Epiphany in Windsor

When celebrating the feast of the Theophany, i.e. the baptism of Our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ, some of the villages in Slovakia still preserve the custom of blessing rivers or streams,. Most of the parishes however bless the water only in the churches. This same custom of blessing the water in the churches is still kept among our faithful in Canada. Fr. Martin Vavrak was blessing the water in the parish church of St. Michael the Archangel in Windsor, and afterwards the parishioners took the water with them to their homes to use it throughout the year.

Readings for the blessing of the water include also a lecture from the First letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians, where we read: "Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ."

So, we are all invited to drink from that very same Rock - Christ, who is the only One, who could satisfy our thirst, a thirst for a life eternal.

Photo credits: Fr. Vavrak's family