>The Appearance of God and 12 Drummers Drumming!

>Today is the Forefeast of Theophany in the Orthodox Church.

Forefeast hymn: Troparion (Tone 4)

Today the Lord enters the Jordan and cries out to John:
“Do not be afraid to baptize me.
For I have come to save Adam, the first-formed man.”

At our local parish here in Memphis, St. John Antiochian Orthodox Church, there is a Divine Liturgy today, with the “first blessing of the water,” and then

Thursday, January 6, is the Feast of Theophany with the “second blessing of the water.” This is the Holy Water that will be used by the priests throughout the coming year, for blessing homes, and also for blessing personal objects (icons, crosses, etc.) that are brought to the church for this purpose by parishioners. Holy Water is also used for drinking, for the purpose of spiritual healing.

I’m immersed (as in the waters of baptism) in work on my book today, so this will be a short post. My post on Theophany from 2009 has links for further reading, if you’re interested.

January 5 is also the “twelfth day of Christmas,” the final day of our celebration of the Feast of Nativity. And so I leave you with a lovely painting by Delilah Smith, “Twelve Drummers Drumming.”