Hundreds of faithful women and men of different ages plunged into the pool with holy water at the Tiganesti Monastery in Straseni district, celebrating thus Epiphany.
Epiphany is one of the 12 Great Feasts. This feast commemorates the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River, which gave the new ‘law’ to the Christians – Orthodoxy, Ieromonarch Tihon, of the Tiganesti Monastery, stated for IPN.
“Cleaning is the secret of holy repentance and this bathing into the holy water is a cleaning of the soul. It means coming closer to God,” said the priest.
One of those who plunged into the cold water, Constantin Lisnic, came to the Monastery because it is an important day when Jesus Christ was baptized by John the Baptist thousands of years ago. He is convinced that this day brings welfare and health. Asked if the cold water didn’t bother him, the man said nobody catches a cold on Epiphany because God takes care of them and the holy water gives them more power and health.
Maria Alexandrova from Tiganesti said the number of those who come to the Tiganesti Monastery on Epiphany increases annually. This year the cars could not find a place in the parking lot. “This water is curative for humans as the spring was blessed,” she stated, adding that she drinks holy water taken from the Monastery in the morning and this also helps those who are ill and confined to bed.
A student of the Academy of Economic Studies Stanislav Suruceanu bathed in the cold water and said he did it for religious and health reasons: personal cleaning by the shock of entering cold water and the fact that cold water makes the veins more elastic and reduces the risk of heart attack.
Soldiers of Battalion No. 5 of Straseni prepared soldier’s food and boiled wine for the faithful. Epiphany celebrated on January 19 closes the row of winter feasts.