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Originally posted by Ian Climacus:
In my Antiochian church in Sydney it was held within the parish, and the faithful were given blessed water to take home.

The Greeks make the news in locations across Australia (that story from Newcastle, where I lived for a short while) for blessing a public body of water and having young men dive into the water to retrieve a metallic cross.

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Do you have a body of water called the Bogey Hole? It sounds as though that place needs all the blessing it can get!

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Originally posted by Gee D:
It used be a staple item on the tv news when I was but a lad. Better in an Oz January/February than into the Mersey at the same time (or any other probably, the sort of river you walk on).

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Hehe. It truly wasn't that bad. It never gets really cold on the coast because of the sea, but we definitely had the Cross on a rope. There was no way anyone was going on after it.

Does anyone have experience of this in a non-Orthodox setting? The Epiphany blessing of waters is, after all, traditional in the Roman Rite. Does anywhere do a version of it still?
 

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Posted by Ian Climacus (# 944) on :
 
It's a lovely pool, name not withstanding.


I know the Maronites put lit charcoal in the water.

The Chaldeans/Assyrians distribute blessed water.

But I am yet to have experienced these. One day perhaps.
 

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Posted by Gee D (# 13815) on :
 
It is in fact a good name. This will tell you about the construction and the derivation of the name. Bear in mind that anglicisations of indigenous words are usually very approximate.
 

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Posted by Ian Climacus (# 944) on :
 
Thank you Gee. Lived there for 3 years and thought Bogey was some British chap in charge of the area. I am informed.
 

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Posted by Gee D (# 13815) on :
 
There used be a story that it was given that name because the original was a rock hole, sort of like a blowhole, and very dangerous. That sounded bogus to me. So years ago, I dug out the derivation. The site came from a quick search.
 

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Posted by churchgeek (# 5557) on :
 
I don't know if anyone around here does that tradition, but I think they'll be blessing big slabs of ice this year!

(Well, the Detroit River's probably flowing [like I'm going to go down there and check in these temperatures!], and some of the Great Lakes won't be completely frozen over yet...)
 

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Posted by Forthview (# 12376) on :
 
There have been some questions on this thread and on one in Purgatory about baptism and re-baptism and I thought that I might give some information from a Catholic point of view here on this thread which doesn't have so many posts.

We do know that Epiphany or Theophany is one of the oldest of church festivals, stemming perhaps, but only perhaps, from a water festival in the Nile which took place on the 6th January.
While the Eastern Church recalled the manifestation of Christ in his public baptism at the hands of John the Baptist,the Western church soon associated it with the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles at the time of the visit of the 'Wise men//three Holy Kings' to the child Jesus.
As Scrumpmeister suggests the Western Church has two celebrations which he calls Epiphany and Theophany. The Western church generally calls this festival the Baptism of Christ. Traditionally it was celebrated on the Octave day of the Epiphany.
Since the Second Vatican Council it has been celebrated on the Sunday following the Epiphany which could be up to a week after the 6th January.
In countries where 6th January is not a public holiday the Roman rite generally puts the liturgical celebration of Epiphany on the Sunday following.(This year ,2018, the Baptism of Christ will be celebrated on 7th January. However where Epiphany is celebrated on that day, the Baptism of Christ will be celebrated liturgically the next day , Monday 8th)
By putting the Baptism of Christ on a Sunday the liturgical celebration has been given a higher profile than was earlier the case .Generally,FWIW, the pope conducts public baptisms in St Peter's on that day.

The blessing of the waters ,which I have seen in Orthodox churches both in Italy and in Estonia generally takes place in the Roman rite during the night of the Easter Vigil. It is the case that the faithful during the Vigil or indeed on Easter day are invited to renew their baptismal vows and are sprinkled as a reminder of their baptism with the Easter water. This is, however, most emphatically not a re-baptism.

In Italy and possibly in some other countries there is a paraliturgical ceremony where the priest will come round the houses with the Easter water and bless them. This takes place during the Easter season.

Of course Holy water is regularly blessed throughout the year. Most people know of the Catholic custom of the Holy water stoup at the entrance to a church or sometimes in private houses where people will bless themselves as a reminder of their baptism. There is usually in a Catholic church a barrel of holy water and the faithful are invited to take it as they need it. It is not in a prominent place generally but those who want holy water can easily find it at any time of the year, except ,of course ,between Holy Thursday and Easter Sunday.
 

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Posted by Sacristan&Verger (# 17968) on :
 
Here on the coast the Blessing of the Waters means actually blessing the sea and river. This is done on Sea Sunday in July and begins on the Town Quay where boats are blessed and liberally doused with Holy Water. There follows a Sung Evensong after which the whole crowd led by the Cross, Choir, Clergy and congo following process down to the ferry steps where the sea and river are thoroughly blessed and sprinkled. There follows a bit of a barbecue (and a bar in typical Anglican fashion). Sea Sunday is a wonderful public act of witness where the Lifeboat, Sea cadets and naval officers are always with us.
Of course we also celebrate the Baptism of Christ on the first Sunday after Epiphany (7th Jan this year) where we will all be liberally sprinkled.
 

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Posted by Gottschalk (# 13175) on :
 
In the Tridentine recension of the Roman Rite, there is the Blessing of Waters on the Vigil of Epiphany. The Rite of Blessing underwent significant changes under Leo XIII. Some churches still use the old form, which may be found in the Marquess of Bute's edition of the various rituals of the Blessing of Epiphany water in most uses of the Christian world (search archive.org). See this also: https://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2010/01/blessing-of-epiphany-water.html?m=1
 

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Posted by The Scrumpmeister (# 5638) on :
 

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Originally posted by churchgeek:
I don't know if anyone around here does that tradition, but I think they'll be blessing big slabs of ice this year!

(Well, the Detroit River's probably flowing [like I'm going to go down there and check in these temperatures!], and some of the Great Lakes won't be completely frozen over yet...)

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Even if a body of water is frozen over, the Russians just cut a cross-shaped hole in the ice and perform the blessing anyway.

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Originally posted by Gottschalk:
In the Tridentine recension of the Roman Rite, there is the Blessing of Waters on the Vigil of Epiphany. The Rite of Blessing underwent significant changes under Leo XIII. Some churches still use the old form, which may be found in the Marquess of Bute's edition of the various rituals of the Blessing of Epiphany water in most uses of the Christian world (search archive.org). See this also: https://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2010/01/blessing-of-epiphany-water.html?m=1

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Originally posted by The Scrumpmeister:
The video says 2017 but this is a mistake - it was definitely only two days ago.

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Verie Olde Kalendar, clearly.


I see you there. Looks, and sounds, wonderful. And good to know the reaction of smiling when one is splashed with Holy Water is universal.
 

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Posted by Forthview (# 12376) on :
 
Except in Byzantine rite churches I have not come across the Blessing of the waters on the Eve of Epiphany or on the day of Epiphany. I looked in an old Roman Missal(French) published in the 1850s with no mention of this rite - not surprising if it was not (re)introduced till the 1890s.
An old Missal published with imprimatur of Archbishop of Westminster in 1910 has no mention of this rite. Indeed for one week after Epiphany it only has Octave Day of the Epiphany although the Gospel passage is that of the Baptism of the Lord.The French missal of the 1850s calls the day Octave of the Epiphany and Baptism of the Lord.

I remember particularly the various pipes with taps every few metres around the walls of the large Russian Orthodox cathedral in Tallin,Estonia as the priest came round blessing everyone.

However my question would be is this the only time of the year when one can obtain'Holy Water' or is it blessed at other times of the year ?
The church was full with many standing outside
 

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Posted by Ian Climacus (# 944) on :
 
In Eastern Orthodoxy there is the Lesser Blessing of Waters performed at times as at the end of that linked section.

I honestly cannot recall attending or being given Holy Water to take home on those occassions. Someone else may be able to help there.
 

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Posted by echosbones (# 18862) on :
 

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Originally posted by The Scrumpmeister:
Does anyone have experience of this in a non-Orthodox setting? The Epiphany blessing of waters is, after all, traditional in the Roman Rite. Does anywhere do a version of it still?

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Originally posted by echosbones:

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Originally posted by The Scrumpmeister:
Does anyone have experience of this in a non-Orthodox setting? The Epiphany blessing of waters is, after all, traditional in the Roman Rite. Does anywhere do a version of it still?

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This coming Sunday, Epiphany II, the congregations of Southwark Cathedral and St Magnus the Martyr will each process from their respective sides of the Thames to meet in the middle of London Bridge for a Blessing of the River. As I understand the two parishes have done so since 2004 and it was instituted at the encouragement of the Cardinal Rector at St Magnus.

I couldn't tell you what liturgy is used but perhaps I can report back.

There is a photo gallery of last year's blessing on the St Magnus website.

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The Cathedral team in that video are a lot better dressed.
 

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Posted by Ian Climacus (# 944) on :
 
What are those 4 men in photos 1 and 2 wearing?

[ 10. January 2018, 20:09: Message edited by: Ian Climacus ]
 

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Posted by The Scrumpmeister (# 5638) on :
 

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Originally posted by Ian Climacus:
What are those 4 men in photos 1 and 2 wearing?

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Originally posted by Ian Climacus:
What are those 4 men in photos 1 and 2 wearing?

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Originally posted by The Scrumpmeister:

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Originally posted by Gottschalk:

In the Tridentine recension of the Roman Rite, there is the Blessing of Waters on the Vigil of Epiphany. The Rite of Blessing underwent significant changes under Leo XIII. Some churches still use the old form, which may be found in the Marquess of Bute's edition of the various rituals of the Blessing of Epiphany water in most uses of the Christian world (search archive.org). See this also: https://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2010/01/blessing-of-epiphany-water.html?m=1

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Thank you for this!

This is the Epiphany blessing of waters I was referring to in the Roman rite.

The discussion about its attempted suppression is interesting, as it the link to the 1901 book with the very long rite.

Here's an excerpt from our service, shortly after the Blessing of the Waters in the very deep (about 2 metres) font. The video says 2017 but this is a mistake - it was definitely only two days ago.

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That is rather, erm, long-winded, especially for use as late as after Compline, but one can only imagine it in a magnificent setting such as S. Andrea delle Valle.

Is this also the only official church liturgy to mention vampires?
 

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Posted by Gottschalk (# 13175) on :
 

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Originally posted by dj_ordinaire:

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Originally posted by The Scrumpmeister:

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Originally posted by Gottschalk:

In the Tridentine recension of the Roman Rite, there is the Blessing of Waters on the Vigil of Epiphany. The Rite of Blessing underwent significant changes under Leo XIII. Some churches still use the old form, which may be found in the Marquess of Bute's edition of the various rituals of the Blessing of Epiphany water in most uses of the Christian world (search archive.org). See this also: https://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2010/01/blessing-of-epiphany-water.html?m=1

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Thank you for this!

This is the Epiphany blessing of waters I was referring to in the Roman rite.

The discussion about its attempted suppression is interesting, as it the link to the 1901 book with the very long rite.

Here's an excerpt from our service, shortly after the Blessing of the Waters in the very deep (about 2 metres) font. The video says 2017 but this is a mistake - it was definitely only two days ago.

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That is rather, erm, long-winded, especially for use as late as after Compline, but one can only imagine it in a magnificent setting such as S. Andrea delle Valle.

Is this also the only official church liturgy to mention vampires?

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