A Cold Water Kind Of Faith

January 19th is the Ukrainian Orthodox holiday called Epiphany. For eastern Orthodox followers, this day is considered the day Jesus was baptized in the Jordan river and manifested himself to the world as the son of God. Though this isn’t one of those holidays that puts a hold on normal life here, it is a pretty special day to many. Through all the years I’ve been in Ukraine, I’ve heard about the events that take place on this day, but I hadn’t seen them myself. Determined to see it all this year, a group of us walked down to a consecrated spring to witness the events.

The crowds gathered around a natural spring that people visit year-round for free drinking water. In the last year or two, the park surrounding this spring has been entirely re-landscaped.

An orthodox church overlooks this area. We were on these stairs taking pictures when the priest was coming down splashing everyone with holy water.

Hundreds and hundreds of people come on this day to fill jugs of water with holy water. On the morning of the nineteenth a priest blesses the spring and for twelve hours the water is considered to have extra spiritual qualities that can heal both the body and the spirit. People keep this water all year and use it in small quantities to help them throughout the year.

There were many other traditional plants and grains people brought with them to the site. There were plenty of vendors available selling them if you didn’t have them yourself. Though I’m not sure of the symbolism, people bring these things to be blessed on this special day.

Here’s Katie with two of the AIM students on the left, and Abigail on the right. Abigail is a missionary from Saint Petersburg who has been staying with us while she waits for her visa renewal to be processed.

This holiday is probably most widely known for the baptisms in icy cold water. Participants dunk themselves three times in the freezing water to symbolically wash their sins away from the past year and to experience a sense of spiritual rebirth. Think of it like when couples renew their wedding vows.

The weather and the water are very cold. Paramedics are nearby in case of an emergency.

The picture below is definitely my favorite from the morning. They may look wimpy, but what they’re doing is most certainly not.

Age is not a factor when it comes to who participates. Both the young and the elderly submit themselves to the cold.

Culturally, bathing in cold water has long been considered a way to shock your body into health. The idea behind it is that you stimulate your body to working over time to protect you from sickness.

Though we might not agree with their beliefs, the amount of faith they have to do what they do is impressive. It made the think about how in the states we have temperature-controlled baptistries, and how we sometimes focus too much on the comfort of the believer. Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox churches don’t have pews either; you stand for the entire service.

Is controlled water temperature a Right vs. Wrong issue? I don’t think so. But I am challenged to ask myself the question, In what ways do I show others around me that I am dead serious about my faith?

I want the kind of faith that moves mountains. And climbs them.