ISTANBUL – Orthodox Christian worshippers plunged into chilly waters across southern and eastern Europe on Friday to retrieve crucifixes in ceremonies commemorating the baptism of Jesus Christ.
Hundreds of members of Istanbul’s tiny Greek Orthodox community and tourists from neighboring Greece attended the Epiphany ceremony of the Blessing of the Waters. About 20 faithful leaped into the wintry waters of the Golden Horn inlet to retrieve a wooden cross thrown by the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I.
Apostolos Oikonomou, a 40-year-old Greek participating in the swim for the fourth year, clinched the cross. “This year I was the lucky guy,” he said. “I wish everybody peace and happy new year.”
Christians worldwide celebrate the feast of Epiphany as Jesus’ revelation to the world as the son of God. While Western Christians mark it as the day the biblical Magi are said to have arrived to view the baby Jesus, Orthodox Christians commemorate Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River.
Some Orthodox Christian churches, including those in Russia, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon, follow a different calendar, and Friday was Christmas Eve, with Epiphany on Jan. 19.
In Bulgaria, young men marked Epiphany by jumping into rivers and lakes to recover crucifixes
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