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Blessing the Waters

BRIAN WALKER/bwalker@cdapress.com | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 10 years AGO
by BRIAN WALKER/bwalker@cdapress.com
| January 7, 2015 8:00 PM

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<p>Father Andrew Welzig uses a brush to splash blessed holy water onto attendees of the ceremony.</p>

POST FALLS - As Orthodox priests and church attendees made their way to the Spokane River for the annual Blessing of the Waters on Tuesday, Jennifer Dancy reflected on what the ceremony means to her.

"Every year we celebrate the depth and breadth of Christianity," said Dancy, who attends St. John Antiochian Orthodox Church in Post Falls. "We're praying for the world and humanity and sharing our faith with our brothers and sisters in Christ."

About 75 people from Orthodox churches throughout the region attended the ceremony of cleansing and renewal on a sun-soaked afternoon along the river at the Post Falls home of David and Lisa Gencarella. After the 20-minute service of song and chant, folks gathered inside the home for fellowship, food and refreshments.

Attendees prayed for peace, the environment, leaders, travelers and salvation. Water from the river was blessed by the priests and sprinkled on participants. A small cross was tossed into the river in celebration of the "feast day of Theophany," on which Orthodox teachings say Christ entered the River Jordan for baptism.

Several participants, including some who waded into the river, took photos or videos of the service attended by kids and adults.

"When we come together, in this time zone, all Orthodox churches are performing the same service at the same time," Dancy said. "That's powerful."

The head of the Orthodox churches is known as the "Green Pope" for his emphasis on caring for the environment, Dancy said.

"The Patriarch of Constantinople does not dominate Orthodoxy in the same way as the Papacy dominates Roman Catholicism," Dancy said. "But Patriarch Bartholomew is energetically using his position to publicly advocate on behalf of environmental issues."

Father Andrew Welzig of Christ the Savior Antiochian Orthodox Church in Spokane Valley said the Blessing of the Waters is an annual reminder of how man's disobedience changed the world.

"Man's disobedience of God led to his fall and the devilish corruption of nature," Welzig said. "But, with the coming of Christ, the physical world is sanctified yet again by his baptism in the river of Jordan by the hand of John the Baptist. Thus, Christ sanctified all the world and the entire cosmos."

Other blessing ceremonies in previous years have been held in other areas along the Spokane River as well as Lake Coeur d'Alene at City Park.

At the end of Tuesday's ceremony, Father Basil Caldaroni of the St. John Orthodox Church in Post Falls declared, "Christ is in our midst."

The attendees replied in unison, "He is and ever shall be."

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