The Epiphany

The whole of our earthly life, from birth to our last breath, in the end will look like one concise act. Its content and quality will be seen in a flash. Imagine a glass of the clearest crystal full of water. A glance will tell whether the water is clean or not. So will it be with us when we have crossed into another sphere…. (St. Sophrony. His Life is Mine. Chapter on Concerning Repentance and Spiritual Warfare.)

When I first read these words of St. Sophrony, I realized that they would stay with me forever. The quality, purpose, intent, motivation, substance of our lives is seen by God clearly; a mere glance reveals all. Who among us can claim that He will see no impurity within us? Who among us dares to think that his or her life will be revealed as clear, as clear as an unpolluted glass of water? I am reminded of a science experiment we once conducted with one of our children. A glass of water with red dye is presented; a drop of some purifying agent, some substance like peroxide or beach, is put into the dyed water; immediately it clears up and the water is pure again.

The Great and Ancient Feast of Epiphany, on which Orthodox Christians commemorate the Baptism of our Lord, is now upon us. I smile to think of how many of us miss the point of it. So many from every corner of Christianity debate the issue of why our Lord submitted to Holy Baptism when He is clearly without sin.

The issue needs no debate; the Holy Tradition of the Orthodox faith understands and proclaims it clearly. The Lord submits to Holy Baptism not to be cleansed, but to cleanse. He allows the Holy Forerunner to baptize Him in the River Jordan, not to be purified by the action, but to purify. The Lord enters the water to make it pure by virtue of His Own Divinity, so that His purification of creation itself can flow through the rivers and streams even as they flow into the sea and throughout the world; He comes for baptism not for His sake, but for ours.

There is no way in which any of us will ever be able to claim to be whole, or pure or spiritually healthy without Him. Without the purification of His presence, His oneness with us, we will all be like the clouded or stained water described by St. Sophrony. One glance will reveal who and what we are and have been. But the presence of the Lord can, does and will purify us. Only if we submit to Him and allow Him into the chamber of our heart and follow the guidance of the Holy Forerunner to "decrease that He might increase," will any of us be healed, purified and made whole.

In the Divine Rites of the Eastern Orthodox Church, we gather at the Divine Liturgy on Epiphany to celebrate these truths within the Gospel accounts of our Lord’s Baptism. The priest calls down the Holy Spirit on plain, ordinary tap water to sanctify it, just as Christ Himself entered the waters of the Jordan to sanctify it and the vast entirety of His fallen creation so long ago. Christ does not need baptism, but we need Him! We need the purification of His Divine Presence to sanctify, to purify and to save us. Without Him, we can do nothing; without Him, a single glance will reveal the impurity within us. Only He can make clean that which we have soiled.

In the history of the ancient Church, Epiphany was one of the earliest celebrations, universally observed in both the Eastern and Western traditions of our faith. It is a powerful reminder that there is no Life or Salvation without the Grace of God, the Grace of His own Self-giving for the Life of the World. Our gathering in His Name is a participation in that very self-giving which He demonstrated in the incarnational presence of the One Whose Birth we have just celebrated.

The Child born of the Virgin and laid in a manger came to save by uniting Himself to us Who have drifted away from our destiny to be united to Him and become evermore like Him. He gives freely of Himself, so that we might give freely of ourselves to one another. This is the faith we profess. It the vibrant message of the Feast of Epiphany!

Note: The Orthodox Church of the Entrance of the Theotokos (Mother of God) into the Temple is a congregation of the Russian True Orthodox Church, Metropolia of Moscow. Our rector is the V. Rev. Elias Yelovich, who serves under the Omophorion of Bishop NICHOLAS of PA and Metropolitan ALEXY of MN. Founded in 2010, our congregation meets for the Divine Services at 306 W. Main St. in Emmitsburg. We follow the canons and liturgical practices of the Eastern Orthodox Churches, which represent a huge segment of world-wide Christianity.

Eastern Orthodox Christians trace their beginnings back to the Day of Pentecost, when the Lord Jesus Christ sent from God the Father the Grace of the Holy Spirit. The Church grew and spread throughout the world particularly in those lands east of the ancient capital of the Roman Empire. Orthodox Patriarchs (Popes) preside in Christian Sees such as Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, Moscow and many others.

It is the goal of our faith to follow the Will of the Master, Jesus Christ, and to realize and honor the Divine Image within us so as to become ever more like Him. We believe that God became a human being, incarnate in Jesus Christ the Savior, so that we might become divine – ever more like Him as we grow in union with Him. Our Divine Services are all in English and we welcome visitors with open arms. Visit our website at: www.EntranceMission.org.

To learn more about The Orthodox Mission of the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple in Emmitsburg visit them online at www.EntranceMission.org or 717-817-0084. You may also join them for Saturday Evenings Vespers at 6 p.m. or Sunday Mass at 8:30 a.m.

Read other articles by Rev. Fr. Elias Yelovich