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- Important church holiday January 18 - Epiphany Eve: strict prohibitions, mystical omens
Important church holiday January 18 - Epiphany Eve: strict prohibitions, mystical omens
This Sunday, January 19, will be an important church holiday - the Epiphany of the Lord. The day before, on Saturday, Orthodox Christians will celebrate another, no less important day - Christmas Eve. In the church calendar this holiday is called the Eve of the Epiphany. As with other important dates, there are traditions and prohibitions on Epiphany Eve, which have a long history going back centuries. Read more about the history of Epiphany Eve, as well as what you can and can not do on January 18 - in the material "Izvestia".
Epiphany Eve: what is the Orthodox holiday on January 18
Every year on January 18 the Orthodox believers have a church holiday on the eve of the Epiphany, it is also calledEpiphany Eve (or sochevnik). In 2025, it falls on Saturday, and on Sunday, January 19, will be the Feast of Epiphany, or Epiphany itself.
This feast is called Epiphany because at the moment after the baptism, when Christ prayed and began to come out of the water, a miraculous event took place: the entire Blessed Trinity appeared to people in images accessible to human understanding: God the Father in the form of a voice from the opened heavens, God the Son in the form of Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove hovering above him.
In the early years of Christianity it was customary to remember both the birth and baptism of the Son of God at once. At the same time it was traditional to keep a strict fast the day before (thus the one-day fast on the day of Epiphany Eve is the oldest). This was done to emphasize the importance of the Gospel events.
However, around the 5th century, the feast was divided, and Christmas was given a separate date, and the time between Christmas and Epiphany was called Christmas Eve, or Holy Evenings.
Christmas Eve means the eve of a church holiday, and the word "Christmas Eve" is connected with the tradition to cook wheat brew with honey and raisins on this day, which was called sochivo (kutya). Today it is not necessary to cook it, but the tradition was very popular in the world for a long time.
The meaning of Epiphany Eve is that it was after the baptism that Christ and his disciples went to preach. Thus, this day is one of the most important in the life of the Lord and is included in the number of bipedal feasts. It is important for believers to properly meet Christmas Eve in order to prepare the spirit and body for the feast of the Baptism of the Lord.
Fasting, observed by the Orthodox on January 18, is an important part of the preparation. At the same time, it is considered quite strict. Believers will be able to eat food for the first time on January 18 after taking out a candle from the liturgy and the first communion of baptismal water.
At the same time, according to tradition, it is customary to cook and eat sochivo. Because of this, Christmas Eve was also called a hungry evening. In spite of the importance of fasting, for a number of people for health reasons are given relaxation or complete exemption from fasting.
On the Feast of the Epiphany there are no restrictions on eating.
An important part of the day for believers is church attendance. On Christmas Eve in churches throughout the country is the great consecration of water. It is called the Great Consecration because of the solemnity of the rite, filled with the memory of the Gospel event, which became not only a prototype of the sacrament of washing away sins, but also the real sanctification of water through the immersion of the Lord in the flesh.
If a person could not or did not have time to visit the church and take holy water on the 18th, it will be possible to do it on the Feast of the Epiphany on January 19. The consecration on these two days is not different, the water will have no difference.
Water consecration is a prayer service, during which the cross is immersed in water three times during solemn prayers and chants. Water consecration can be small and great, and the latter occurs only twice a year - on Epiphany Eve and on the Epiphany of the Lord. The tradition appeared approximately in XI-XII centuries under the influence of the Jerusalem statute. The water consecrated on January 18 and 19 is called not only holy, but also baptismal water and Hagiasma.
Epiphany bathing and other traditions of the church holiday on January 18
Many traditions have developed around Epiphany Eve over the years of its celebration:
- church attendance. On the day of Epiphany Eve in temples and churches all over Russia are services in honor of the holiday. For example, in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow in the walls of the Church of the Transfiguration will be held Great Vespers and the Great Consecration of Water, and in the evening - All-Night Vigil;
- Consecration of water and praying to it. It is important for believing Christians to take at least a small bottle of holy water with them from church. When they come home, many sprinkle their homes with it and sing the troparion of the feast. The holy water is then put at home in a dark place or near icons and drink it little by little to strengthen the body and spirit.
Prayer for taking holy water: "O Lord my God, may Your holy gift and Your holy water be for the remission of my sins, for the enlightenment of my mind, for the strengthening of my mental and bodily powers, for the health of my soul and body, for the subduing of my passions and infirmities according to Your infinite mercy through the prayers of Your Most Pure Mother and all Your saints. Amen."
- procession and (less importantly) diving into the ice-hole. The main rite of Epiphany Eve is the procession to the nearest body of water, which is also consecrated. Believers then scoop up water from it and wash their faces and hands. Those who wish may also take a dip in specially prepared ice-holes (font). It is believed that bathing on Christmas Eve and on the day of Epiphany gives cleansing power for the soul and body. It is important to pay attention that now city authorities equip special places where it is allowed to immerse in the ice-hole. People are informed about them through the media.
At the same time, clergymen emphasize that dipping in the ice-hole is a fairly new tradition, which is not obligatory for believers, unlike attending the service. The water in the reservoir nearest to the temple is consecrated not primarily for bathing, but for believers to wash themselves or take it home and then drink it.
- divination. The period between Christmas and Epiphany of the Lord is the time of holy days. They used to end precisely on the day of Christmas Eve. "Noisy merry Christmas Eve - from the day of Christmas to the feast of the Epiphany of the Lord with games and dances, and songs on the Světlórusskom space free to amuse, fortune-telling to honest people Orthodox secret dictates of the fates open," - writes Apollo Korinthsky in the book "Folk Russia. A Round Year of Sayings, Beliefs, Customs and Proverbs of the Russian People" (1901). However, now, according to the church, Christmas Eve ends a day earlier - January 17. It is important to note that the Church is categorically against fortune-telling in general and especially on these holy days and calls it a sin. The tradition of fortune-telling on Christmas Eve came from pre-Christian times;
- carols. These winter ritual songs, which are sung during the holy week, are also an important tradition of the holiday. In ancient times, even before the baptism of Russia, carols, or caroling, coincided with the day of the winter solstice, which symbolized the beginning of the new year. With the adoption of Christianity, the church tried to get rid of this pagan custom, but it failed to do so completely, in many regions carols remained a popular part of the holiday.
This is how different carols came to be. Some, using masks and noisy behavior, are considered obscene and sinful, while others, praising Christ, are considered pious. In addition, gradually pagan traditions under the influence of Christianity changed their purpose: in the texts of carols there appeared images of the Christ child, God, the Virgin Mary and saints. And caroling itself began to symbolize not only the beginning of the new year, but also the joy over the birth of Christ;
- the tradition of looking into the "opened heavens". On the night of January 19, both children and adults ran out of their homes to see the "opened heavens" (from which, according to the Bible, the Holy Spirit appeared in the form of a dove). It was believed that after seeing this phenomenon, one should make a wish and it would definitely come true.
What you can and cannot do on Epiphany Eve
Epiphany Eve is an important day of preparation for the holiday, when it is customary to visit the temple and confess, as well as to observe fasting for those who are not forbidden to do so. It is also customary to clean up the house for the holiday and bring home consecrated water.
Among the prohibitions:
- to organize noisy festivities;
- drinking alcohol;
- quarreling and swearing;
- to draw baptismal water with bad thoughts;
- fortune-telling is also forbidden, despite the fact that this tradition is popular among the people.
Epiphany Eve: folk and weather omens
As on other important church holidays, on Epiphany Eve there are their own omens:
- if there is snow on the trees and bends the branches in the ground, there will be a lot of honey and berries in the summer;
- if there is a strong wind from the south, there will be strong thunderstorms in summer;
- if there is no snow - the harvest will be poor;
- a snowstorm on Epiphany Eve promises a rich harvest in the season;
- Full Moon fell on January 18 - there will be a strong flood. New Moon - the weather as on Epiphany will continue in the next month;
- if you can see the stars well, the harvest of bread will be big;
- dogs bark often on January 18 - there will be a lot of game;
- if it snows in the morning, there will be a rich harvest of early buckwheat, at noon - middle buckwheat, in the evening - late buckwheat;
- the rooster sang at an unusual time, there will be thaw;
- the weather on Epiphany Eve will be the same on Shrovetide.
