Chisinau residents queue up for holy water

Dozens of people went to take holy water from the God’s Birth Cathedral in Chisinau in the morning of January 19. Though it rained, the people queued up to reach the containers with holy water. As the previous years, there were altercations and the police had to maintain order, Info-Prim Neo reports. With plastic containers in their hands, elderly and young persons and women with little children waited to take holy water. Persons sold basil nearby. Those who didn’t take containers from home could buy some on the spot. One bottle cost 4 lei. The basil was sold for 2-7 lei apiece. A woman from Stauceni said she sold basil on Epiphany last year too. She grows it in her garden especially for this occasion. A man who had queued up for half an hour said he came to take holy water from the Cathedral because it is not far from his home. He said that he can stay in a queue as long as it’s necessary as it is the same at all the churches. Epiphany or the Feast of Theophany is one of the Great Feasts of the liturgical year that closes the row of winter feasts.