Christ is Baptized!   In the Jordan!

In the early church, many of the feast days that we now celebrate in December and January were all celebrated together on January 6th.  That’s why this feast day is called “Theophany” or “the revelation of God” in Greek.  (“Epiphany,” the name used by our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters means simply “Revelation”.)  All these feasts shed light on an aspect of God and His Kingdom, so they are rightly celebrated near each other.  The Nativity of Our Lord (later moved to December 24/25) reveals that God became man and was born of a woman.  The journey of the Magi to and from “the East” reveals this God-Man to the nations, especially Arabia, Persia and Ethiopia, out of which we have many great saints (later moved to Dec. 25).  The Baptism of Our Lord in the Jordan was kept on January 6th and celebrated the revelation of the three Persons on the Trinity; The Father is revealed in the “voice from heaven”, the Son in Jesus Christ baptized by John, and the Holy Spirt that descended in the “form of a dove.”  All of these feasts encourage us to a certain discontentment with our current understanding of, and closeness to Christ, and drive us to be more curious and seekers of a more intense relationship with Him.    

Troparion of the Feast:  At your baptism in the Jordan, O Lord, worship of the Trinity was revealed; for the Father’s voice bore witness to you, calling you his beloved Son, and the Spirit in the form of a dove confirmed the truth of these words.  O Christ God, you appeared and enlightened the world.  Glory to you!

-The Vesper-Liturgy for Theophany, along with the blessing of Jordan water will begin at 7pm on Tuesday, January 5. 

-Mason Jars with Jordan water will be available after the blessing.  Feel free to also bring your own water to be blessed.  Please make sure your own water is placed by the baptismal font before the blessing.

-You will be contacted about the availability of scheduling a house blessing after the feast.

-We will have a small social by the firepit after the Theophany liturgy.  Feel free to bring food or drink to share.

-After the Divine Liturgy on Sunday, January 10, we will process down to either the LA River or the lake at the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve and bless the water there.