Water, Water Everywhere—and Maybe Not a Drop to Drink

- January 20, 2015

By Brother Stavros

In all the churches of the East, from Alaska and the Arctic to Kerala in southern India, and Ethiopia, and the Horn of Africa, the feast of Theophany (or Epiphany

as it is known in the West) includes a solemn and sometimes boisterous blessing of water. When possible it is done at a riverside or by the sea; a lake or pond will do, but most commonly in a large vessel in the church. New Skete uses the baptismal font, which holds about 25 gallons, placed in the narthex next to the festal icon.

Why all the fuss? Most obviously, the blessing vividly images Christ’s baptism in the Jordan at the hands of John the prophet. It is not a memorial or a reenactment, but a liturgical penetration into the timelessness of the Lord’s salvific action. Thus, many of the prayers and hymns begin with “Today...” (e.g.,Today you have revealed yourself to the world...)

Our priest-monk Marc preparing to dip the first candle.
He is assisted by our prior and priest-monk Christopher
and by Fr. Alvian Smirensky, who is attached to Holy
Wisdom, the monastery church.

In the New Testament, the event opens the Gospel of Mark, follows the Prologue of John, occupies the third chapter of Luke, and in Matthew includes an intimate dialogue between Jesus and John (Mt 3:14-15).

The officiating priest takes the first drink, then showers all present
with the water, and in our case proceeds to bless the church building
and the monastery residence attached.

This year we went down to the
new training facility to bless it and the startled "student" canines.

Since New Testament times, the Church has revered this event as the manifestation (Epiphany) of the Holy Trinity: Christ in the water, the Father’s voice claiming him as the beloved and obedient son, and the Holy Spirit descending, dove-like, from the heavens, which split apart in what we might consider a meteorological accentuation parallel to such events recorded at Christ’s crucifixion.

There are several layers of meaning to this divine drama. One, which is highlighted in the ancient prayer of sanctification, “Great are you, O Lord,” is what today we would call its ecological dimension. Christ’s appearance at the Jordan confirms the sacredness of this most basic element on which life depends. For all of us around the world who participate in this ritual, it should focus our mindfulness that right now, 800 million people on the planet still don't have access to clean, safe drinking water. That's one in nine of us. Dirty water causes 80% of all sickness and disease and kills more people every year than all forms of violence, including war (from www.liquidchurch.com).

The great biblical waterway is now little more than a shallow, unimposing trickle of sludge, a murky body of mostly saline water and liquid wastes. If Jesus were to be submerged in the Jordan River today, he might well walk away ill. With the swelling ranks of Syrian refugees in Jordan, an overstressed river is at risk of going dry.
(National Geographic: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/02/)

Here at home, the Ogallala Aquifer underlies approximately 225,000 square miles in the Great Plains region; it is in serious threat of depletion and an even more serious danger of contamination by pipeline spills.

In our own state, it was a real relief when Governor Andrew Cuomo listened to the health and environmental experts and agreed to ban fracking, which poses similar threats to clean water resources in the Northeast. One legislator observed, “There are alternative energy sources, but there is no alternative to clean water.”

A priest in Ukraine, using the traditional
“Troitsa” or triple candle.
Photo from ookaboo.com

We would do well to pause a moment and take in one of the phrases from this blessing service addressed to Christ:

You came into our midst for our redemption, were born of the virgin Mary as one of us, and consented to be baptized in the River Jordan by the prophet John. You sanctified all of nature and creation by first sanctifying water. You restored us to the path of freedom and harmony by leading us to rebirth in water and the spirit.

Theophany Celebration in Tarpon Springs, FL
photo courtesy of GOARCH

So in this new year, may each of us do what we can to be good stewards of our water resources, and help each other follow the path of freedom and harmony.