One of the basic tenants of Orthodox Christian faith comes from the Psalms:
"God is the Lord and has revealed himself to us"
Theophany - refers to the revelation or "shining forth" of God on earth. When Jesus Christ was baptized the Spirit of God descended up him in the form of a dove and Father spoke from heaven saying "This is my beloved son..."
It was at his baptism that Jesus Christ was revealed to the world as the Son of God.
During Theophany we have a blessing of the water and the blessed water is taken home and used later when the priest comes for the annual house blessing and also used at times when we are sick, etc. We believe that when Jesus Christ entered the water as God in the flesh, the water, the earth's most essential element, and the earth was blessed.
These are the beautiful words of the hymn we sing on this day:
When Thou, O Lord, wast baptized in the Jordan, the worship of the Trinity was made manifest! For the voice of the Father bare witness to Thee, and called Thee His beloved Son! And the Spirit, in the form of a dove, confirmed the truthfulness of His word. O Christ our God, who hast revealed Thyself and hast enlightened the world, glory to Thee!"
Here are some shots i got:
If you live in the Fresno area or are considering relocating to the Fresno area you can learn more about the Orthodox Faith and St. Peter the Apostle Serbian Orthodox Church here.
Please don't let the word "Serbian" discourage you from visiting or contacting the church. The founders and many of the parishioners are Serbian. But this fellow is Irish and we have Russians, Hispanics, East Indian, Filipinos, etc -- there is plenty of cultural diversity.
©Randy "Lazarus" McAtee
Owner/Broker Lazarus Realty
