SHENANDOAH - St. Michael Ukrainian Catholic Church in Shenandoah celebrated on Monday the Feast of the Theophany of Our Lord, which included the blessing of "Jordan Water" in remembrance of the baptism of Jesus Christ in the Jordan River by St. John the Baptist.
The Feast of the Theophany is a major feast in Eastern Christianity. The importance of this event, described in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, involves the first public manifestation of the Holy Trinity to mankind. Theophany comes from the Greek word, "theophania," which means "appearance of God."
In Western Christianity, Sunday marked the Feast of the Epiphany, when the Magi came to visit the baby Jesus and presented Him with the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
This feast in the Eastern Christian churches originally included the Nativity of Jesus, the appearance of the Magi and the wedding feast at Cana, all outward manifestations or appearances of God in the world. Gradually, the feast of the Nativity (Christmas) was moved in the west to Dec. 25, and the Western Christian church accepted the visit by the Magi on Jan. 6, the 12th day of Christmas.
The church pastor, Monsignor Myron Grabowsky, celebrated the Divine Liturgy, assisted by Deacon Paul Spotts. During the prayer service to bless the water ceremony at the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, Robert Leggo, Edward Bickowski and Sam Litwak each held a trikiri, which is a liturgical candlestick with three lighted candles joined at the base.
Grabowsky and Spotts stood before two large containers of water as they conducted the service. Later in the service, Grabowsky took a trikiri, made a sign of the cross with it over the water three times, then immersed it flame-side down into the water, extinguishing the flames, saying, "Great are you, O Lord, and marvelous are Your works; no words suffice to sing the praise of Your wonders."
He repeated the immersion and prayer with each trikiri. Grabowsky then leaned over the water, saying a prayer while blowing on the water three times in the form of a cross. He said another prayer while blessing the water with his right hand, immersing the hand three times and making the sign of the cross.
Grabowsky then held a cross, made the sign of the cross again with it, which was followed by him immersing the cross into the water.
Using small plastic cups, Grabowsky filled them with the blessed water and handed the cups to Spotts and the three men to drink. He walked through the church and blessed the congregation, followed by an invitation to all to come to the sanctuary where they could drink the Jordan Water and take some home in containers they brought with them.