Catholic Epiphany

EpiphanyOn the day when Russians celebrate Christmas Eve, the inhabitants of Greece celebrate the Baptism of the Lord (Epiphany). Baptism in Greece is called "Phota" - literally "lights" or "Theophany" - Epiphany. The Greek Orthodox Church, which lives according to the Gregorian calendar, celebrates this holiday together with Western Christians - almost two weeks earlier than the Russian Orthodox Church. Like other major church holidays, this day is a holiday in Greece.

On this day, the namesake of all the Yannis is the namesake of John the Baptist.

The main celebrations are held in the main Greek harbor of Piraeus near Athens. On the pier, surrounded by festively cleaned warships, a prayer service is served.

It is believed that on the feast of Baptism all the waters of the world are consecrated - rivers, lakes, seas. On this day throughout the country is performed the rite of consecration of waters. The solemn procession goes to the sea, on the shore of which a prayer service is performed in memory of the baptism of Christ in the Jordan.

Baptism is the last holiday of winter, when children earn their pocket money by singing carols. In addition, at the Epiphany prayer services in the coastal cities of the country, a long-standing custom of competitions between young people is performed. The priest throws a silver cross into the sea. The brave boys immediately dive into the icy sea water, and each of them tries to get the cross first. However, in the event that young men gnarled, the cross is always tied with a rope so that it does not drown in the sea.

Epiphany prayers are performed on January 6 not only in the capital’s harbor of Piraeus, but also in all the main seaports of Greece, in the Thermal Gulf in Thessaloniki, on all the islands, in the cities of Patra, Volos and others.