ORTHODOX BLESSING

We are so grateful to see the sunshine today after three days of intense fog and cold. I took close up pictures of the trees with the frozen snow. The sun warmed our face as we walked with hundreds of Greek Orthodox worshipers below our apartment on the Danube River. Barriers and stage props were being set up all day yesterday, so we went down to meet Ben and to get a closer look at how they carry out this special celebration. It has something to do with Saint John the Baptizer.

Tal got video of the army band playing as they marched up the street from the church where they had first had a service. All the people who were in this service followed the priests, who followed the band. A priest in beautiful robes and crown was blessing the by-standers with holy water. Just as he reached us, he dipped the "sprinkler" on a stick in the pot of holy water carried by his helper,and flung it on us. Ben said the "sprinkler" was a bundle of special herbs. I guessed maybe it was Rosemary.

The procession made their way on down a long flight of stairs to the amphitheater beside the river. I came back to the house and checked on the ceremony from our 5th floor porch window. Ben wanted to hear what the priests were telling the people, so he and Tal stayed a bit longer.

There were six barrels of water set up and after the priests bless each barrel by stirring it with their hands, they allow the people to bring their plastic bottles and draw off this holy water to take home. Every Orthodox church we passed in the city all day has had long lines of people waiting to fill their containers.

The last thing to happen in this ceremony is for the priest to throw a cross into the Danube River and young men dive in hoping to be the favored one to retrieve the cross. He receives a special blessing. Tal remembered that in Tarpon Springs, Florida, the Greek Orthodox carry out this same ceremony. It took place this past Tuesday. In Florida the weather was in the 50s; here in Braila, Romania it is 32 degrees temperature with ice on the edge of the river. It makes me shutter to think of making a plunge into that water for whatever reason.