Inside the Rite of Epiphany In the heart of Russian Orthodoxy.

A few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to visit Verkhoturye, a city that lies on the eastern slopes of the northern Urals and is the heart of Russian Orthodoxy. For the first time in my life I was able to participate in a rite of Epiphany, one of the most beautiful and mysterious rituals of Orthodox Christians.

Simeonovsky Compound of the Novo-Tikhvinsky Women's Monastery in the village of Merkushino, near Verkhoturye.
This ancient monastery is rich in its history. He survived the Bolsheviks who brought the decline of Orthodoxy, was partially destroyed, but then restored and presented to pilgrims, as a holy place in which many wonderful things happened ...
It is an honor for the Orthodox to receive the Lord in the walls of this building.

Before the ceremony, the priest for a long time conducts a private conversation with the godfather, then clothed in a ceremonial robe and begins the song.

He interrupts his beautiful song of unity before the creator to receive from the mother of her child and immerse in a font filled with holy water and continues to sing.

After bathing the priest gives the child to the godfather, thereby entrusting his body and soul to the hands of the Lord.

After that the ceremony ends. It is impossible to overestimate the importance of this rite for an Orthodox Christian. Now the child and his godfather are connected by a special bond.