On 1/19/06 12:55 PM stephen buckley writes:
>Hi, Bea - good to hear from you.
You too Christine. I bow to your superior research in this field
-the origin of
practices is always particularly interesting. We had a few pix on tv
tonight on
Russian dunkings in icy water - one man gettings his young pale skinned
child
(screaming) to get used to it!
Bea
>
>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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