Great Blessing of Waters: Belarusian Orthodox Christians commemorate Epiphany


The Epiphany, celebrated in Belarus on January 19, marks the baptism of Jesus Christ. The Orthodox Church conducts the rite of the Great Sanctification of the Water on that day (or the eve before).

Participants in the ritual may dip themselves three times under the water, honoring the Holy Trinity, to symbolically wash away their sins from the past year, and to experience a sense of spiritual rebirth. 

Others limit their participation in the Epiphany rites to those conducted inside churches, where priests perform the Great Blessing of Waters. The water is then distributed to attendees who may store it to use in times of illness, to bless themselves, family members, and their homes, or to drink. Some people  think any water – even from the taps on the kitchen sink – poured or bottled on Epiphany becomes holy water, since all the water in the world is blessed this day.

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