Snapshot: People of Chortkiv celebrate Epiphany

by Zenon Zawada
Kyiv Press Bureau

CHORTKIV, Ukraine - The soft snow scintillated under the caressing moonlight, which guided us on our way to church at about 6 a.m.

It was the morning of Epiphany, when Jesus Christ was baptized in the Jordan River and then revealed Himself as the Messiah and Savior of mankind.

The chilly air woke anyone going to church half asleep, as it was 4 degrees below zero (Fahrenheit).

The older women clung to each other as the snow crunched under our feet in Chortkiv, a small city in the Ternopil oblast.

"Is it a Greek-Catholic or Orthodox church?" I asked.

"It's Orthodox," Yevhenia said defensively, probably because different family members attend different Churches. "It makes no difference to me. Wherever God is, that's where I'll pray."

She then began to boast of how the Orthodox priest prayed for each of her family members, particularly her son and daughter in the United States. "He prays for our health and our well-being," she said. "He prayed for Roman and Lena and Sasha."

The stern, bass voice of Father Vasyl Semchyshyn leading the divine liturgy echoed in the dark as if it were the voice of God Himself, greeting us hundreds of feet away as we approached St. Volodymyr's Church.

It was a modest building that looked like a barn, but the choir's saintly song elevated it to a place where worshippers met God.

Before entering, the faithful grabbed a small broom to shake snow off their feet. So many people had crowded inside that most stood shoulder-to-shoulder.

Father Vasyl delivered a sermon on the Blessing of the Waters, or "Vodokhreschennia" as it is known in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

"Just as the water will never change or spoil, Jesus promises us that God has been, is, and always will be," Father Vasyl told the faithful.

After the liturgy, all the worshippers filed out, led by those carrying the "fany," or the Orthodox banners of icons and saints. In a procession through the town, about 80 people walked on the icecovered streets to the church's chapel, cozily situated in a valley.

Before the altar, the faithful placed scores of metal pots, elaborate ceramic vases and plastic two-liter bottles full of water, which awaited Father Vasyl's blessing.

Another abridged liturgy was performed before Father Vasyl declared, "Khrystos khreschayetsia!" ("Christ is baptized!")

"U Richtsi Yordani! ("In the Jordan River!"), the people responded in unison.

Father Vasyl then dipped a Q-tip- shaped aspergillum into a chalice of holy water and began sprinkling the people, who eagerly accepted the droplets despite the frigid air engulfing them.

He continued blessing the vases before him. Soon enough, throngs began reaching over one another to grab hold of their blessed canisters. To ease the pushing, those up front began removing and passing them into the surrounding crowd.

"Mine's the tall black one!" one woman yelled from the chapel's steps as light snow blew across her face.

Those carrying the church banners lined up at the hilltop to lead the procession back to the church.

Elderly couples in fur hats gripped each other to prevent from slipping as they ascended the valley's icy hill.

Water splashed out of a ceramic vase, onto the bare feminine hands holding it. She wasn't bothered.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, January 29, 2006, No. 5, Vol. LXXIV

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