event
Epiphany
also: Theophany, Крещение, Крещенское утро
The Orthodox feast (January 6/19) commemorating Christ's baptism in the Jordan River, whose central rite is the blessing of water; village custom marks the day by building an ornamental ice 'Jordan' on the local frozen river for the ceremony.
Reading notes
- Art §7 a Jordan
The 'Iordan' (Иордань) is the elaborate ice structure -- basin, cross, and decorated surround -- cut and built each year on a frozen river for the Epiphany blessing of the waters, named for the Jordan River where Christ was baptized.
- Art §39 The morning of Epiphany
Epiphany (Крещение, lit. 'Baptism'), also called Theophany, is celebrated in the Orthodox calendar on January 6 (Julian) / January 19 (Gregorian), commemorating Christ's baptism in the Jordan River; its central rite is the blessing of water.
- Frost §1 Feast of the Epiphany
Epiphany (Крещение, Jan. 6/19 Old Style) commemorates Christ's baptism in the Jordan; the day's central rite is the ceremonial blessing of water, often performed at a hole cut in river ice (an ornamental 'Jordan'). The provincial town's charity festival is timed to the feast, and the bitter cold that nearly cancels it becomes the story's controlling image and the frame for the reminiscences that follow.
- My Life: A Provincial's Story §262 the Epiphany
Крещение (Theophany/Epiphany, January 6/19 O.S.), the feast of Christ's baptism, marking the end of the Christmas season in the Orthodox calendar; Dr. Blagovo's departure on this date closes out the story's one extended stretch of holiday sociability among the three friends.
- To D. V. Grigorovich, 12 February 1887. Moscow. §11 more transparent than the water blessed at Epiphany
A Russian Orthodox idiom: water blessed at the Epiphany feast (6/19 January) was traditionally held to be exceptionally clear and pure; Chekhov turns the public's complaint that the story is "murky" into a compliment by this comparison.