On 5 January 2014, the servant priests of the Patriarchal Cathedral announced the Baptism of the Lord to His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church and blessed the rooms of the Patriarchal Residence with Great Holy Water.
According to the tradition of the Orthodox Church, on this day the priests go to the houses of the faithful to announce the Baptism of Jesus Christ, our Saviour, and to bless their houses and them by splashing with Great Holy Water.
After celebrating the Great Blessing of Waters in the Patriarchal Cathedral, the group of servant priests and singers of the Patriarchal Cathedral went to the Patriarchal Cathedral, where they were met by His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel.
His Beatitude blessed all those present and spoke about the significance of the blessing of the houses and people by splashing with holy water: “This blessing of the houses in which the Christians live is a memory of the baptism, of the fact that every Christian was baptised in the name of the Most Holy Trinity and that all the Christian life is a relation of eternal love between the person of the baptised one and the divine Persons of the Holy Trinity. The blessing of the houses is a special one because the water used at the blessing on the Eve of the Epiphany is the same water used at the Baptism of the Lord.”
The Patriarch of Romania showed that the Great Blessing of the Waters is a source of special blessings: “As the litanies and prayers said at the Great Blessing of the Waters show, this blessed water heals diseases, removes bad spirits, and protects Christians. Moreover, it shows us the sense of the Christian life, namely the search in this earthy life of the heavenly life in the Kingdom of God. This is why the Great Holy Water is drunk for eight days before eating, because number eight is the symbol of eternal life. The holy water reminds us that our baptism leads us to the heavenly life, to the love of Most Holy Trinity”.
Monday, 6 January 2014, feast of the Baptism of the Lord, after the Divine Liturgy celebrated in the Patriarchal Cathedral, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel will celebrate the Great Blessing of the Waters in front of the Patriarchal Residence, at 12.00 hours
