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I’d like to
welcome you all back to our weekly talks and wish you all a blessed and
fruitful New Year. Before breaking up for the Christmas holidays our
last talk was on the meaning of the feast of Christmas. Over the
holidays or as it is know in the church “the twelve days of Christmas”
we celebrated three Great events and some lesser events in the life of
Christ. The first of the Great events was his birth – the Incarnation of
the Second person of the Holy Trinity – the Word of God took upon
himself the form of his creature and became flesh. Together with the
birth we saw all the events associated with the nativity story like the
visit of the Shepherds and the Magi, the escape of the holy family to
Egypt, the Massacre of the innocent babies and the return of the family
from Egypt to take up their residence in Nazareth where Jesus grew and
lived.
The second Great
feast was eight days after the Nativity on New Years day in which we
celebrated his Circumcision in the flesh. Although people celebrate New
Years day with the feast of St. Basil the Great, the main feast of the
day is the Lord’s Circumcision. Christ fulfils the Law that he himself
established with Abraham. The main theme of the feast is that Christ
came into the world to fulfil the law and not to destroy it. St. Luke
also mentions the Presentation of Christ in the temple on the fortieth
day which the Church celebrates on the 2nd February. The Gospels don’t
give us any more details of his life as an infant or while growing up
except for the occasion when he was twelve years old when his parents
found him after three days sitting in the Jerusalem temple discussing
theological matters with the scribes.
With the third Great
Feast we leave the baby Jesus and meet him again as a grown man of
thirty coming to John the Baptist to be baptized in the river Jordan and
ready to reveal himself to the world to begin his public ministry of
teaching the people the way that leads to eternal life. The feast is
Theophany or Epiphany the festival of the Lord’s Baptism celebrated on
the 6th January.
People often
ask why the Gospels keep silent on Christ’s child and teenage years and
what was he doing until the age of thirty. In fact only two of the four
Evangelists Matthew and Luke mention the birth of Christ and the other
two Mark and John avoid any reference to the nativity and begin their
Gospels from the Baptism. The Nativity and childhood of Christ was a
private affair involving just a handful of people; Christ was not yet
ready to be introduced to the people at large. Of course his Nativity is
an important event in the history of mankind because in it we see the
fulfilment of God’s promise of salvation for the world, but as St. John
Chrysostom says in one of his homilies: Christmas is like a dawn, (the
first sign of a newborn day), but Epiphany which for us means the
baptism of Christ is like a full light of day. As we have seen in our
previous talk, we have much to learn from Christ’s Nativity, but
knowledge of his childhood and teenage years would not really benefit us
in any way that would lead to our salvation and that is the only purpose
of the Gospel teachings. What then of Christ’s early adult life from
eighteen to thirty, why are these years also passed over in silence? In
our age and society we consider someone legally an adult when he reaches
the age of eighteen, but we consider their age still very immature when
it comes to important issues in all aspects of life. This is the rule in
all societies and Judaism two thousand years ago was no exception.
According to Jewish law human maturity is reached at the age of thirty
and it was not permitted to teach in the synagogues or become a priest
until one reached that age. If Christ had begun his ministry at an
earlier age he would not have been taken seriously and would have been
breaking the law.
On the day of
the Baptism Christ has reached the fullness of His human maturity and it
was time for Him to appear to the people of Israel: it was time for his
epiphany. The Feast of Christ’s Baptism is know as Epiphany or Theophany
or “Τα Φώτα” the Feast of Lights. Both Epiphany and Theophany are Greek
words; epiphany meaning appearance and theophany meaning the appearance
of God, but Epiphany in the Western Churches is a completely different
feast than that celebrated by the Orthodox Church on the 6th January
although in the first three centuries they were part of the same feast.
The origin of the Feast of Epiphany goes back to Apostolic times and
then it included the celebration of Christ's birth, the adoration of the
Magi, and all of the childhood events of Christ such as his circumcision
and presentation in the temple as well as his baptism by John in the
Jordan. In the fourth century a separate feast was established for
Christmas and was appointed to be celebrated on 25th December. The
Adoration of the Magi was also appointed to be celebrated as part of the
Nativity story whereas the Circumcision was appointed for the eighth day
on 1st January and the Presentation in the temple on the 40th day on 2nd
February. In this way the feast of Epiphany was solely the celebration
of Christ’s Baptism by John in the River Jordan.
The western churches
followed a different tradition; they appointed the commemoration of the
Magi’s visit to be celebrated on the 6th January and the Baptism to be
celebrated on the following Sunday. Thus two meanings for epiphany
developed. In the Orthodox Church it meant the first public appearance
of Christ to the world and for the Catholic and Protestant churches it
meant the showing of Christ to the Magi who were the first Gentiles to
acknowledge and worship Jesus as “King” and so were the first to “show”
or “reveal” Jesus to a wider world as the incarnate Christ which
corresponded with Simeon’s blessing that this child Jesus would be “a
light to lighten the Gentiles” (Luke 2:32). In some Central and South
American countries Epiphany known also as the Three Kings’ Day, is the
time for opening Christmas presents. Remnants of the Nativity
celebrations on the 6th January can still be seen in some Orthodox
countries and especially on our Island of Cyprus. It is still customary
to give presents of money to loved ones on Epiphany. This is still very
much the tradition especially in villages that tend to hold on to the
old traditions. My mother in law gives all her 23 grandchildren a gift
of money on Christmas day but my father in law prefers to wait until the
6th January to give his 5 children and their families his money gift.
In the two
traditions of East and West the meaning for the feast of Epiphany is
justified, and even though historically the Nativity story and the
Baptism were celebrated as one feast, the name Epiphany was originally
and exclusively assigned for the Baptism. St. John Chrysostom wrote that
“it is not the day of the Saviour’s birth that we should call his
Appearance, but the day on which He was baptized. He did not become
known to all by his Birth, but by his Baptism, and that is why it is not
the day of his Birth that is called Theophany, but the day on which he
was baptized.”
Possibly
because of the western church’s meaning of the feast but also because of
the theological understanding of the event, the name of the feast was
replaced by the word Theophania. We call it Theophania which means the
showing or manifestation of God because at this feast the Holy Trinity
became manifest to mankind. The hymn for the day, based on the Gospel
story, clearly teaches this appearance of the Holy Trinity: “When Thou,
O Lord, wast baptized in the Jordan, the worship of the Trinity was made
manifest. For the voice of the Father bore witness unto Thee, calling
Thee the beloved Son, and the Spirit in the form of a dove confirmed His
word as sure and steadfast. O Christ our God who hast appeared and
enlightened the world, glory to Thee.”
With the Feast
of the Baptism of Christ, the Church proclaims our faith in the most
sublime mystery, incomprehensible to human intellect, of one God in
three Persons. It teaches us to confess and glorify the Holy Trinity,
one in Essence and Indivisible.
The feast of Theophany is a manifestation of Christ very different from
the other feasts that are considered as epiphanies such as the Birth and
the Adoration of the Magi because on this day God reveals Himself fully:
He is one in three persons. This is the mystery which allows us to call
on the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit as one God.
From ancient
times this Feast was also called “Τα Φώτα” the Feast of Lights, the Day
of Illumination because God is Light and has appeared to illumine “those
who sat in darkness,” and “in the region of the shadow of death”
(Mt.4:16), and to save the fallen race of mankind by grace. The Feast of
Lights also had another meaning. It was customary in the ancient Church
to baptize catechumens at the Vespers of Theophany. A great number of
Baptisms took place at once and with each new member of the Church
holding a candle; it was truly a festival of lights.
But let’s take
a look at the Gospel story and the deeper meanings of the feast.
According to the Prophet Isaiah the people had to be prepared beforehand
to receive the Messiah. This preparation was assigned by God to John the
son of Elizabeth and Zacharias. Elizabeth and Mary were cousins which
makes John and Jesus second cousins. As an unborn baby of six months
still in his mother’s womb John recognized Jesus as his God and creator
when Mary visited Elizabeth after the Angel Gabriel told her that she
would miraculously conceive and bear the Son of God. John leaped with
joy, as the prophet that he already was, announcing to his mother that
their Lord and God was in their presence.
As an adult
the word of God directed John to go out into the Jordan wilderness to
preach repentance and to baptize Israel, to bear witness of the Light,
that all men through him might believe. (John 1: 7). His mission was to
prepare Israel and make the people ready to accept the appearance of the
Messiah and when the time came to point him out and bear witness of who
he was. Heeding God’s word, John in the wilderness near the river
Jordan, preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins
(Luke 3: 3). The whole Jewish land and the residents of Jerusalem went
out to hear his preaching and to be baptized by him in the waters of the
River Jordan, and to confess their sins (Mark 1: 5). Among the Jews who
came to John there naturally arose the question: Was he Israel’s
hoped-for Redeemer and Comforter, was he the expected Messiah? John
replied: that he was “the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare
ye the way of the Lord; make straight the paths of our God as prophesied
by Isaiah. When they asked him why he baptized if he wasn’t the Christ
or Elias or one of the prophets, he told them: “There cometh one
mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to
stoop down and unloose. I indeed have baptized you with water: but he
shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost. (Mark 1: 7-8)
On one of
those days when John was preaching and baptizing he saw Jesus coming to
him and inspired by the Holy Spirit he recognized him as the same person
he had recognized thirty years earlier while both were still in their
mothers’ wombs. Jesus had come to be baptized by John and at first John
who recognized Christ as God incarnate would not allow it. Baptism was
for the remission of sins so how could he the creature lay his hand on
the person who was not only pure and sinless but who was also his
creator? A hymn from the feast says: “When the Forerunner beheld thee, O
Christ, draw near to him and ask for baptism, he cried out in trembling:
why dost thou bid me to perform what lies beyond my strength? How shall
I touch thee with my hand, O Lord all-powerful, who with thy hand dost
hold all things? Do thou rather baptize me thy servant.” (Vespers 7th
January) Jesus answering said unto him: Suffer it to be so now, for thus
it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness… (Matthew 3: 15). Jesus was
sinless and incorrupt and had no need of baptism; however, as He had
taken on Himself the sins of the entire world, he had come to the waters
of the Jordan to purge them through Baptism. He came to be baptized, so
as to sanctify the waters with Himself, so as to grant us the font of
Holy Baptism. St John of Damascus said that the Lord was baptized, not
because He Himself had need for cleansing, but “to bury human sin by
water,” to fulfil the Law, to reveal the mystery of the Holy Trinity,
and finally, to sanctify “the nature of water” and to offer us the form
and example of Baptism.
The
sanctification of the waters is one of the main themes of the feast
which is seen as a renewal of creation and related to the original
creation story. The world was created for man and when Adam fell from
grace the whole material world fell with him. The whole world suffered
the consequences of fallen nature and Christ came into the world not
only to save man, but also to renew nature: to transfigure the fallen
state of creation to the state that it will receive in the new age. With
his baptism in the streams of the Jordan all matter is sanctified and
made pure in him, purged of its death-dealing qualities inherited from
the devil and the wickedness of men. In the Lord's epiphany all creation
becomes good again, indeed “very good,” the way that God himself made it
and proclaimed it to be in the beginning when “the Spirit of God was
moving over the face of the waters” (Gen 1:2) and when the “Breath of
Life” was breathing in man and in everything that God made (Gen 1:30;
2:7).
Christ has
come to sanctify the whole of creation. The Lord’s Baptism is therefore
a feast where by his immersion into the water everything is cleansed and
made new. Baptism is the symbol of death and resurrection; and by
following the Lord’s example we too become partakers of his death and
resurrection. This is another theme of the feast. By his own baptism
Christ instituted the Sacrament of Baptism. He showed us the form and
the need for us sinners to be baptized. Through Baptism, Jesus Christ
himself reshapes and makes man partaker of divine nature. The baptized
person is spiritually initiated in the death and resurrection of our
Lord Jesus Christ, integrating himself as a living member of the Church
- the body of Christ. When John was baptizing the Jews who came to him
he said that he baptized them only with water, but that Christ would
baptize us with water and the Holy Spirit. The baptism of Christ is
therefore considerably different from the baptism of John. John’s
baptism was for the remission of sins but in Christ Baptism also means
receiving the Holy Spirit.
To understand this we
need only return to the baptism story. When Jesus was baptized it says
that he immediately came out of the water and the heavens were opened
and the Spirit of God in the form of a dove descended and lighted upon
him and a voice from heaven was heard to say: “This is my beloved Son,
in whom I am well pleased.” The Son of God assumed our body thus he was
baptized as a man and whatever occurred at his baptism occurs at our
baptism. Firstly heaven which was closed to us through Adam’s fall is
opened for each of us at our baptism just as it opened for Christ, the
descent of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove upon Jesus implies the
coming of the Spirit upon all of us. This is the Sacrament of
Chrismation which after we come out of the waters of the font we are
immediately anointed with the Holy Chrism and receive the gifts of the
Holy Spirit. We do not see the Spirit descend in the form of a dove, for
us the descent is invisible because the Holy Spirit is invisible. The
fact that he appeared in the form of a dove at the Lord’s baptism does
not mean that he always descends in the same way. At the Lord’s baptism
he descended in the form of a dove for a specific reason – as a sign and
verification to John so that he could bare witness to the whole world
that Jesus was indeed the Son of God. With our baptism into Christ we
have put on Christ and with the descent of the Holy Spirit we have been
adopted as sons of God thus at our baptism, even though we cannot hear,
the voice of the Father says “this is my beloved son in whom I am well
pleased.”
We have seen
then the many meanings of the feast, but we also need to say something
of the Church service and especially for the Great Blessing of the
waters which is performed on the eve and on the actual day of the feast.
We have already seen that one of the main themes of the day is the
sanctification and renewal of fallen creation through Christ’s baptism
in the river Jordan. The observance of the Blessing of the waters is
part of this same theme of sanctifying the world and making everything
“very good” as God originally made creation. The world which through sin
has become polluted, corrupted and dead is saved once more and through
Christ is sanctified and becomes a new creation. This is what is
celebrated with the Great Blessing of the Waters. On both the eve and
the Feast day itself, a font is placed in the centre of the Church and
after the last prayer of the Liturgy know as the “Behind the Pulpit
prayer” the service for the blessing of the waters begins. The choir
begins with a few hymns which are followed by three Old Testament
readings from the Book of Isaiah, then the Apostle and Gospel readings.
After the readings the priest says a set of petitions which except for 2
or 3 are identical to the petitions that are said at every baptism. The
extra petitions for the day are “For those who draw from this water and
take it for the sanctification of their dwellings, let us pray unto the
Lord.” “For this water, that it may bestow cleansing of soul and body
upon all who draw it with faith and partake of it, let us pray unto the
Lord.” “That we may be accounted worthy to be filled with holiness
through the partaking of these waters, by the invisible manifestation of
the Holy Spirit, let us pray unto the Lord.”
The petitions
are followed by three main prayers. The first is said silently the
second is only said on the actual day and the third which is said on
both days is the main prayer of consecration and is again the prayer of
the blessing of the waters of the baptismal rite.
The prayer
that is read only on the feast day sums up the whole meaning of the
feast and reflects the liturgical hymns for the feast. I don’t want to
bore you with the full text as it is a fairly long prayer but it would
be beneficial to hear parts of the prayer to see how the Church
understands the feast.
At some point in the prayer it says: “In the
preceding feast we saw Thee as a child, while in the present we behold
Thee full-grown, our God made manifest, perfect God from perfect God…
the choir of saints assembles with us and angels join with men in
keeping festival. Today the grace of the Holy Spirit in the form of a
dove descended upon the waters. Today the Sun that never sets has risen
and the world is filled with splendour by the light of the Lord… Today
the Uncreated of His own will accepts the laying on of hands from His
own creature. Today the Prophet and Forerunner approaches the Master,
but stands before Him with trembling, seeing the condescension of God
towards us. Today the waters of the Jordan are transformed into healing
by the coming of the Lord. Today the whole creation is watered by
mystical streams. Today the transgressions of men are washed away by the
waters of the Jordan. Today Paradise has been opened to men and the Sun
of Righteousness shines down upon us. Today the bitter water, as once
with Moses and the people of Israel, is changed to sweetness by the
coming of the Lord. Today we have been released from our ancient
lamentation, and as the new Israel, we have found salvation. Today we
have been delivered from darkness and illuminated with the light of the
knowledge of God… Today the whole creation shines with light from on
high. Today error is laid low and the coming of the Master has made for
us a way of salvation. Today things above keep feast with things below,
and things below commune with things above. Today the triumphant
assembly of the Orthodox keeps this holy festival with great joy. Today
the Master hastens towards baptism that He may lift man up to the
heights. Today He that bows not, bows down to His own servant that He
may set us free from bondage. Today we have purchased the Kingdom of
Heaven: for the Lord’s Kingdom shall have no end. Today earth and sea
share the joy of the world, and the world is filled with gladness. The
waters saw Thee, O God, the waters saw Thee and were afraid. The Jordan
turned back, seeing the fire of the Godhead descending bodily and
entering its stream. The Jordan turned back, beholding the Holy Spirit
coming down in the form of a dove and flying about Thee. The Jordan
turned back, seeing the Invisible made visible, the Creator made flesh,
the Master in the form of a servant. The Jordan turned back and the
mountains skipped, looking upon God in the flesh; and the clouds gave
voice, marvelling at Him who was come, the Light of Light, true God of
true God. For today in the Jordan they saw the triumph of the Master;
they saw Him drown in the Jordan the death of disobedience, the sting of
error, and the chains of hell, and bestow upon the world the baptism of
salvation.”
After all the
prayers have been said the Priest takes up the Cross with a bouquet of
basil and while singing the hymn of the day “When Thou, O Lord, wast
baptized in the Jordan, the worship of the Trinity was made manifest” he
plunges the cross into the waters and lifts it up again. He does this
three times and on each occasion the hymn is sung. He then proceeds to
sprinkle the water in the four directions of the world. Then after
sprinkling the church everyone comes to venerate the Cross and receive a
blessing with the water. After the service everyone partakes of the
water and people bring bottles with them to fill so that they can have
the water at home to partake whenever they fill the need. During the
rest of the day the Priest will go around the homes of the faithful
blessing each room with the blessed water. In towns this is not so
evident anymore. Many are overwhelmed with joy that a priest should
visit their home to bless it, but because most town communities have
become multi-racial and multi-religious, there are those who react
negatively to a priest knocking on their door so most priests in towns
have either stopped this tradition or only go to the homes of the
parishioners who have asked them to go. Thankfully in villages the
tradition is still very much alive and people eagerly wait for the
priest with open doors and gifts. I go around the village with my three
daughters and one holds a purse for the money gifts and another holds a
basket which is continually being filled with chocolates, cakes and
fruit.
Another custom
which you are sure to have seen on the TV is the throwing of the cross
into the sea or some other large body of water. This is just an
extension of the blessing of waters. The Bishop followed by the town
clergy and the people walk in procession to the sea and after a short
introduction the Bishop throws the Cross into the sea singing the Hymn
of the day. In the sea are swimmers who race to be the first to recover
the Cross which is considered a special blessing.
Before we
finish for today I’d like to say something about partaking of the
Blessed water because there is a great misunderstanding among the people
of what is permitted and what is not. You will hear people saying that
you are not allowed to drink of the water if you have not fasted
beforehand. The Great feasts like the Nativity and Pascha have a period
of fasting before the feast. The feast of Theophany has just the one day
of fasting before the feast which is observed as a strict fast. The fast
is not kept so that we can purify ourselves and become worthy to partake
of the blessed water. If this was the case then the waters blessed on
the eve of the feast would be in vain because the eve is not preceded by
a fast and so no one would be able to partake. The fast before the feast
like any fast before a great feast is observed as a tool of preparation
to help us understand the meaning of the feast. Of course as the church
ascribes a fast on the eve, then our partaking of the waters on the
actual day has naturally been preceded by a fast. What people also tend
to not understand is that they should first have partaken of the Holy
Mysteries of the Body and Blood of Christ before they approach to
partake of the water. This is another great and serious
misunderstanding. You will hear people say that the partaking of the
water of the Great Blessing is like having Holy Communion and that if
you partake of this water then its like having communion for the whole
year. I can only assume that this is a satanic invention to keep people
away from the holy Chalice or that people invented it to justify to
others why they didn’t practice regular participation in the Holy
Mysteries.
Certainly the
blessed water has sanctification qualities but nothing can take the
place of Holy Communion. One other thing people say is that you are not
allowed to drink of the water blessed on the eve, but only from the
water blessed on the day. They say that the water blessed on the eve is
only for sprinkling the fields for a good crop and for sprinkling the
animals. Do not listen to such rubbish: the waters of both days are
exactly the same and except for the one extra prayer said on the day,
the blessing of both is identical in everyway.
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