At midnight, you must imagine the desire, and the girls must respect an important custom.

Church, prayer, orthodoxy, faith, prayer, Photo: TANJUG / SAVA RADOVANOVIC

On January 19, the Serbian Orthodox Church and its believers celebrate the great feast of the Epiphany. That day ends the period of “unbaptized days”, and the night before the holiday, according to popular belief, the sky opens and God in all his greatness appears to him.

It is believed that that day the voice of God, in the form of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, announced that Jesus was his son, hence the idea that on the night between January 18 and 19 it is necessary to look at the heaven and imagine a wish. , and it is believed that the girls of heaven are shown the image of when they will marry.

The night of the epiphany is also associated with many magical acts and rituals, pagan rites, and divination that have persisted in some areas to this day.

On this day, water is consecrated in our town, which is believed to be healing and miraculous. This consecration of water takes place twice a year, on the Day of the Cross and on Epiphany, which involves the baptism of Jesus Christ in the Jordan River.

A large number of believers attend the consecration of the water, and those gathered bring the consecrated water to their homes and keep it for a year.

Epiphany water is believed to be used in great need, such as serious illnesses, and is a miracle remedy. It is believed that it cannot be spoiled.

If you still have last year’s Epiphany water in the house, you should pour it into the river, well, garden, or anywhere no one will step on it and “dirty” it.

According to popular belief, the consecration of the house on the Day of the Cross and the water on Epiphany drive away evil spirits and unclean forces that were present in its surroundings during the “unbaptized days” that run from Christmas to Sunday. Epiphany.

In some areas, girls or women go to the spring early in the morning to collect water, and it is important that no one, or anything before, has touched the water, that is, that it is “intact”. In rural areas, it was customary for pregnant women to take a sip of Epiphany water so that they could give birth more easily.

On that occasion, grains of wheat or corn are thrown into a spring or running water, with the words: “As the water goes, so it will go and it will be harvested in our fields,” and then the women return to their homes with water in the that previously soaked basil. , because it helps sanctify the water.

In some parts of Serbia, there was a custom to give Epiphany water to other residents to drink “on an ax”, which was believed to bring peace and harmony throughout the year.

On Epiphany, people greet each other with the words “Christ appeared” and greet each other with “He truly appeared.”

In many areas the custom of swimming towards the Holy Cross has been maintained, when many believers enter the icy water on Epiphany, while in some areas they plunge into it three times to be cleansed from sin.

Another custom, which has remained only in rural areas, suggests that on Epiphany, one goes out, to the wind, scoops up some ash and spills it, which supposedly determines which wind “won” on the Day of the Cross. If the east wind “wins,” the year will be dry, if the west wind is in doubt, the year will be favorable, and if the north wind blows, the year is believed to be icy.

This great feast is preceded by the Day of the Cross, the first fast day after the Christmas holidays, and immediately the next day, January 20, Saint John the Baptist is celebrated, who baptized Jesus in the Jordan River.