Hi, Bea - good to hear from you.
The one-time adjustment in 1752 was in UK. The Catholic parts of Europe had
transferred to the Gregorian in 1582, but the Protestant countries got left
behind, and so did the Orthodox.
Some parts of the Russian Orthodox church have continued to use the Julian
format, without leap years, and are thus even further out of kilter. I've
seen handouts from the church at Brookwood specifying Orthodox feasts, and
they have to give two dates for each feast - one the church's, one the
current UK date - about a fortnight apart. Unsuccessful attempts were made
in the 20th C to bring all Orthodox churches into line.
The Orthodox generally seem to associate Epiphany, or Theophany ('the
appearance of God'?), with baptism, but the name 'Great Blessing of Waters'
seems specially important to them. (There are also lesser blessings of
waters at other times of the year.) TV footage of today's dunkings (and it
was 30 degrees below, not 20 as I reported) showed the faithful making the
sign of the cross before going down some well-prepared steps, with rails and
all, and totally immersing themselves. It was said to be warmer in the water
than out of it. The hole in the ice was a long rectangle, and the whole
set-up looked suspiciously like the stone tanks of some of the holy wells
that survive here. If the theological purpose was to cleanse from sin, looks
to me like a renewal of baptismal vows. The commentator said that similar
ceremonies were going on all over Russia, on rivers and lakes.
In the eastern (Orthodox) church, where Epiphany originated, it does seem to
have been, from the first, a celebration of the baptism of Christ, whereas
in the west it became associated with the arrival of the Magi in Christ's
infancy, as you say. Epiphany is earlier (3rd C) than celebrating Christmas
on 25 December (4th C).
But in the absence of any biblical evidence as to the time of year of
Christ's baptism, is there any pre-Christian festival that suggested the
placing of the Christian festival at the same time (in the way that Sol
Invictus influenced Christmas)? I'm no classicist.
Best,
Christine
-----Original Message-----
From: WATER TALK - the email discussion list for springs and spas
enthusiasts [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Bea
Hopkinson
Sent: 19 January 2006 20:17
To: Christine Buckley
Subject: Re: Orthodox Epiphany
Hi Christine,
Why two more days out than the ll. My understanding is that the
eleven days was
a one-time adjustment to bring us into the current calendar. Thereafter
the adjustment
is to have a leap day every four years of an extra day - a system of
account only to allow for 365.25 days each year which is awkward, thus
every four years we catch up with one extra day. The relationship to the
Julian calendar would remain the same.
Re the celebration of Epiphany. Is it differently celebrated in the
Eastern orthodox church from the Christian feast on January 6 which
celebrates the manifestation of the divine nature of Jesus to the
Gentiles as represented by the Magi.
Bea
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