Saturday, January 27, 2007

Romania Day Celebration

What a nice evening! Thank you to ALL who helped, came, participated, sang and danced :-)




Friday, January 05, 2007

The Baptism of our Lord - 6th of January


The Feast of the Holy Theophany (Epiphany) of our Lord is celebrated each year on January 6. The Feast commemorates the Baptism of Christ and the divine revelation of the Holy Trinity. At the Baptism of Christ, all three Persons of the Holy Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—were made manifest. Thus, the name of the Feast is Epiphany, meaning manifestation, or Theophany, meaning manifestation of God.

The origins of the two feasts –Theophany and Epiphany – lie in the time of the Byzantine Empire, as evidenced by the Greek words that are used to describe them. The word “Theophany” (Theos - God; phainomai – to manifest) means “Manifestation of God”. The meaning of “Epiphany” (Epi - above; phainomai – to manifest) is “Manifestation from above”.

There was much confusion among Early Christians of East and West about when and how to acknowledge the various manifestations of God. The Early Church recognized four such manifestations, called The Four Manifestations, where the Lord appeared to mankind in glory and divinity. They are 1) The Nativity of Our Lord; 2) The Visit of the Magi; 3) The Baptism of Christ, and 4) The Miracle of the Wedding Feast of Cana (1).
Early, the Nativity and the Baptism of Christ were celebrated on January 6. Later the Nativity was moved to December 25 in an effort to accommodate and eventually replace the heathen festivals centered on the winter solstice. The Armenians still celebrate the Nativity and the Baptism of Christ on January 6 according to the ancient custom. While both East and West settled on December 25 as the date for the Nativity, there evolved no consensus on which of the Manifestations should be recognized on January 6 (1).

Theophany (January 6) in the Eastern Church

In his Discourse on the Baptism of Christ, Saint John Chrysostom speaks of two Theophanies, the actual one on January 6, and the second one in the future at the end of the world.
In the 8th century, Saint John Damascene stated that the Lord was baptized not because He Himself had need of cleansing, but in order to bury sin through water, to fulfill the law, to reveal the mystery of the Holy Trinity, and finally to sanctify the “watery nature” by proffering it to us in the form and example of baptism by water (1).

In the church is conducted “The Blessing of the Waters”; however in many places throughout the world services are conducted near open bodies of water. As a sign of blessing as Christ blessed the Jordan, holy water is poured into the body of water. An associated tradition has been the tossing of a cross into the water to be retrieved by divers.

The holy water from the church is given to the faithful to consume and to use in blessing their homes. In the weeks following the Feast, clergy visit the homes of parishioners and conduct a service of blessing using the holy water that was blessed on the Feast of Theophany (2).

Epiphany (January 6) in the Western Church

Very early in its history, the Western Church assigned to January 6 the manifestation of God associated with the visit of the Magi to the Christ Child in Bethlehem (which in the Eastern Church is associated with the Nativity). The Magi or Three Kings from the East are described in the Scripture as three royal figures who came to Bethlehem driven by a star announcing the birth of the Savior. Bearing precious gifts of gold, incense and myrrh, they paid homage to the King of Kings and were received by Him in His manifestation to the Gentiles. The Roman liturgy honors on January 6 the visit of the Magi exclusively (1).

(1) http://www.byzantines.net/
(2) http://www.goarch.org/

New Year Wishes

On behalf of the COA we wish you that the new year 2007 find you in good health, joyful and pour faith and hope in your hearts!

The Holiday season, that started with the celebration of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ on the 25th of December, continued with the celebration of Saint Stephen on the 27th, then with the celebration of Saint Basil on the 1st of January is ending with two great feasts: the Baptism of the Lord (the Theophany) on the 6th of January followed by the celebration of Saint John the Forerunner on the 7th of January.