Epiphany, also known as Theophany, is one of the Great Feasts, marking the baptism of Jesus Christ by John the Baptist in the Jordan River and the beginning of his ministry, and the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates it on January 19 in line with the Julian calendar.
Epiphany, also known as Theophany, is one of the Great Feasts, marking the baptism of Jesus Christ by John the Baptist in the Jordan River and the beginning of his ministry, and the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates it on January 19 in line with the Julian calendar.
On the eve of the holiday, priests and believers head to frozen lakes and rivers where cross-shaped holes are made.
On the eve of the holiday, priests and believers head to frozen lakes and rivers where cross-shaped holes are made.
Honoring an old Russian tradition celebrators plunge into the water - typically three times, in honor of the Holy Trinity - around midnight, often after an attending priest says a prayer.
Long shirts, no vodka and dry armpits – these are just a few of the recommendations Russian doctors, swimmers and priests are giving to those who plan on dipping into ice-cold water.
This year, nearly 35,000 rescuers, doctors and divers were deployed at bathing sites in Russia.
Believers take a dip after the water is blessed by priests.
Doctors warn that the nerve-testing ritual is only for the healthy and well prepared. Certain people should avoid such shocks to the system altogether, especially those with heart or respiratory ailments, obesity, high blood pressure and arrhythmia, as well as children and the elderly.
Believers take a dip in the Sheksna River in Central Russia’s Vologda Region.
More than 90,000 visited bathing sites in Moscow, where temperatures stood at approximately -18 degrees Centigrade (-0.4 degrees Fahrenheit).
In Veliky Novgorod believers bathed in the Volkhov River.
Doctors recommend that undressing, dressing and bathing should take no more than five to seven minutes altogether.
The ritual of submergence, believed to be at least five centuries old, would seem to be at the center of the celebration, since the act is meant to symbolize a cleansing of sins from the previous year and a rebirth in preparation for the upcoming one.
Believers take a dip in the Novgorod Region.
Russian Orthodox clerics say the icy bath isn’t necessary and attending holiday services is much more important.
A woman takes a dip in ice-cold water.
