The Epiphany is one of the most sacred Greek Orthodox celebrations that dates back to ancient times. This Christian tradition is celebrated on the 6th of January around the world and is a day of joy and brightness.
The Epiphany (also called Theofania or Fota) is a day when Christians celebrate the baptism of Jesus Christ . On January 6, Christians all around Greece take part in various traditions and ceremonies to celebrate the Epiphany. The most important ritual on this day is the ‘great blessing of the waters,’ which is performed by a Greek Orthodox priest. The tradition is that a priest throws a special cross into the sea and many brave young men and boys dive into cold water to retrieve the cross.
The lucky person who finds and returns the cross is blessed by the priest for the whole year. Once the cross has returned, the priest releases a white dove as a symbol of the Holy Spirit. This long-standing tradition is carried out to commemorate the Baptism of Christ and to bless the waters.
The water that is blessed on this day is sometimes known as "Theophany Water", though usually just "holy water", and is taken home by the faithful, and used with prayer as a blessing. People will not only bless themselves and their homes by sprinkling with holy water, but will also drink it. The Orthodox Church teaches that holy water differs from ordinary water by virtue of the incorruptibility bestowed upon it by a blessing that transforms its very nature. a miracle attested to as early as St. John Chrysostom.
Along with the blessing of the waters, there are many other rituals that happen all over Greece to commemorate the Epiphany.
Epiphany in Greece is a significant religious and cultural event, marked by both solemn religious observances and joyful communal celebrations. The Blessing of the Waters is a unique and widely observed tradition that adds a distinctive element to the Greek Epiphany celebrations.
The Greek word for Theophany consists of the word Theos (God) and from the ancient verb phaino, which means “to reveal.” The holiday is called this because, as we saw, God revealed Himself on Earth.
Words like phainomai (to seem; to appear), phenomenon, fantasy, phantom, and fanari (lantern; traffic light) derive from the verb phaino.
