Feast of Theophany today, at the River Jordan

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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.
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 Ethiopians celebrate the baptism at the river that afternoon.
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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What would John the Baptist say?

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Some pictures for John the Baptist on his birthday! 

Enlarge the photo above and see John baptizing Jesus in the River Jordan.

The gift shop at Kasr il Yahud, near Jericho, is full of souvenirs for pilgrims.

Sometimes I wonder how John would react if he could see the modern version of his desert  baptismal site,  complete with tourist buses,  Israeli army patrols,

refrigerated trucks bringing ice cream to the kiosk,

and groups of young North Americans being dunked by their pastor,
while being photographed and filmed,

to the accompaniment of guitars and songs.
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What do you think?
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(More blog pictures of Kasr al Yahud here.)
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Kasr al Yahud, post #3

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Here is my third successive post about the baptism site at the Jordan.
Please click once, then once again, to see any photo much enlarged.

 As we will see, there are many curious contrasts at Kasr al Yahud.
You get off your comfortable tour bus in the parking lot and maybe you will see an IDF army jeep there too.
It is a reminder that  you that you are 1) in the West Bank, 2)  just ten kilometers from Jericho which is in Area A where the Palestinian Authority has full control of security and civil administration, and 3) only a few meters across the river from Jordanian soldiers in watchtowers.

But no worries.  Just a few steps and you are greeted by this mannequin in the gift shop.

He is modeling the garment in which you might like to be baptized or to immerse in the Jordan.

Plenty of T shirts for sale too, like with  Holy Spirit doves, Israeli flags, and "I was baptized in the Jordan River."

Bring your white gown to the "Clothing cell."
This one is for "Woman's [sic]."

(Hey, this could be good for the Signs, Signs meme.)
I wonder how the translation fared in the other languages: Hebrew, Arabic, Russian, Greek.
But the sign shows you the wide diversity of pilgrims who come to Kasr il Yahud. 

Hey, are those shower heads on top?

It was kind of surreal for me to watch people walking around in these gowns, and under the flag of the Jewish State too.
If a Christian dies and is buried in this Jordan-dipped gown, now become shroud, it guarantees eternal life.
At least that is the Christian belief that our group's  Israeli Jewish guide told about.
I have never heard this from a Christian source.  Have you?

Follow the arrow to the "Water entry point."
The new structures you see are meant to provide shade and shelter  for groups that come to have Mass or Divine Liturgy there.

Finally we get down to the river's edge.
At this point it is 380 meters below sea level.
Can you see the Jordanian flag flying just across the narrow river?
There are churches and monasteries on the other side too. 

As we were leaving Kasr al Yahud, I saw three men unloading an ice cream truck in the sweltering heat.
Talk about contrasts!   Ice cream in the desert!
Imagine how things could have turned out different if John the Baptist, Jesus, Joshua, and Elijah had come up from the Jordan and found such luxury . . . .
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More Kasr al Yahud on the Jordan

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Let's continue (from yesterday's post) looking at Kasr al Yahud.
Once you get down to the baptism site, it looks like an oasis.

But first you have to get there, and  all around  is desert.
Follow the signs, leave the main Jordan Valley road and head east.

Soon you see the army patrol road, a sure sign that you are nearing the border (which is the Jordan River).

Be very alert to the many "DANGER - MINES" signs.
Don't even think of leaving the paved road.

The badlands were indeed bad in the 1970s, with many terrorists coming through.
That is why the IDF laid the mines back then.

In the past few years Israel has been working hard and investing millions in order to make this Christian holy site on the River Jordan safe and comfortable for the thousands of pilgrims who want to immerse in the river.
It was just recently dedicated and is now open seven days a week.

Tomorrow I'll show you the lighter side of the site.
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(The blue desert skies of May are for SkyWatch Friday.)
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UPDATE June 2019:  See stunning photos and video of the Romanian church at
https://www.timesofisrael.com/stunning-romanian-church-is-final-monastery-cleared-of-mines-at-qasr-al-yahud/
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At holy water's edge

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The subject of City Daily Photo group's Theme Day today is "At water's edge."
I am happy to show you very special (some say holy) water--the River Jordan!

My photos are from the Israeli side; the other edge of the narrow river is already in the Kingdom of Jordan.
This place is called in Arabic Qasr al Yahud.
It is just east of Jericho.

The old traditions say that here John the Baptist baptized Jesus, that Joshua led the Israelites across the river into the Promised Land, and that the Prophet Elijah ascended into heaven.

I watched a Canadian group witnessing as to what had brought them to faith and to this holy place.
One by one they descended the stairs and their minister blessed them and dunked them.
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You can enlarge the photos; click and then click again on what opens.  It will make the little river look bigger, maybe.
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More information on Kasr al Yahud in this article.
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To see the other baptism site called Yardenit, favored by Protestants, where the Jordan flows out of the Sea of Galilee, please see these posts.
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To visit other bloggers posting their water's edge, go to the nice new City Daily Photo website.
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A voice from heaven at the Jordan--in Pidgin English

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Let's see more of Yardenit, the baptism site that we talked about in Saturday's post.

Click on the picture to witness Christians baptizing in the River Jordan.
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But what are all those ceramic plaques on the wall?

More of them at the main entrance to Yardenit.
Can you read any of the three biblical languages here?
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And the basalt pipe links were part of a 4th century aqueduct that carried water from the Yavniel springs down to Tiberias.
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All the many plaques are quoting Mark 1:9-11, in many different languages.
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The ceramic wall was designed and created by artist Hagop Antreassian from Jerusalem's Armenian Quarter.

My favorite has to be the one in Hawai'i Pidgin! It's so full of life and excitement!
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There is even a website about Da Hawa'i Pidgin Bible.
Maybe our blogger friends in Hawai'i, Kay and Cloudia and the others, can tell us more.
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Room for all in the water

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Christian pilgrims are not the only ones in the water . . .


. . . at Yardenit, the baptism place on the River Jordan.

(Photo by Kristine S.)

Here I am, trying to shoot these giant catfish just as they rose to the surface in a feeding frenzy whenever a tourist threw them bread.
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But then another animal came over to the stairs.

Is it a muskrat?*

I've never seen this rodent before.

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Even more fun than the catfish and the small fry and the (maybe) muskrat* was the little baby which appeared from under its mama.

You can see its head if you enlarge the photo!

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Seems like the Galilee is better for finding animals for our weekly Camera-Critters than is Jerusalem.

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(More on Yardenit here in the coming days.)

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*UPDATE: Blogger-friend (and now also RLF) Robin helped us identify the furry animal as a lutria (aka nutria or coypu), Myocaster coypus.
So it's NOT a muskrat.
Robin used to live in the area and swim in the Jordan, so she knows! See her comment. Better yet, see her blog about their life in Israel!
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