The Great Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord Jesus Christ

19 January 2024 of the year, on the Feast of the Holy Epiphany, Baptisms of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ, abbot of the monastery abbot Seraphim (Kotelnikov) officiated at the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom and the rite of the Great Blessing of Water at Kursk-Root Hermitage. On the eve of the feast, an all-night vigil was held.

The rite of the Great Blessing of the Water is performed again (The first time the Great Blessing of Water is performed is on Epiphany Eve). Many people mistakenly believe, that the water, consecrated on the eve of the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, Different from water, consecrated on the very feast of the Epiphany. This is a profound misconception, because on these days the water is consecrated by the same rite of the Great Blessing of the Waters, and is called Epiphany water or the Great Agiasma ("Αγίασμα" means "sacred" in Greek).

The feast of the Baptism of the Lord is a commemoration of the Gospel event, when Christ came to the banks of the Jordan River and was baptized by the prophet John the Baptist (Mf. 3:13-17; Mk. 1: 9-11; Lux 3: 21-22). In the original text of the Gospel, the Greek, baptism is denoted by the word βάπτισμα, which literally means "immersion in water". John preached among the Jews the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (Mk. 1: 4): coming to the deserted bank of the Jordan to John the Baptist, People confessed their wrongs and symbolically washed them off in the river water. When the sinless Christ came to John and also expressed a desire to be baptized, He was amazed: I must be baptized by Thee, and dost thou come unto me?? (Mf. 3: 14) But I heard in response: Thus it behooves us to fulfill all righteousness (Mf 3: 15), that is, God's will. Christ, as a man, had to fulfill all the ordinances of the Jewish law, that, overcoming it, to give His new law of grace. There was nothing left for John to do, except to admit Jesus to baptism.

Immediately after this, the Holy Spirit descended upon Christ in the form of a dove, And a voice thundered from heaven: Thou art my beloved son; In Thee I am well pleased! (Lux. 3: 22). This God the Father has testified, that Jesus is not only the Son of Man, but also the Son of God. Thus, in the event of Baptism, all the Persons of the Holy Trinity for the first time visibly revealed Themselves, therefore, the holiday received a second name – Epiphany.