… The aged parents of Zechariah and Elizabeth, who prayed for a long time for their child, had a son, John. When he grew up, he retired to a remote desert and lived there in a cave, praying to God. John led a harsh lifestyle: he wore clothes made of coarse camel hair, a thick leather belt, and his food was wild honey and acrida (locust-type insect).
When John was 30 years old, he left his cave and came to the Jewish people on the Jordan River and began to preach to the people about the imminent coming of the Savior of the world.
One day, when John was on the Jordan River and baptized people, the Savior himself came to him - Jesus Christ. He asked to baptize Him as well, as an ordinary man, although he, as God, was completely clean from sin. John was horrified and wanted to restrain him. He said, “Do you come to be baptized to me? It is I who need to receive baptism from You. " But Jesus objected to him: "Leave it now, for this is how we must fulfill all righteousness" (that is, to fulfill what God commanded).
And then John baptized Christ in the water of the Jordan River. Jesus came out of the water, and suddenly the heavens opened and they all saw the Spirit of God, which descended upon Christ in the form of a dove, and at that time a voice from heaven was heard: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” …
In Russia, on the feast of the Epiphany on January 6 (19), they went to the river at midnight to fetch water. They assured that at this time the water in the rivers swayed. Having taken water, they brought it home and saved it. It was believed that this water can stand for several years in a closed vessel without spoiling. Despite the fierce "Epiphany" frosts, the most desperate people certainly consider it their duty to plunge into the ice-hole near the "Jordan" on this day and wash away grave sins.
In the villages, on the eve of Epiphany, crosses were drawn with chalk on walls and doors. Epiphany snow was collected for whitening canvases, as well as for various ailments. This snow was good for washing, so they tried to store water from it for a long time. They said: "If the stars shine very much on Epiphany night, the bread will be good", "If the sky is clear on Epiphany night, there will be a lot of peas."
They believed that the “Jordan” ice-hole itself and the place around it had miraculous power. Therefore, after the consecration of water, a stick was stuck into the ice hole so that pigeons or bees reproduce. A whip was also stuck in so that the horses would go to the yard.
In Moscow in the XVI-XVII centuries, the tsars appeared on this holiday in an attire of expensive clothes, richly decorated with precious stones and pearls, in a royal crown, shining with diamonds, emeralds, yakhons, with a gold chain on which there was a cross with particles of the Life-giving Cross and Robe Lord's. In his hands was a golden rod, decorated with precious stones. The king's shoes were studded with pearls. From all over Russia came at this time to Moscow to see the solemn rite of consecration of water, performed by the patriarch on the Moscow River, where the "Jordan" was arranged, painted with gold, silver, decorated with silk flowers, green leaves, with images of birds carved from copper sheets.
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At 4 o'clock in the afternoon, or, in our opinion, at 12 o'clock in the afternoon, the patriarch began service in the Assumption Cathedral, and when the ringing of bells on Ivan the Great announced this to the people, a procession began, which was opened by a detachment of archers, numbering 600 people and more, 4 in a row, dressed in a colored dress, with gilded squeaks and rifles, the boxes of which were decorated with mother-of-pearl shells; others with gilded spears and, finally, others with elegant gilded protazans (a kind of halberds); their shafts were covered with yellow satin with gold galloon and decorated with silk tassels. They were followed by the clergy in a procession of the cross, concluded by a special patriarch.
Then the procession of the sovereign was opened by the lower court ranks, three in a row; the first were dressed in velvet caftans, followed by golden caftans and rich fur coats. Behind the tsar, supported under the arms by two stewards from among his fellow men, the bed-man carried the "tsar's concoction", that is, a caftan, a zipun, a hat, a fur coat, a staff, etc., everything that the tsar dressed in on the Jordan. Three solicitors carried the king's towel, chair, and foot. “To save the sovereign's procession from oppression of the lower ranks of the people,” Streltsy colonels in velvet caftans walked on both sides of the tsar.
Places for the patriarch and the royal were already prepared on the "Jordan", separated from the people by a grating and a balustrade, covered with red cloth and curtained with cloth or taffeta. The rite of consecration of water itself was performed as follows: the patriarch distributed candles to everyone, starting with the tsar, and performed "an act of order"; when the cross was immersed in water, when the troparion was singing, banners were brought up for sprinkling. The patriarch drew water from the "Jordan" with a silver bucket and gave it to the cleric, filling the "sovereign's foot" with water, which was taken to the palace for sprinkling the rooms, overshadowing the king with a cross, sprinkling holy water and congratulating him on the holiday. The Tsar, for his part, congratulated the Patriarch and received congratulations from the boyars, one of whom made a speech.
If the procession took place before mass, then from the Jordan, the sovereign sometimes came to Mass at the Trinity Compound, where the Epiphany Church was located; sometimes he returned to the Assumption Cathedral and, having listened to a prayer service or a prayer of leave, went to the palace.
In 1699, on the feast of the Epiphany, Peter I took part in the procession to the blessing of water on the Neglinnaya River in Moscow. He, as captain of the Preobrazhensky regiment, went along with the regiment and the choir of music. The Transfiguration men were in green, and the Semyonovites were in blue uniforms. A high table was set up near the "Jordan", on which stood a man holding the royal banner, white with a two-headed eagle embroidered in gold. The standard-bearer tilted the banner several times, which, after the cross was immersed in water, was sprinkled with holy water. Then, on six white horses, a huge vessel with holy water was carried to the palace.
Describing what he saw at the Epiphany, one of his contemporaries-foreigners remarks: "This holiday in the old days was sent with much greater solemnity, because their royal majesties and all the noble nobles of the state were present at it."
Empress Catherine I celebrated her Epiphany in 1727 with a special ceremony. Near the Church of the Holy Trinity, on the St. Petersburg side, was built "Jordan", and on its right side "a special high featre to her imperial majesty", crowned with an imperial crown and upholstered inside, with rich gold laces and velvet. There were persons of the imperial family here. In the first hour of the day, in a magnificent carriage drawn by eight horses, the Empress arrived, dressed in an "Amazonian" dress woven of silver, a white wig, a hat with a precious diamond instead of a button, and a sword sprinkled with diamonds. At the end of the Liturgy, the blessing of water was performed by the five bishops with sprinkling of banners with the thunder of cannon shots and rifle volleys.
100 great holidays. Elena Olegovna Chekulaeva