Eastern Orthodox Epiphany Baptismal Celebration

I'm late in posting these pictures, sorry for that! Last Monday, January 19, was the Orthodox Epiphany Baptismal Celebration. Ash and I went and it was a great experience. Something truly amazing to see first hand. Watching these brave Russians step into the freezing cold water to pay homage to the baptism of Jesus Christ was very inspiring. 

We arrived just in time to see the procession. 

The priest then blessed the water to symbolize the Jordan River

I was amazed and did not realize that some many people were gathering the blessed water. Beautiful!

It was SO COLD!!! All these brave and devout Russians now reaffirmed their faith. Hop in and dunk themselves three times and make the sign of the cross each time. News crews were there filming the event and interviewing people as the came out of the lake. 

We stayed for about 45 minutes and then we all got a little bit cold. Hehe, I had her bundled up so good :-)