The Epiphany of Theophany
Baptism of Christ, the Jordan, the river of life, flows backwards away from the sea?
Via : https://prajt.livejournal.com/874629.html
Theophany in the vernacular is the feast of the baptism of Christ, which is on the same day as Epiphany, when the magi visited Christ. Albeit divided by Orthodoxy into two separate celebrations and confused with the Orthodox celebration of Christmas and the Birth of Christ.
The words of Psalm 114, "The sea is seen and fled, the Jordan is turned back," which are sung in the hymns of the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, have been perceived allegorically. The Jordan flows into the Dead Sea. The Jordan is the image of mortal humanity, and the Dead Sea is the image of hell. Of all the earthly rivers, Christ performs the sacrament of Baptism in the Jordan, as if freeing our human race from the flow to death. Is the Baptism in the Jordan, a sign of resurrection and the promise of life to come?
Jordan, The River of Life : .[Spoiler (click to open)].Symbol of Resurrection and Salvation in Christ
Traditionally the term "theophany" was used to refer to appearances of the gods in ancient Greek and in Near Eastern religions. While Orthodox usages refer to the baptisms of Jesus and John the Baptist as "theophanies", scholars eschew such usage. The term "theophany" derives from the Greek god pantheon in the persona of one Theophany, who reveals himself to the world to manifest himself in a visible form, as God also “reveals” his presence to His followers.
St. John the Baptist - Derived from the article below
Church of John the Baptist at the River Jordan, where Christ was baptized by John
According to Christian tradition, since the 4th century, the place of the Baptism of Jesus Christ is considered to be the northern end of the Jordan River, located 8 km from the city of Jericho near the Greek Orthodox monastery of the Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord John.
Mural, painted on the interior of the John the Baptist Church at the Jordan River, depicts Jesus' baptism by the hand of John.
The first evidence of a monastery near the place of baptism dates back to the 6th century, it mentions that this monastery was erected at the behest of the Byzantine emperor Anastasius I (491-518). Abbot Daniel, who visited the Holy Land in 1106, wrote that the place of Jesus' baptism is marked by a small chapel, near the altar of which is the place where the believers are immersed at baptism. However, the monastery of St. John was still in ruins after the earthquake of 1024.
This monastery of St. John the Baptist was destroyed twice in the 11th-12th centuries (the first time as a result of the above-mentioned earthquake and the second time by the Muslims in 1140) and rebuilt in 1169 by the Byzantine emperor Manuel Komnenos (1143-1180). The Knights Templar turned it into a fortified post.
Pilgrims who visited here in the 15th century found the monastery and the church of St. John the Baptist abandoned and dilapidated.
The last time the monastery was restored was shortly before the Second World War. Nowadays it is a stone fortress. The monastery is in the possession of the Greek Patriarchate. It is empty. Only inside the huge room, which once served as a cathedral, is a festive icon exhibited for veneration. From the walls of this monastery begins the Procession of the Cross - the descent to the place of prayer, when the procession solemnly and unhurriedly descends to the shore.
A short wait for the arrival of Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem, and the procession of the cross, accompanied by the thunder of kettledrums and trumpet sounds, solemnly moved to the Jordan, where the rite of the Great Blessing of Water began.
The water in the river seemed to "come to life" and "agitate" after the rite of consecration, and there was no longer the former slowness and regularity in its flow. Small sinkholes began to form everywhere on the surface of the water, I called them whirlpools. "Look what's happening!" the pilgrims shouted nearby, pointing to the water closer to the other side. Where they pointed, small waves moved hurriedly in the direction opposite to the flow of the river. At the sight of this miracle, the lines from the psalm of King David involuntarily came to mind: "What is the matter with thee, O sea, that thou hast fled, and the Jordan, that thou hast turned back?" (Ps. 114:5)
Why is the water in the Jordan salty?
I collect freshly consecrated Epiphany water in a bottle brought from St. Petersburg. To do this, you do not need to go down to the river, the water is supplied to the top with the help of a water pipeline. I pour the holy water into a plastic mug, take a big sip and am stunned by surprise: the water tastes bitterly salty! A bold suggestion flashes through my mind: Could it be that the waters of the Dead Sea have reached this place "turned back"?
After another two hours, I somehow squeeze through the turnstile, run down the steps to the wooden flooring, quickly take off my shoes and approach the water. Now you need to plunge headlong three times. I take a step into the water. It burns my leg like boiling water! I force myself to take another step, another... I convulsively plunge into the icy water three times, muttering to myself, "In the name of the Father! And a son! And the Holy Spirit! Amen!" and I jump out on the platform like a cork!
The whole body burns with fire, as if after a good Russian bath! There was no fatigue from three hours of standing, on the contrary, I was overwhelmed by the feeling of bodily weightlessness and incredible joy that overflowed over the edge!
On the bus, the first thing I ask Matushka Maria is why the water in the Jordan is salty.
- "Have you already had a sip?" Matushka exclaims with a look of horror on her face.
- "Of course, I did! Shouldn't I have done that? "- I am perplexed.
- "Of course not! The water in the Jordan has a salty taste because fertilizer from the coastal fields flows down along with the groundwater! Don't you have a stomachache yet?
- Why should it hurt me? After all, this is the holy Epiphany water! - I do not give up, - Do you not drink the water consecrated in the Jordan?!
- "We add a few drops of this water to a bottle of ordinary fresh water, and only then consume it."
I'm a little nervous about this prosaic explanation of why the water in the Jordan is salty... And how nice it would be if the Dead Sea were transformed into this great holiday!
After some time, pilgrims from our group told about their impressions and experiences on the Jordan River. Here are some of them. Olga Gracheva (Nizhny Novgorod): "I carefully watched the water in the river. During the rite of consecration, near the place where the Patriarch lowered the cross into the water, small waves began to appear on the surface of the water. A stick was just floating there and I saw that the water was carrying it in the other direction."
Oksana Andreeva (Moscow), a parishioner of the Church of the Prophet Elijah in Cherkizovo: "We were standing a little to the right of the Patriarch next to a group of Italians, and they, as you know, are very emotional people. Suddenly, they started shouting "Fenomine!" and pointing to the water. We looked there and saw that a semicircle had formed in the middle of the current. A small sprig of eucalyptus fell into this semicircle, and it was clearly seen that it was moving in the direction opposite to the flow of the river.
Joy awaits me in St. Petersburg when I find on the Internet an excerpt from the book by Archimandrite Ambrose (Yurasov) "On Faith and Salvation": "On the eve of the Baptism of the Lord, Orthodox Christians knock down wooden crosses, fix lighted candles on them, and the Jordan River carries them to the Dead Sea. And on the day of Epiphany, when the waters of the Jordan turn back and come out of the Dead Sea, they bring the crosses back. And usually the fresh water of the Jordan becomes salty."
Larisa Kalyuzhnaya, St. Petersburg - Jerusalem - https://ruskline.ru/analitika/2013/01/18/iordan_vozvratisya_vspyat/
Theophany (Ancient Greek: (ἡ) θεοφάνεια, romanized: theophaneia, lit. 'appearance of a deity') is an encounter with a deity, in which it manifests in an observable and tangible form.
While Orthodox usages refer to the baptisms of Jesus and John the Baptist as "theophanies", scholars eschew such usage.
The Hebrew Bible states that God revealed Himself to mankind. God speaks with Adam and Eve in Eden (Gen 3:9-19); with Cain (Gen 4:9-15); with Noah (Gen 6:13, Gen 7:1, Gen 8:15) and his sons (Gen 9:1-8); and with Abraham and his wife Sarah (Gen 18). He also appears twice to Hagar, the slave-girl who has Abraham's first child, Ishmael (Gen 16).
The first revelation that Moses had of Yahweh at the burning bush was "a great sight"; "he was afraid to look" at him (Ex. 3:3, 6); also the first revelation Samuel had in a Dream is called "the Vision"; upon God was frequently "seen" at Shiloh (I Sam. 3:15, 21, Hebr.). Isaiah's first Revelation was also a Sight of God (Isa. 6:1-5); Amos had visions (Amos 7:1, 4; 8:1; 9:1); and so with Jeremiah (Jer. 1:11, 13), Ezekiel (Ezek. 1-3; 8:1-3; 10), and Zechariah (Zech. 1-14,2:13), and, in fact, with all "seers," as they called themselves.
Balaam also boasted of being one who saw "the vision of the Almighty" (Num. 24:4).
At Delphi the Theophania (Θεοφάνια) was an annual festival in spring celebrating the return of Apollo (Christ?) from his winter quarters in Hyperborea (a form of resurrection). The culmination of the festival was a display of an image of the gods, usually hidden in the sanctuary, to worshippers. via
.Theophany/Epiphany
Epiphany, (from Greek epiphaneia, “manifestation”), Christian holiday commemorating the first manifestation of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, represented by the Magi, and the manifestation of his divinity, as it occurred at his baptism in the Jordan River and at his first miracle, at Cana in Galilee. Between the old and new calendars, Epiphany is celebrated 12 days after Christmas on 6th January (or January 19th for some Orthodox Churches who have Christmas on 7th January).
Followers of Christ Celebrate Theophany The Baptism of Christ by John the Baptist on the shores of the River Jordan
Eastern Orthodox Churches celebrate the epiphany of Jesus Christ on 6 January according to a liturgical calendar as one of the Great Feasts. In Western Orthodox Christian Churches, 6 January is kept as the Epiphany day, while the feast of Theophany is celebrated separately, on the following Sunday. The Feast of the Holy Theophany (Epiphany) of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ is celebrated each year on January 6. In Orthodox Christian tradition, the feast commemorates the baptism of Christ by John the Baptist.
You say Theophany/ I say Epiphany, let's call the whole thing off.
dr. π (pi)
.
Via : https://prajt.livejournal.com/874629.html
Theophany in the vernacular is the feast of the baptism of Christ, which is on the same day as Epiphany, when the magi visited Christ. Albeit divided by Orthodoxy into two separate celebrations and confused with the Orthodox celebration of Christmas and the Birth of Christ.
The words of Psalm 114, "The sea is seen and fled, the Jordan is turned back," which are sung in the hymns of the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, have been perceived allegorically. The Jordan flows into the Dead Sea. The Jordan is the image of mortal humanity, and the Dead Sea is the image of hell. Of all the earthly rivers, Christ performs the sacrament of Baptism in the Jordan, as if freeing our human race from the flow to death. Is the Baptism in the Jordan, a sign of resurrection and the promise of life to come?
Jordan, The River of Life : .[Spoiler (click to open)].Symbol of Resurrection and Salvation in Christ
Traditionally the term "theophany" was used to refer to appearances of the gods in ancient Greek and in Near Eastern religions. While Orthodox usages refer to the baptisms of Jesus and John the Baptist as "theophanies", scholars eschew such usage. The term "theophany" derives from the Greek god pantheon in the persona of one Theophany, who reveals himself to the world to manifest himself in a visible form, as God also “reveals” his presence to His followers.
St. John the Baptist - Derived from the article below
Church of John the Baptist at the River Jordan, where Christ was baptized by John
According to Christian tradition, since the 4th century, the place of the Baptism of Jesus Christ is considered to be the northern end of the Jordan River, located 8 km from the city of Jericho near the Greek Orthodox monastery of the Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord John.
Mural, painted on the interior of the John the Baptist Church at the Jordan River, depicts Jesus' baptism by the hand of John.
The first evidence of a monastery near the place of baptism dates back to the 6th century, it mentions that this monastery was erected at the behest of the Byzantine emperor Anastasius I (491-518). Abbot Daniel, who visited the Holy Land in 1106, wrote that the place of Jesus' baptism is marked by a small chapel, near the altar of which is the place where the believers are immersed at baptism. However, the monastery of St. John was still in ruins after the earthquake of 1024.
This monastery of St. John the Baptist was destroyed twice in the 11th-12th centuries (the first time as a result of the above-mentioned earthquake and the second time by the Muslims in 1140) and rebuilt in 1169 by the Byzantine emperor Manuel Komnenos (1143-1180). The Knights Templar turned it into a fortified post.
Pilgrims who visited here in the 15th century found the monastery and the church of St. John the Baptist abandoned and dilapidated.
The last time the monastery was restored was shortly before the Second World War. Nowadays it is a stone fortress. The monastery is in the possession of the Greek Patriarchate. It is empty. Only inside the huge room, which once served as a cathedral, is a festive icon exhibited for veneration. From the walls of this monastery begins the Procession of the Cross - the descent to the place of prayer, when the procession solemnly and unhurriedly descends to the shore.
A short wait for the arrival of Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem, and the procession of the cross, accompanied by the thunder of kettledrums and trumpet sounds, solemnly moved to the Jordan, where the rite of the Great Blessing of Water began.
The water in the river seemed to "come to life" and "agitate" after the rite of consecration, and there was no longer the former slowness and regularity in its flow. Small sinkholes began to form everywhere on the surface of the water, I called them whirlpools. "Look what's happening!" the pilgrims shouted nearby, pointing to the water closer to the other side. Where they pointed, small waves moved hurriedly in the direction opposite to the flow of the river. At the sight of this miracle, the lines from the psalm of King David involuntarily came to mind: "What is the matter with thee, O sea, that thou hast fled, and the Jordan, that thou hast turned back?" (Ps. 114:5)
Why is the water in the Jordan salty?
I collect freshly consecrated Epiphany water in a bottle brought from St. Petersburg. To do this, you do not need to go down to the river, the water is supplied to the top with the help of a water pipeline. I pour the holy water into a plastic mug, take a big sip and am stunned by surprise: the water tastes bitterly salty! A bold suggestion flashes through my mind: Could it be that the waters of the Dead Sea have reached this place "turned back"?
After another two hours, I somehow squeeze through the turnstile, run down the steps to the wooden flooring, quickly take off my shoes and approach the water. Now you need to plunge headlong three times. I take a step into the water. It burns my leg like boiling water! I force myself to take another step, another... I convulsively plunge into the icy water three times, muttering to myself, "In the name of the Father! And a son! And the Holy Spirit! Amen!" and I jump out on the platform like a cork!
The whole body burns with fire, as if after a good Russian bath! There was no fatigue from three hours of standing, on the contrary, I was overwhelmed by the feeling of bodily weightlessness and incredible joy that overflowed over the edge!
On the bus, the first thing I ask Matushka Maria is why the water in the Jordan is salty.
- "Have you already had a sip?" Matushka exclaims with a look of horror on her face.
- "Of course, I did! Shouldn't I have done that? "- I am perplexed.
- "Of course not! The water in the Jordan has a salty taste because fertilizer from the coastal fields flows down along with the groundwater! Don't you have a stomachache yet?
- Why should it hurt me? After all, this is the holy Epiphany water! - I do not give up, - Do you not drink the water consecrated in the Jordan?!
- "We add a few drops of this water to a bottle of ordinary fresh water, and only then consume it."
I'm a little nervous about this prosaic explanation of why the water in the Jordan is salty... And how nice it would be if the Dead Sea were transformed into this great holiday!
After some time, pilgrims from our group told about their impressions and experiences on the Jordan River. Here are some of them. Olga Gracheva (Nizhny Novgorod): "I carefully watched the water in the river. During the rite of consecration, near the place where the Patriarch lowered the cross into the water, small waves began to appear on the surface of the water. A stick was just floating there and I saw that the water was carrying it in the other direction."
Oksana Andreeva (Moscow), a parishioner of the Church of the Prophet Elijah in Cherkizovo: "We were standing a little to the right of the Patriarch next to a group of Italians, and they, as you know, are very emotional people. Suddenly, they started shouting "Fenomine!" and pointing to the water. We looked there and saw that a semicircle had formed in the middle of the current. A small sprig of eucalyptus fell into this semicircle, and it was clearly seen that it was moving in the direction opposite to the flow of the river.
Joy awaits me in St. Petersburg when I find on the Internet an excerpt from the book by Archimandrite Ambrose (Yurasov) "On Faith and Salvation": "On the eve of the Baptism of the Lord, Orthodox Christians knock down wooden crosses, fix lighted candles on them, and the Jordan River carries them to the Dead Sea. And on the day of Epiphany, when the waters of the Jordan turn back and come out of the Dead Sea, they bring the crosses back. And usually the fresh water of the Jordan becomes salty."
Larisa Kalyuzhnaya, St. Petersburg - Jerusalem - https://ruskline.ru/analitika/2013/01/18/iordan_vozvratisya_vspyat/
Theophany (Ancient Greek: (ἡ) θεοφάνεια, romanized: theophaneia, lit. 'appearance of a deity') is an encounter with a deity, in which it manifests in an observable and tangible form.
While Orthodox usages refer to the baptisms of Jesus and John the Baptist as "theophanies", scholars eschew such usage.
The Hebrew Bible states that God revealed Himself to mankind. God speaks with Adam and Eve in Eden (Gen 3:9-19); with Cain (Gen 4:9-15); with Noah (Gen 6:13, Gen 7:1, Gen 8:15) and his sons (Gen 9:1-8); and with Abraham and his wife Sarah (Gen 18). He also appears twice to Hagar, the slave-girl who has Abraham's first child, Ishmael (Gen 16).
The first revelation that Moses had of Yahweh at the burning bush was "a great sight"; "he was afraid to look" at him (Ex. 3:3, 6); also the first revelation Samuel had in a Dream is called "the Vision"; upon God was frequently "seen" at Shiloh (I Sam. 3:15, 21, Hebr.). Isaiah's first Revelation was also a Sight of God (Isa. 6:1-5); Amos had visions (Amos 7:1, 4; 8:1; 9:1); and so with Jeremiah (Jer. 1:11, 13), Ezekiel (Ezek. 1-3; 8:1-3; 10), and Zechariah (Zech. 1-14,2:13), and, in fact, with all "seers," as they called themselves.
Balaam also boasted of being one who saw "the vision of the Almighty" (Num. 24:4).
At Delphi the Theophania (Θεοφάνια) was an annual festival in spring celebrating the return of Apollo (Christ?) from his winter quarters in Hyperborea (a form of resurrection). The culmination of the festival was a display of an image of the gods, usually hidden in the sanctuary, to worshippers. via
.Theophany/Epiphany
Epiphany, (from Greek epiphaneia, “manifestation”), Christian holiday commemorating the first manifestation of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, represented by the Magi, and the manifestation of his divinity, as it occurred at his baptism in the Jordan River and at his first miracle, at Cana in Galilee. Between the old and new calendars, Epiphany is celebrated 12 days after Christmas on 6th January (or January 19th for some Orthodox Churches who have Christmas on 7th January).
Followers of Christ Celebrate Theophany The Baptism of Christ by John the Baptist on the shores of the River Jordan
Eastern Orthodox Churches celebrate the epiphany of Jesus Christ on 6 January according to a liturgical calendar as one of the Great Feasts. In Western Orthodox Christian Churches, 6 January is kept as the Epiphany day, while the feast of Theophany is celebrated separately, on the following Sunday. The Feast of the Holy Theophany (Epiphany) of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ is celebrated each year on January 6. In Orthodox Christian tradition, the feast commemorates the baptism of Christ by John the Baptist.
You say Theophany/ I say Epiphany, let's call the whole thing off.
dr. π (pi)
.