Very soon, on January 19, Orthodox Christians will celebrate one of the main church holidays - Epiphany. In the minds ordinary people Even those who are far from believing in God, this celebration is associated with washing in fonts, which are usually cut in open reservoirs. But is it necessary to observe this ritual? The correspondent of the website portal addressed this question to the rector of the Khabarovsk Transfiguration Cathedral, Archpriest Georgy Sivkov.

Swimming in an ice hole at Epiphany is not a mandatory ritual.

- Tell us about the traditions of celebrating Epiphany. How did it all start?

- The tradition dates back to the first centuries of Christianity. They celebrated with prayerful communication with the Lord. Initially, the Nativity of Christ and the Epiphany of the Lord were celebrated on the same day, although the difference between these events is 30 years. Later they were separated, and the time period between us was called Christmastide. Each of these holidays was preceded and is now preceded by a one-day fast - Christmas Eve. It is needed in order to reverently prepare oneself for the meeting of these events in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In general, any church holiday is based on some individual examples from the life of the Lord, the Mother of God or saints. All this is connected with the salvation of man. The Baptism of the Lord is remembered for us by the fact that Jesus Christ showed us an example of accepting this sacrament. He did not need to wash away his sins, since he himself was sinless, but he did this out of obedience to the law and rules of God. The Lord sanctified the water with his nature and now his followers have the opportunity to touch him.

If a person does not believe in God, but at the same time takes part in the baptismal bath, will he feel any changes in himself?

If you take water or are baptized in Jordan without faith in the Lord, then a person will not feel any spiritual cleansing. If there is faith, then together with the water he receives the grace of God. For a Christian, this can become a new starting point, because he leaves behind everything that was before. Epiphany water connected with God's grace, but I repeat, it is accepted only when a person believes.

Tell me, is it necessary to plunge into a cold Jordan on a river or some other body of water on Epiphany?

No, it's simple folk tradition which came into our lives. There are no regulations in the church rules about bathing on the feast of the Epiphany. Everything needs to be approached to a certain reasonable extent. But the church meets the wishes of people, but at the same time explaining what framework is necessary for maintaining reverence for holy water.

The Church is against consecrating any outdoor swimming pools. Such requests come regularly. We explain that there should be no entertainment or public bathing during the celebration of the sacrament. You need to treat the holiday with respect.

- Are there human actions on this holiday that the church does not encourage?

It is not allowed to approach the sacrament of Baptism while intoxicated. Swimming just for the sake of showing off to acquaintances or friends is also frowned upon. In our country, often the first thing people do after immersion is photographs in social media are being posted. This is some kind of vanity.

- How to properly approach ablution?

You need to be in the mood that you are making an impromptu sacrifice to God, performing a small feat. Good thoughts are important. It is in this mood that it is important to go into the water. It is advisable to avoid swimming in swimming trunks or swimsuits - it is advisable to wear a special long baptismal shirt. They are used for ablutions in holy springs, for example.

Before entering the water, you need to cross yourself once or three times and read a prayer. More knowledgeable people can sing the troparion for the Baptism of the Lord. But all this is a personal desire. In fact, there are no strict rules - only traditions.

- The people have a firmly established opinion that swimming on the feast of the Epiphany cleanses from sins. Is it so?

No, that's not true. There are the sacraments of repentance and confession, to which a Christian, if desired and correcting his life, must resort. A man, in the presence of a priest, asks God for forgiveness, and he reads a prayer of permission over him. This is how they receive forgiveness of sins. Of course, we must personally turn to God. But to go into the water and immediately have all your sins removed, there is no such thing. Without repentance this is impossible.

- If a person wants to take a bath, but the ice hole on the river is not for him, then where else can this be done?

Some churches have their own closed fonts. For example, in the Transfiguration Cathedral there will be free access to it on holidays. Most often people come with children or those who, for health reasons, are not suitable for swimming in open cold water.

- Do the clergy themselves necessarily plunge into the open Jordan on holiday?

Well, if we talk about me, then recent years I didn’t do this for three years, but it happened before. In general, many priests do not and have not immersed themselves at all. In general, it is not customary for us to ask about this - this is a personal matter for everyone.

- Is it possible to plunge into Jordan before it is officially consecrated?

- Well, after all, the main thing is worship. This is the sacrament of confession and communion, and the font is just an addition. And just come and swim... well, let them swim. But this is unlikely to apply to the feast of the Epiphany. One must still think that church is not only mass bathing and the blessing of eggs on Easter - this is all secondary. If you stop there, then you will never get closer to God.

On the day of Epiphany, many people collect water from open reservoirs and sometimes even drink it. Do you somehow warn your parishioners against such actions?

In general, we really do not recommend drinking such water. This liquid is perfect for sprinkling anything. Our open water bodies are now quite dirty. Drinking water You can get it for a donation in churches. For example, this year we will import liquid from an artesian well, bless it and bottle it.

- If I can tell you, what does the amount of donations for the water you pour in the temple consist of?

In fact, we include in the amount of donations just enough to cover the costs - there is no talk of profit. Delivery of water and the bottles in which we bottle it are not cheap. If people are interested at all, then I would like to say that we are completely self-sufficient - we do not receive any subsidies from the state.

We live only on donations. If they don’t exist, then there won’t be a church. For example, in ours alone cathedral In winter, we pay more than 200 thousand rubles a month for heat supply. Electricity also costs an impressive amount - sometimes 50 and 60 thousand rubles. In addition, people work in the temple - everyone who serves it must receive a salary.

One of the most beloved holidays for believers is Epiphany. By ancient tradition despite the fact that there are winter frosts outside the window, people plunge into ice water bodies of water, because such a ritual should wash away all sins. The tradition dates back to ancient times. However, different peoples view it differently.

Russian Christians line up in huge queue on the eve of the great holiday. On the night of January 18, collecting water from an ice hole and then washing with it was considered very useful. The usefulness was that when swimming in the ice hole at night, people performed a sacred sacrament. On the night before the holiday and on the day of Epiphany, people collect blessed water, and it does not spoil in any container throughout the year. They say that if you drink it every day three times a day, you can completely get rid of all diseases and cleanse your soul of sins.

If you read the Gospel, it describes how Jesus Christ came to John the Baptist. His request to him was to be baptized in the Jordan River. During the sacrament of Baptism, various miracles occurred. The Gospel says: “The sky was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on Him in bodily form like a dove, and there was a voice from heaven, saying: You are My Beloved Son; I am well pleased with You!” (Luke 3:21-22). At this moment, Christ enters the Jordan and takes upon himself all our sins. This is why people say that sins go away during baptism. Jesus takes them upon himself.

Of course, tradition is tradition and no one has the right to cancel it. So why do many people think that everyone without exception can swim on this day? According to the laws Orthodox Church, only believers can swim in the ice hole and baptized people. Bathing in holy water on January 19 has never replaced the real rite of the Sacrament of Baptism. Even church ministers themselves have divided opinions on this matter. One part of the clergy believes that on the night before the holiday, the church, as it were, leaves the temple, and the water in all reservoirs becomes holy. The other half thinks differently. The fact that people swim in reservoirs is just their personal desire and some kind of fun. They claim that on this day only the Jordan River becomes holy water. Considering that winters in the East are not like ours, then taking a dip in the water on this day is simply necessary. And the fact that in Russia, we usually plunge into water at a temperature environment much less than zero, oriental people considered a great sin. All because we risk our lives and health, and God doesn’t like that.

But the third part of the clergy says that the Epiphany holiday is nothing more than a centuries-old tradition for those who are used to always swimming in cold water, that is, “walruses.” Moreover, these people must be physically prepared for such a procedure, hardened with early childhood. Of course, there are a lot of people in the world and there are just as many opinions, and those who really believe in this ritual usually hide their faith and do not make it public.

Swimming in an ice hole through different eyes

It is curious that the classics also described in their works the tradition of mass swimming in an ice hole on Epiphany Day. For example, Dahl described this event in his own way. According to him, it was necessary to swim in the ice hole for those who behaved, let’s say, not very decently at Christmas time. Those. in ancient times, on Christmastide, it was a great sin to dress in various “demonic” clothes, participate in noisy games, and put different masks and go caroling around the village. It was precisely these people who needed to bathe in the holy water of the Jordan on this day in order to cleanse themselves of their sins. All the other people who behaved calmly these days did not go swimming. The church simply prohibited swimming on other days, explaining these actions as blasphemy and paganism.

Historians claim that the roots of the tradition of plunging into icy water in the January frosts go back to the period of the ancient Scythians. Although their actions cannot be called cleansing from sin. They easily dipped newborn babies into water in order to accustom their bodies to harsh weather from the first days.

But in Rus', people really loved to jump into an ice hole or a big snowdrift after a real bathhouse. This funny tradition is still followed by Russians and Slavic peoples any day of winter.

What does the word "baptism" mean in different languages?

If we deeply touch on the meaning of the word “baptism”, we can understand that we understand it in a completely different sense. The rite of baptism, in Greek, sounds completely different, namely immersion. IN modern language, this word translated from Greek means “Baptists” or “Baptistery”. But in principle it means the same thing, this is the place where baptism takes place.

The Old Russian word “cress” is translated into modern language as “fire”. A full word"baptism", translated as "kindling". The ancient Russian people saw in this ritual the ignition of the spark of God in a person. Although the rituals themselves were different, depending on what industry the person was sent to, the main actions were similar, only some words changed. It was believed that such a procedure improved health and after it a person could engage in military art and craft. Nowadays this is called baptism of fire.

For Christians from Russian translations Holy Scripture, there was a phrase - water baptism. The meaning of actions was perceived as renunciation of one’s roots, family and earthly life, receiving in return the approval of the Holy Spirit for a righteous life.

IN modern world, the word “cross” is understood in several senses. A direct synonym for this word is the word “kryzh”. For example, in the accounting concept it is used as the verb “to steal”, i.e. check or verify. The city of Kryzhopol has a direct connection with this word. Its name is translated as the city of the Cross. But the Belarusian people pronounce the word “kryzhanets” when they talk about “crusaders”.

U different nations the word "cross" has different meanings. However, Christians have combined the two main concepts of this word. The cross on which Christ was crucified and baptism itself are intertwined. These two concepts mean the same ritual of swimming in an ice hole and washing with holy water. On different languages This tradition sounds different, but its essence is always the same. People believe in the miraculous power of Baptism. Believe and everything will work out.

The Orthodox Church celebrates Epiphany or Epiphany on January 19 (new style). This is the most ancient holiday among Christians, and its establishment goes back to the times of the disciples and apostles of Christ. It also has ancient names: “Epiphany” - phenomenon, “Theophany” - Epiphany, “Holy Lights”, “Feast of Lights” or simply “Lights”, since it was the Lord Himself who came into the world on this day to show him the Light Unapproachable.

Holiday Epiphany

The word “baptize” or “baptize” from Greek is translated as “immersing in water.” It is almost impossible to understand the importance and the very meaning of what Epiphany bathing is without having an idea of ​​​​the symbolic meaning of water in the Old Testament.

Water is the beginning of life. It was she who fertilized all living beings that came from her. Where there is no water, there is a lifeless desert. And water is capable of destruction, as during the Great Flood, when God flooded the sinful lives of people and thereby destroyed the evil that they did.

God made water holy with His Baptism, and now the Blessing of Water is traditionally celebrated in memory of this event. At this time, the water in all Orthodox churches, and then in rivers and reservoirs.

Jordan

On this day there is traditionally a popular procession called " Procession to the Jordan,” in order to bless the water and then arrange Epiphany swimming in the ice hole.

John's baptism meant that just as a body washed with water is cleansed, so a repentant soul who has believed in God will be cleansed of sins by the Savior.

The biblical story tells how Jesus came from Nazareth in those days and John baptized him in the Jordan River. When Jesus came out of the water, the heavens opened and the Spirit descended on him like a dove. And a voice was heard from heaven: “You are my beloved son, in whom is my blessing.”

Epiphany revealed to people the Great Mystery of the Holy Trinity, to which everyone who is baptized joins. Then Christ told his apostles to go and teach this to all nations.

Epiphany bathing. Traditions

The tradition of blessing of water among our ancestors dates back to those ancient times, when in 988 Prince of Kyiv Vladimir baptized Rus'. Now only a priest can perform the rite of Blessing of Water, since at this time special prayers are read with the cross being immersed in water three times. This is done on the feast of Epiphany itself after the liturgy. But first, before this, an ice hole is made in the reservoir, usually in the form of a cross, called “Jordan”.

These days, Epiphany water is a real shrine that can heal and strengthen a person’s mental and physical strength. Therefore, such a solemn procession of consecration is carried out near the ice-hole of the reservoir in order to make swimming at Epiphany accessible for people. Orthodox people take water from the ice hole and wash themselves, but the bravest and bravest literally dive into it.

Traditions of ancestors

The Russian tradition of swimming in an ice hole was borrowed from the ancient Scythians, who tempered their babies this way. They simply dipped them in cold water and thereby accustomed them to the harsh climate conditions.

In addition, the tradition of swimming in an ice hole was also in pagan rituals, this is how initiation into warriors took place. Even today in Rus' they like to rub themselves with snow or jump into cold water after a bathhouse.

Some pagan rituals have taken root in our lives to this day. That's why we swim in the ice hole and celebrate Maslenitsa, which is tied to the beginning of Lent.

Epiphany holiday

According to church rules, V Epiphany Christmas Eve the “great consecration of water” takes place. Believers come to church services, light candles and draw blessed water. However, there is no need to plunge into the ice hole; this happens by at will person.

In general, in Rus' it was believed that swimming in an ice hole at Epiphany promotes healing from many ailments. Water, like living matter, is capable of changing its structure under the influence of information, so everything depends on the thoughts in a person’s head. Epiphany bathing turns into entire folk festivities; photographs of this celebration always show how fun and interesting they are.

Bathing at Epiphany. How to do it right

But this fun and harmless, at first glance, activity can lead to a number of unpleasant moments. Epiphany bathing does not require any special preparation. The human body is adapted to the cold, and therefore only the attitude is important here.

What could happen to human body when diving into an ice hole?

1. When a person is immersed in cold water with his head, he experiences a sharp excitation of the central nervous system and the cerebral cortex, which generally has a positive effect on the entire body.

2. Impact low temperatures is briefly perceived by the body as stress, which can relieve inflammation, swelling and spasms.

3. The thermal conductivity of the air enveloping the body is 28 times less than the thermal conductivity of water. This is the hardening effect.

4. Cold water causes the body to release additional forces, and after contact with it, the temperature of the human body rises to 40 degrees Celsius. And as you know, at such a mark, microbes, diseased cells and viruses die.

Bathing rules

Swimming in Epiphany frosts means following certain rules. The main thing is that the ice hole is specially equipped and all this action takes place under the supervision of rescuers. The population is usually informed about such public swimming places.

Swimming in an ice hole requires the presence of swimming trunks or a swimsuit, a terry robe and towel, as well as a set of dry clothes, slippers or woolen socks, a rubber cap and hot tea.

Before you arrange a bath at Epiphany, it is very important to know how to do it correctly. First, you need to warm up a little with exercises, or even better, go for a run. You must approach the ice hole wearing non-slip, comfortable, easily removable shoes or socks. It is also necessary to check the stability of the ladder, and to be on the safe side, throw a rope firmly attached to the shore into the water.

You need to plunge into the ice hole up to your neck and it is better not to get your head wet, so that the blood vessels in the brain do not narrow. Jumping headlong into an ice hole is also undesirable, as a loss of temperature can cause shock. Cold water will immediately cause rapid breathing, and this is completely normal, this is the body's way of adapting to the cold. It is dangerous to stay in water for more than one minute; the body may cool down. You also need to be very careful about children who, when frightened, may forget that they know how to swim.

You also need to be able to get out of the ice hole so as not to fall, and to do this you need to hold on tightly to the handrails and use a dry rag. After swimming, you need to thoroughly rub yourself with a towel and put on dry clothes. After swimming, it is best to drink hot tea made from herbs or berries, prepared in advance in a thermos.

On this day, drinking alcohol is strictly prohibited, as it negatively affects the natural thermoregulation of the whole body, so the consequences may be different. It is also important to know that swimming on an empty or, conversely, full stomach is also unacceptable.

Contraindications for swimming

No matter how useful Epiphany bathing is, there are still contraindications for it. And they relate to acute and chronic diseases. This is a disruption of the cardiovascular system (heart defects, hypertension, heart attacks), the central nervous system (skull injuries, epilepsy), the endocrine system (thyrotoxicosis, diabetes), visual organs (conjunctivitis, glaucoma), respiratory organs (asthma, pneumonia, tuberculosis), genitourinary system (cystitis, inflammation of the appendages or prostate gland), gastrointestinal tract(ulcer, cholecystitis, hepatitis), skin and venereal diseases; inflammation of the nasopharynx and otitis, etc.

Doctors' opinion

Medical experts in this area believe that swimming in an ice hole on Epiphany does not bring any unexpected troubles, you need to be absolutely healthy. And this is especially dangerous for those who smoke or drink alcohol, as the flow of blood to the lungs can cause inflammation or even swelling of the bronchi and pneumonia. In young people, not to mention the elderly, the arteries are not always capable of in the right way react to cold water, and at this moment breathing and then cardiac arrest may occur.

If you engage in systematic winter swimming, it will certainly contribute to the health of the body, but when this happens infrequently, then everything will become severe stress for him, so before swimming you need to seriously weigh the pros and cons.

Conclusion

Many people heroically decide to swim in an ice hole at Epiphany, even though this idea may be unsafe. However, folk festivals are going very well. Epiphany bathing, photographs from these holidays turn out to be quite expressive, some are just getting ready to go into the water, some are already happy that they took a swim, and some are already warming up and drinking hot tea.

Many believers believe that swimming in an ice hole at Epiphany is a great blessing for a true Orthodox person. And that's how it is. Only here the main thing is to understand whether this faith is strong and deep enough for you to become a real shield from all troubles at the moment when Epiphany bathing occurs.

It is curious that there is no evidence that this phenomenon was widespread. Of course, references to the tradition itself can be found in classical literature(for example, Kuprin and Shmelev). This allows us to say that they swam in the ice hole at Epiphany, but there is one nuance.

In Dahl we find: Those who dress up for Christmas are swimming in Jordan.“Who dressed up for Christmastide” - that is, those who took part in mass games on Christmastide, put on masks, went to carols, in a word, sinned as much as they could. And swimming in ice water, which, as is commonly believed, becomes holy on Epiphany night, is a way to cleanse yourself of sins. Others did not have to swim.

Few people think about where such an extreme tradition came from. Meanwhile, it has deep roots, going back to a time when there was not even a whiff of Christianity in Rus'.

The Slavic traditions of swimming in ice holes go back to the times of the ancient Scythians, who dipped their babies in icy water, accustoming them to the harsh nature. In Rus', after a bath, they liked to plunge into ice water or jump into a snowdrift.

In general, swimming in an ice hole is part of ancient pagan initiatory military rites.

Centuries-old, or even millennia-old folk customs and tradition has never succeeded in destroying churches. An example is pagan holiday Maslenitsa, which had to be tied to the beginning of Lent.

The Church, being unable to overcome pagan rituals, was forced to give them its canonical explanation - they say, following the gospel myths, Orthodox people repeat the procedure of the “baptism of Christ in the Jordan.” Therefore, swimming in an ice hole on any days other than Epiphany was cruelly persecuted by the church - as outright blasphemy and paganism. That is why Dahl makes the reservation that “bathing” was performed strictly at a certain time and not by everyone.

Historians know the fact that Ivan the Terrible loved to demonstrate to the amazed foreign ambassadors the valor and daring of his boyars: he forced them to throw off their fur coats and joyfully dive into an ice hole, pretending that it was easy and simple for them. Moreover, he did this not within the framework of Orthodoxy, but precisely in the traditions of military valor.

There is another curious point: the event of immersion in water, which is called baptism, has nothing to do with the Russian word “cross”.

According to the biblical myth, John the Baptist, with the help of the rite of immersion in the Jordan, “wooed” the Holy Spirit to Christ, as he had previously wooed him to his other followers. In Greek this rite is called Βάπτισμα (literally: “immersion”), from which the modern words “baptists” and “baptistery” (place of baptism) are derived.

Russian word « baptism» goes back to the ancient Russian word« cross» , meaning" fire» (root as in the word« armchair» - flint, flint for cutting fire). That is, the word" baptism» means« ignition» . Initially it referred to pagan initiatory rites, called upon at a certain age« kindle» in man« spark of God» , which is from Rod in him. Thus, pagan rite baptism meant (or consolidated) a person’s readiness for the field ( military art, craft).

There are echoes of this rite in the modern Russian language: “baptism of fire”, “work baptism”. This also includes the expression “work with passion.”
Of course, the initiation rites themselves differed depending on the nature of baptism: the rites of initiation into fighters, healers or blacksmiths were different. Therefore, the word “baptism” was always clarified, a word was added to explain what status it was for, what field it was for.

Christians borrowed this word “baptism”, adding their own explanation to it - baptism with water - such a phrase can often be found in Russian translations of the Holy Scriptures. The absurd meaning of this expression was obvious to our ancestors - “baptism (ignition) with water, but we already take this phrase for granted.

The sacred meaning of “baptism” with water in childhood as a magical rite is to pour water into that same ancestral spark (i.e., in the Christian interpretation - from the old Adam, but in essence - from the Devil, from Nature) and replacing it with the Holy Spirit, which descends directly on top of it. Those. “one who is baptized with water” by this rite, as it were, renounces his roots, his earthly nature - he renounces the Family.

Word " cross"in the meaning of several (not necessarily two) mutually crossed crossbars - comes from the word" cross”, meaning a type of fireplace (logs stacked in a certain way). This name for fire laying later spread to any intersection of logs, logs, boards or lines. It was originally (and is now) a synonym for the word« kryzh"(root, as in the word« ridge" - a stump with intertwined roots pulled out of the ground). Traces of this word in modern language remain the name of the city Kryzhopol (city of the Cross) and in accounting professional terms« kryzhik" - cross (tick) on the sheet, verb« to steal» - check, verify statements. In other East Slavic languages ​​it exists like this (in Belarusian, for example,« crusader" - This« kryzhanets, kryzhak» ).

Christians merged these two disparate, although of the same root, concepts - the cross (on which they were crucified) and baptism (a rite of Christian baptism), reducing them to the word “cross” as the intersection of lines.

Is it necessary to swim at Epiphany? And if there is no frost, will bathing be Epiphany?

In any church holiday, it is necessary to distinguish between its meaning and the traditions that have developed around it. The main thing in the feast of the Epiphany is the Epiphany, the Baptism of Christ by John the Baptist, the voice of God the Father from heaven “This is my beloved Son” and the Holy Spirit descending on Christ. The main thing for a Christian on this day is presence at church services, confession and Communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, and communion of baptismal water.

The established traditions of swimming in cold ice holes are not directly related to the Feast of the Epiphany itself, are not mandatory and, most importantly, do not cleanse a person of sins, which, unfortunately, is discussed a lot in the media.

Such traditions should not be treated as magical rites - the holiday of the Epiphany is celebrated by Orthodox Christians in hot Africa, America, and Australia. After all, the palm branches of the feast of the Lord’s entry into Jerusalem were replaced by willows in Russia, and the consecration of grapevines on the Transfiguration of the Lord was replaced by the blessing of the apple harvest. Also, on the day of the Epiphany of the Lord, all waters will be sanctified, regardless of their temperature.

Archpriest Igor Pchelintsev, press secretary of the Nizhny Novgorod diocese

Archpriest Sergius Vogulkin, rector of the temple in the name of the icon Mother of God“Vsetsaritsa” of the city of Yekaterinburg, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor:

Probably, we should start not with swimming in the Epiphany frosts, but with the most blessed feast of Epiphany. By the Baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ, all water, in all its forms, is sanctified, because for two thousand years the water of the Jordan River, which touched the blessed body of Christ, rose to the heavens millions of times, floated in the clouds and again returned as raindrops to the earth. What is it in - in trees, lakes, rivers, grass? Pieces of her are everywhere. And now the feast of Epiphany is approaching, when the Lord gives us abundance blessed water. Concern awakens in every person: what about me? After all, this is my chance to cleanse myself! Don't miss it! And so people, without hesitation, even with some kind of despair, rush to the ice hole and, having plunged, then talk about their “feat” for a whole year. Did they partake of the grace of our Lord or did they gratify their pride?

An Orthodox man walks calmly from one church holiday to another, observing fasts, confessing and receiving communion. And he prepares for Epiphany slowly, deciding with his family who, after confession and communion, will be honored to plunge into the Jordan, according to the ancient Russian tradition, and who, due to being a child or indisposed, will wash their face with holy water, or take a bath at a holy spring, or simply take holy water with prayer as a spiritual medicine. Thank God, we have plenty to choose from, and we don’t need to take risks thoughtlessly if a person is weakened by illness. The Jordan is not a Pool of Sheep (see John 5:1-4), and must be approached with caution. An experienced priest will not bless everyone for a bath. He will take care of choosing a place, strengthening the ice, gangplanks, a warm place for undressing and dressing, and the presence of one of the Orthodox medical workers. Here, mass baptism will be appropriate and beneficial.

Another thing is the mass of desperate people who decided, without a blessing or just basic thought, to swim “for company” in icy water. Here we're talking about not about the strength of the spirit, but about the strength of the body. Severe spasm of skin vessels in response to action cold water leads to the fact that the mass of blood rushes into internal organs- heart, lungs, brain, stomach, liver, and for people with poor health this can end badly.

The danger especially increases for those who were preparing for “purification” in the ice hole by smoking and alcohol. The flow of blood to the lungs will only increase chronic inflammation of the bronchi, which always accompanies smoking, and can cause swelling of the bronchial wall and pneumonia. Long-term use of alcohol or acute intoxication and warm water constantly lead to misfortunes, let alone swimming in an ice hole. The arterial vessels of an alcoholic or a domestic drunkard, even if he is relatively young, are not able to respond correctly to massive cold exposure; in these cases, paradoxical reactions can be expected, including cardiac and respiratory arrest. With such bad habits and in such a state, it is better not to approach the ice hole.

– Explain, after all, why an Orthodox person needs to bathe in ice water on Epiphany when it’s thirty degrees below zero outside?

Priest Svyatoslav Shevchenko:– It is necessary to distinguish between folk customs and church liturgical practice. The Church does not call believers to climb into icy water - everyone decides for themselves individually. But today the custom of plunging into a frosty hole has become something newfangled for non-church people. It is clear that in large Orthodox holidays There is a religious upsurge in the Russian people - and there is nothing wrong with that. But what is not very good is that people limit themselves to this superficial ablution. Moreover, some seriously believe that by bathing in the Epiphany Jordan, they will wash away all the sins that have accumulated over the year. These are pagan superstitions, and they have nothing in common with church teaching. Sins are forgiven by the priest in the sacrament of Penance. In addition, in search of thrills we miss the main point feast of the Epiphany.