Today is Old Calendar Epiphany.. for me, now Christmas is finally over. Keeping with the water theme, Russians cut crosses into the snow and then punge into them in commemoration of Christ's baptism. Well today brought record cold temperatures to Russia -24 F (-31 C)... but that didn't stop the Russians:








Even the priests!




If the Russians are that tough, what CAN'T they do!? I often wonder why we have so many problems (I refer to all Orthodox now) if we are capable of such resolute behavior. A thought for another day.


Here is just a cool picture of Epiphany in Serbia. The cross is made of ice and...well.. that mustache:






And for a bit more historical accuracy, in the Jordan river. What an experience that would be:



In Ethiopia, it is called Timkat, and is an amalgamation of a pre-Christian holiday and Epiphany. As such, it is possibly the oldest continuously celebrated holiday:




All these pictures are from the AP wire. I hope someday I will be able to take some pictures of these events for myself. It would make my blog a whole lot more interesting.


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