On January 19, the Serbian Orthodox Church and the faithful celebrate the great Christian holiday - Epiphany, with the traditional swimming for the Holy Cross in cities across Serbia.
It is one of the 15 biggest Christian holidays, and on that day, in all churches and temples, the water that people take and bring home is consecrated, because it is believed to have spiritual and healing properties. Churches that respect the Julian calendar celebrate the Epiphany on January 19. Traditional swimming for the Holy Cross is organized throughout Serbia. It swims 33 meters, which symbolizes the number of years of the life of Jesus Christ.
Epiphany is one of the greatest Christian holidays, and accordingly, many folk customs have developed related to the day itself, as well as the night before the Epiphany.
This is the most famous custom related to the Epiphany night. Namely, it is believed that the day before the Epiphany, exactly at midnight, the heavens open. On that occasion, one should look at the sky and imagine wishes that are believed to be sure to come true.
From ancient times, as soon as the sun sets on January 18, our people would begin to greet each other with "God appeared", while the answer to this was "Truly appear". The old people say that today everyone should be quiet and peaceful and that the most important thing is to stay awake until midnight! Namely, it is believed that the night between January 18 and 19 is the time when the sky opens and "God appears". According to the belief, the Epiphany takes place in the "deaf age" and that tonight the sky will dissolve for a moment and the winds that blow in winter will cross with those that blow in summer. At that moment, the people say, all the waters of the world will stop flowing, and the one who finds himself in the open and sees that, will be able to ask God to fulfill one wish.
Thank you for sharing. I'm happy to know about your celebrations. I pray that all the wishes do come true. Xxx