Orthodox Christians celebrate Epiphany on January 19
11:00, 19 January
The holiday, which is considered one of the most significant for Orthodox Christians, was established in honor of an event in evangelical history, the baptism of Jesus Christ by John the Baptist in the Jordan River. In Orthodoxy, the feast of the Epiphany of the Lord is one of the twelve feasts.
According to the Gospel, Jesus Christ came to John the Baptist, who was by the Jordan River in Bethbara, in order to be baptized.
John, who was preaching about the imminent coming of the Messiah, was surprised when he saw Christ and said, "I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?" To this, Jesus replied that "it behooves us to fulfill all righteousness," and was baptized by John.
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As the Gospel text says, at that moment "heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and there was a voice from heaven saying: You are my beloved Son; I am well pleased with You!" Thus, with the participation of John the Baptist, the messianic destiny of Jesus Christ was testified.
At Epiphany, it is customary to consecrate water in churches. It is collected and stored for a whole year, believing that it does not lose its protective power and does not deteriorate.
The national calendar forbade any housework on this day. It was forbidden:
- clean the house, do the laundry, otherwise you will bring troubles and adversities to your house;
- It's hard to work so that you don't have to bend your back all year.;
- to shed tears so as not to bring disaster;
- leaving shoes outside the door can make you sick;
- wishing others harm, it was believed that it would return a hundredfold.;
- cut your hair and nails - you can cut your fate;
- to lend money, because the money will leave the house.;
- taking the garbage out of the house leads to losses;
- sew, knit or embroider, otherwise fate can be confused;
- refuse requests, because then you'll walk around with your hand outstretched.
