Now is the Feast of Theophany for Coptic, Syrian, and Ethiopian Christians and for those Orthodox who follow the Old Calendar.
To quote from our Ministry of Tourism's nice Holy Land Calendar of Christian Feasts & Events
For the Eastern churches, this feast denotes Christ's baptism in the Jordan River.The Ethiopians celebrate the baptism at the river that afternoon.
Theologically, it is Jesus' first revelation as the Son of God and the revelation of the Holy Trinity.
Morning of Jan. 18 - A procession of Orthodox clergy and pilgrims goes down to the river bank [at Kasr il Yahud, east of Jericho]. ... By submerging a cross in the river, the Patriarch purifies and consecrates the water, which is then sprinkled on the crowds of faithful.
The Syrian Orthodox Church and the Coptic Orthodox Church have the river the next morning, Jan. 19.
I visited Kasr il Yahud on a regular day in May 2012 and chanced to see a Canadian pastor baptizing his whole youth group.
Should you need a life preserver. . .
The gift shop on the Israeli side of the river has souvenir T shirts for you.
Click on the photo to read the Bible verses.
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To see more of the baptism site, see my posts on Kasr il Yahud.
There are some posts about John the Baptist too.
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Sr. Vassa has a 9-minute video about St. John and how "he didn't get in the way."
You will enjoy it, for sure!
Happy Theophany to Sr. Vassa and all who are celebrating now.
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Twain remarked on how the Holy Land he visited was so much smaller than what he would have imagined- I think the same applies when I see the Jordan here.
ReplyDeletehow very interesting. thanks for showing this!
ReplyDeleteA bit too murky for my taste...
ReplyDeleteUmmm... That water does not look very clean....
ReplyDeleteInteresing! I like the t-shirts.
ReplyDeleteI was baptized in a lake in Norway, the water was purer than there..