 |
|
|
Eastern Catholics bless lake in Theophany liturgy
By Nissa LaPoint
|
Photo by James Baca/DCR A dozen parishioners processed from the church, located near Arizona Avenue and University Boulevard, to the nearby lake in a Byzantine Catholic tradition. |
Joggers, other pedestrians and their pets who visited Washington Park Jan. 7 were perhaps the unwitting recipients of a special blessing.
Many passing by the Denver park that morning turned to look and others stopped to watch as Byzantine Father Michael O’Loughlin, clad in golden priestly vestments, walked to the edge of Grasmere Lake to sprinkle holy water and make the Sign of the Cross.
He sang a blessing before throwing a makeshift wooden cross onto the frozen lake.
“Make it a fount of incorruptibility, a gift of sanctification, a redemption of sins, a healing potion for illness and a destroyer of demons,” Father O’Loughlin chanted in part of the prayer. “So that all who receive it may be purified in soul and body, cured of ills, sanctified in their homes and given every befitting grace.”
One man stopped nearby with his dog to watch the ceremony.
“It looks like they’re ... blessing the lake?” said 59-year-old John Campesino, who asked if Father O’Loughlin and those with him were Catholic.
Father O’Loughlin, pastor of Holy Protection of the Mother of God Byzantine Catholic Church, and about a dozen of his parishioners processed to the park that day to revive an old tradition popular for Eastern Catholics called the Great Blessing of Waters.
The group walked from their church near Arizona Avenue and University Boulevard to Washington Park to participate in the tradition typically done on the feast of the Theophany, meaning “appearance of God,” also known as Epiphany in Roman-rite churches.
The Byzantine Church, one of the 21 Eastern Churches in communion with Rome, celebrates this feast day to commemorate when the Holy Trinity appeared to man for the first time as Christ was baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist.
“The tradition among Eastern Christians is that each parish blesses the body of water closest to them,” Father O’Loughlin said. “And so if every parish in the whole world is doing that then all the waters of the world are being blessed.”
Eastern Catholics also bless water on the eve of the feast that parishioners will drink and the priest will use throughout the year for blessing homes and vehicles.
Preserving tradition was repeated by several parishioners who attended the celebration.
“I’d like to revive the old traditions so they don’t get lost,” said 54-year-old Susan Stecker, who grew up in the Byzantine Catholic Church.
After dressing warmly with gloves and coats, parishioners carried an icon of the Theophany, a Bible, a gold image of a six-winged angel, and a Byzantine crucifix, which is recognized by the short, slanted crosspiece near Christ’s feet.
Parishioner Larry Rock, 74, led the procession and carried the large Byzantine cross along Arizona Avenue while the other parishioners followed singing Theophany hymns including, “To Jordan’s Water.”
“When I was carrying the cross I thought of the Lord,” Rock said. “My heart was pounding the whole time. ... It was a privilege.”
After the procession arrived at the park’s lake, Father O’Loughlin explained the ceremony and chanted a passage from the Gospel of Matthew about Christ’s baptism. Then the parishioners kissed the Bible.
Father O’Loughlin called on the Holy Spirit to come and bless the profane lake water. Before he threw the cross onto the frozen lake, Father O’Loughlin told everyone not to go after it.
“Please don’t. I don’t want to do a funeral tomorrow,” he joked.
Traditionally, after the priest casts a cross into the body of water on the feast day, men will dive in to retrieve it. The person who brings back the cross and returns it to the priest will receive a special blessing over himself and his household.
The Byzantine Catholic Church is host to many such traditions.
Byzantine Catholics, who follow the Byzantine-style of spirituality and worship as practiced in parts of Central Europe and the Middle East, trace their heritage to the Apostles and the early Church, according to Byzantine sources.
In the fourth century, the city Byzantium was renamed Constantinople and under Emperor Constantine’s rule this Christianity took on a particular style and spirit. An Eastern spiritual heritage was developed and became distinguishable from the Western tradition called Roman Catholic or Latin rite.
A schism in 1054 led to its separation from Rome due to disagreement over papal primacy and other doctrinal disputes.
But in the 15th century, Byzantine Catholics and other Eastern Churches chose to separate from their patriarch and reunite with the pope in Rome. The Byzantines today retain their Eastern iconography, architecture and worship under their own hierarchy of bishops and patriarchs.
It’s a Catholic Church that several parishioners said has taught them more about their faith than ever before. And participating in the Great Blessing of Waters was another chance to participate in Eastern Catholic traditions.
“The touch, the feel—all my senses are engaged in this church,” said Tanya Cangelosi, 60. “For me this is it.”
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||