The day of God’s divine revelation has dawned—a day on which God not only revealed Himself to humanity, but once again entered history in order to transfigure it from within. Today, the heavens are opened not as some distant sign from ancient times, but as a gracious reality that truly touches human life. Today, the spiritual sight of man is awakened to the heavenly lights. Today, for the knowledge of God, there shone forth upon us the three-radiant light of the one Sun of Righteousness—the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit—one in essence and undivided Trinity.
On this day, the rivers of grace and enlightenment are poured out not only upon the waters of the earth, but also upon the hearts of the faithful, who with love and zeal prepared themselves for this great feast of total purification and renewal. On the River Jordan, the Son of God, for our sake, accepts baptism at the hand of His servant, Saint John the Forerunner, not in order to be cleansed, but to sanctify the waters, creation itself, and humankind, and thus to reveal to the world the mystery of the Holy Trinity.
In accordance with tradition, this year as well our monastic community celebrated the radiant feast of Theophany together with the multitude of faithful who gathered in the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos in the village of Rostuše. There, in a prayerful assembly, as one Church and one Body of Christ, the faithful gathered around the Holy Chalice to partake of the renewed life bestowed in the Divine Eucharist. The Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great, presided over by our beloved Elder and Abbot, His Grace Bishop Antaniski Parthenius, was truly the spiritual center and life-giving source of the entire festal celebration. It was a profoundly blessed and moving sight to behold the church in Rostuše filled to capacity with worshippers, hastening to take living and active part in the Feast of Light and Divine Manifestation. The joyful countenances, the prayerful unity, and the shared participation bore witness to those quiet and personal epiphanies born in the heart of every believer, having their common origin in the Theophany at the Jordan.
Following the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, we set forth from the Church of the Mother of God in a solemn and prayerful procession toward the swift-flowing waters of the Radika River. This journey, accompanied by prayers and doxology, was a continuation of the Church’s liturgical communion: the Church emerged from the temple in order to sanctify creation, bearing witness that the world itself is called to become a dwelling place of God’s presence. Upon the bridge over the Radika, the Elder performed the Great Blessing of the Waters and immersed the precious Cross into the sanctified river, as a sign that the grace of Christ touches and transfigures every current of both human and natural life.
At that moment, around four hundred souls awaited with reverent anticipation the blessing of the hierarch, as the honorable Cross was plunged into the sanctified waters. The honor of retrieving the Cross from the Radika was granted to twenty-three-year-old Milko Božinovski from Rostuše, who received with great joy the blessing and prayers of our Elder, along with all those who participated in this noble and grace-filled endeavor. This year as well, the traditional gifts for the blessed Cross-bearer were graciously provided by our esteemed friend Mr. Hari Lokvenec and by the Mayor of the Municipality of Mavrovo and Rostuše, Mr. Oner Jakupovski.
The sacred rite was also honored by the presence of His Excellency, the Ambassador of the Republic of Albania, Mr. Denion Mejdani, who shared with us the joy of this great Christian feast, bearing witness that Theophany is not only an ecclesial celebration, but also a profoundly human and communal event.
Thus, this Theophany too was revealed to us—through the Divine Liturgy, the procession, and the sanctification of the waters—as a living event of the Church of God: a feast in which both man and nature, illumined by the Trinitarian light, experienced anew the grace of renewal.
“Today You have appeared to the universe, and Your light, O Lord, has been marked upon us, who with understanding sing to You: You have come and been revealed, O Light unapproachable.”
(Hymn of the Kontakion of the Feast)
