Greek Orthodox Christians plunged into icy cold waters on Monday and sought the Holy Cross in the sea, in lakes and rivers as Greeks marked the religious feast of Epiphany on January 6.
On this day, Theophany or Fota (Lights) Greeks commemorate the baptism of Jesus Christ in the Jordan River, seen as his manifestation to the world as the Son of God.
According to the Greek Orthodox religious tradition the custom revolves around the Great Blessing of the Waters.
During the ceremony “The Dive of the Cross”, the priest throws a cross into the water, in a symbolic move to bless them. Men and in modern times also women, jump into the usually icy cold January waters and swim quickly to catch the cross. The lucky faithful who retrieves the cross is considered to be blessed all through the year.
For churches away from sea, river or lake, the large pots where children are baptized are being used. And they are full of water, of course.
The ritual “Dive of the Cross” is believed to give the water the power to cleanse and sanitize.
The blessed water from the large pot is distributed to the faithful who take small sips and bring it home to their families.
However, not all “Dive the Cross” ceremonies and rituals are performed without problems.
Priest Ioannis oif Fthiotida, Central Greece, had to “dive” himself to catch the cross as there were no brave volunteers to jump into the cold sea water.
Somewhere else in Greece, the river had no water, so the local clergy had to turn crative.
In Florina, the river had enough water, the brave volunteers jumped into it, yet, the cross went lost! It needed the help of special teams and a work of three hours to find the cross.
The priest had allegedly thrown the cross more far away than expected.
In Skala, Kefalonia, the powerful wind brought down the priest as he set to throw the cross in the rough sea. The ritual was successful on second try. The cross was caught by a woman.
What is worth noting is that many teenagers, boys and girls, also jumped into the waters to catch the Epiphany cross this year. The youngest was a 10-year-old girl, who also caught the cross, in the Municipality of Sykeon in thessaloniki.
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