festival
Blessing of the Waters
blessing of the waters
also: Vodosviatie, Водосвятие
An Orthodox rite of blessing water, part of the spring liturgical cycle; Pavel names it as the occasion of the drunken relapse that finally sends him back out to poach.
Reading notes
- Art §45 the cross is lowered into the water
The climactic moment of the Blessing of the Waters (Водосвятие), when the officiating clergy immerse a cross in the river three times, consecrating the water in commemoration of Christ's baptism.
- Frost §3 Blessing of the Waters
The водосвятие is the liturgical high point of Epiphany itself, performed at dawn or midday at the riverbank; that the shivering police are already back on duty at the rink 'immediately after' the rite signals both how quickly official life resumes and how little the cold is allowed to interrupt the day's business.
- He Understood! §82 After the blessing of the waters
Vodosviatie, the rite of the Great Blessing of Water, part of the spring liturgical cycle; Pavel names it as the last feast day before he gets drunk and finally succumbs, mending his gun and going out to shoot again.