A Few Reflections On the Mystery of Holy Theophany

There is an old story about a man and his wife, who found a poor man, who had fallen in the snow. He was not able to walk, because his legs were frozen.  The man and his wife bore him into their warm house, and they cared for him.  On one occasion, they placed him in a warm bath, and they washed away from him all his unpleasant filth.  They washed him in a large tub, and when they had taken him out of the tub, and had emptied the water, they found that it had left a hard ring of stubborn filth on the sides of the tub.  After this, the woman often scrubbed the tub, but she was never able to clean away the ring.  Then, one day, the man himself bathed in it, and a small wound on his leg was healed.  He ran to his neighbour, who was sick, and told him to wash in tub too.  The neighbour was healed as well.  After that, they shared the tub with the whole village, and then with the entire region.

     Today, on the feast of the Theophany, we see the Lord descend into the water, imbuing it with Divine Life.  Symbolically and mystically, through the rites of the Blessing of Water, we are witnesses to the Lord sanctifying the water.  He opens the fountain of Baptism for us through His baptism.  In the Blessing of Water, we pray: “You, being sinless, accepted baptism in the Jordan from the hand of a servant, so that, having sanctified the very nature of water, You could establish for us a way of rebirth by water and the Spirit and restore us to our previous dignity.” The Lord Jesus Christ placed Divine Life in the nature of water, so that we would find it there when we descend into the water of our Baptism.  Our father among the saints Basil the Great describes this great mystery in its connection with the mysteries of the Cross and the Resurrection: “He lived in this world, and gave us precepts of salvation. Releasing us from the delusions of idolatry, he brought us to the knowledge of you, the true God and Father.  He gained us for himself as a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. After cleansing us with water and sanctifying us with the Holy Spirit, he delivered himself up for us and ransomed us from the death that held us captive because of our sins. Descending into Hades through the cross, that he might fulfill all things in himself, he loosed the pains of death. He rose on the third day, making way for the resurrection of all flesh from the dead, for it was not possible for the author of life to be held by corruption.”

     Perhaps “Divine Life” sounds very abstract, but we call this same life by another name: virtue.  Through virtue we participate in the Life of God, and the Fathers of the Church tell us that virtue is the meaning of the entire Creation.  If we want to understand the universe, then it is necessary for us to understand virtue—and try to grow in virtue.  In Baptism, we receive virtue as a free gift.  We then only need to practice this virtue.