Theophania

We are back in Greece, and were just in time for the celebrations of the Theophania. The feast of Theophania, observed on the 6th of January, is a public holiday in Greece and is among the twelve great feasts of the Eastern Orthodox church. Unlike in Western Christianity where the day of Theophany commemorates the Adoration of the Magi, the day when the three Magi visited baby Jesus and offered him gifts, in the  Eastern Orthodox church, Theophania commemorates the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River, and the traditions of this day are inspired by this event. Hence, despite Theophania being closely linked to the feast of Christmas, the events commemorated are not part of the story of the nativity, as Jesus was supposed to be already in his thirties by the time of his baprism. It is often referred to as the Feast of the Lights, the Day of the Lights, or simply the Lights, to symbolise the enlightenment of humanity by the revelation of the Holy Trinity.

The most important part of the feast is the Great Blessing of the Waters. On the morning of the day, after the Divine Liturgy, a procession goes from the church to a nearby body of water: in Greece, this most often means the sea, but it can also be a river, lake or lagoon, and if pressed, a swimming pool. The priest reads from the Scripture and chants special hymns, proceeds to bless the water by immersing a handcross into it three times, in imitation of Christ's baptism.

And then, the big moment, the day's most recognisable tradition: the priest throws the hand cross in the newly-blessed waters, and youths from the parish dive in to (the usually freezing water) to try and catch it. The first person to recover the cross is considered to be blessed for the rest of the year.

This year we decided to watch the ceremony of the retrieval of the cross from our area, so we walked to the marina which is a 15 minute walk from our home.

We got there just as the parade, i.e. the band, the priest and the people who had attended the service ,were arriving.

So many people were already there

on all four quays that surround the small area where the ceremony was to be conducted!

I could not get anywhere near the front to see anything, let alone take photographs. Fortunately, Alimos on line, the local news site, gave me access to their photographs which I am using below.

The young people who were going to try to retrieve the cross from the water were all waiting to dive in. There were 40 this year, including some children.

Across the bay, facing the people waiting to dive in, the priest gave a short blessing and then threw the cross in the water

and they were off...

within minutes this young man had the cross.

You can see the Alimos on line report here

Theophania

Epiphany in Greece is known as Theophania or Fota. After church on the morning of the 6th of January a procession forms that leads to a body of water: it could be the sea, a river or even a reservoir. After a short ceremony the priest throws a cross into the water, thus blessing the water. Then, some daring souls who are prepared to brave the icy cold waters jump in and compete in the retrieval of the cross. The one who brings the cross up to the surface will enjoy good luck and health for the entire year, it is said.

Except that this year the sea was not icy cold. The temperature was up to 20oC and I wore a t-shirt when we went to Palaio Faliro to see the retrieving of the cross.

Because the Archbishop was present, the whole place was packed. It was very difficult to get a good view of the proceedings but I managed to get some shots of the swimmers.

A traditional ritual in the middle of the 21st century: the drone hovering over the swimmers, a testament to the merging of the old and the new.

The whole process was rather disappointing this year. Usually the priest throws the cross as far as he possibly can and then the retrievers swim, dive deep, and try to get the cross. This year the cross was tied to a long ribbon that the priest kept a hold of, retrieval was very easy and accomplished by the one who could push the others away: a bit like a rugby tackle in water. No skill involved and a real anti-climax.

The flares from the boats provided some excitement.

Then it was all over and the procession formed yet again and slowly made its way back to the church .