Epiphany Eve: on the eve of the miracle

Every year, on December 18, the Orthodox prepare for the great Christian feast of the Epiphany of the Lord or Baptism. It is believed that this is the third most important of the twelve major holidays of the church, after Easter and the Nativity of Christ.

All day long before the holiday, the Orthodox needed to carefully prepare for the upcoming Epiphany. Women diligently cleaned the house, since it was believed that the rub should be swept out of the most inaccessible places. The sacred meaning of the coming great holiday was purification from all bad, liberation from sins through ablution or immersion in holy water. A more precise meaning of the Greek concept, which entered the Orthodox tradition as baptism, implies taking upon itself the symbol of faith. However, in itself the word "baptism" means an emptying immersion. Thus, John the Baptist (the Baptist) baptized Jesus Christ in the Jordan River. He immersed him in the water for a short time, having performed a purification ablution.

When we are talking about purifying ablutions, it is precisely spiritual cleansing and liberation from sins, as well as rebirth in a new Christian life. According to the biblical texts, John immediately recognized who had come to him, and answered the request of Jesus to baptize him: "I need to be baptized from you." But the life of the Savior was an example in everything, the absolute standard of God's will, therefore Jesus asked for baptism with humility.

The second name of the feast is the Epiphany, because God revealed himself to the world in three aspects of his unity: God the Father witnessed Jesus Christ, and people heard the voice of God coming from heaven; God the Son was baptized in the Jordan River; The Holy Spirit descended from heaven and descended, sitting on a dove on Jesus' shoulder.

The Orthodox holiday of Epiphany consisted of the All-Night Vigil, after which the Great Water Consecration is performed. All-night vigil consists of such parts of the church service: the Great Compline, lithium, matins and the first hour.

On the day before Baptism, no food could be consumed, the rule was mandatory for everyone, except for small children, sick and elderly people. After cleaning in the dwellings, closer to the night, the Epiphany Eve began, which, in fact, was the evening-preparation for the upcoming holiday. It is called the Baptism of the Lord's Vigil.

In the evening it was decided to gather for family feasts. As a rule, they were members of the same gender, because Christmas Eve is a family dinner or supper. On the table, a special dish-owl was put on a mandatory basis. From this tradition, and went the name of the ritual dinner - Epiphany Eve.

Now the sense and understanding of cooking the main course of the evening is almost lost, and in the old days it was given special significance. The senior woman of the clan was preparing this owl. It was she who was responsible before God for the well-being and health of all members of the family. After the prayer, she took a clay vessel with thick walls. Clay symbolized the connection with the earth, which was important in the system of peasant beliefs. In a vessel with a wooden pestle (it was made from linden), the seeds of the plants were ground until the juice was extracted, hence the name of the dish - osovo.

This process took place in complete silence. The woman was rubbing the poppy or nuts in a circular motion clockwise. Mack symbolized well-being, nuts - prosperity, the movements of the mortar around the circle included the family in the cycle of life on earth. In Ukrainian, a pestle is called "makogon". Rising the ingredients, the woman represented each member of the family, starting with the elder. She imagined a native man healthy and strong, and asked God to bless him. So she did until everyone was remembered, even distant relatives. Then the resulting mass was combined with boiled wheat seeds and honey. This dish, prepared for Epiphany Christmas Eve, is called the "hungry kutya", and the feast was tried this evening as modestly as possible.

Presence on the table, writing, order not to eat food on the eve of the holiday and family feast. These attributes unite the Epiphany and Christmas Eve. After a family meal, adult family members gathered for service.

There were many traditions that were committed on the Epiphany Eve. Snow from the stacks was considered a universal tool for bleaching linen canvas, and the girls used it to make the skin snow-white. It was believed that a few handfuls of such snow thrown into the well would protect the source from drying out. Epiphany snow was collected in a special closed dish and put in the darkness, for the image - it was considered a strong medicine.

The most interesting was how the believers determined the moment of the Epiphany holiday. Toward midnight, a large vessel with water was placed on the table, near which they tried not to talk and make sudden movements. It was believed that at the very moment when God opens the heavens to shed grace to the earth and consecrate water, the water surface in the vessel comes into motion. People say: "At night, the water itself will flutter." It was believed that after this for several minutes the heavens remain open, if you have time to make a secret desire, looking to the sky, it will necessarily be fulfilled.