the Savior of our
souls.
(Lytia during The Great Compline)
Theophany is the alternate
name to the baptism of Christ. Why? Because this is the day when Christ has
revealed himself to the world as the Son of God – “for the voice of the Father
bore witness to You, calling You his Beloved Son” and also the appearance of
the Holy Trinity – “the worship of the Trinity was made manifest”. The All-night
vigil was then followed by the Liturgy at night (The true celebration of our
faith!) followed by the Great Blessing of the water and the words of a
wonderful prayer will be read and heard to the Almighty, All Merciful and the
Maker and Creator of All things and “no words will be enough to glorify His
wonders”. Finally, after the service everyone coming up to the cross will be generously
sprinkled with Holy Water.
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| St Elisabeth Convent |
The Heart is already filled
with joy. Joy, because We are baptized in the name of The Father and The Son
and The Holy Spirit. Joy because we can cleanse our sins through confession and
most importantly joy because Christ has defeated sin and that we are saved. We
must rejoice and bless the name of the Lord. And so the day of Theophany came
and went but the warmth of the feast remains in our hearts and the pure white,
heavenly snow resonates the purity which we all must keep.
Sister Daria
CONVERSATION