In most parts of Canada, January isn’t the greatest time to hang out by open water. It’s cold, it’s windy, and if you stand still too long, your face will freeze.
Yet it’s worth the discomfort if you’re there for divine purposes. Such was the case for some Indigenous Anglicans who this year picked up the Eastern Orthodox tradition of the Great Blessing of Water. The outdoor event happens on or close to Jan. 19, the feast of Christ’s baptism known as “Theophany.”
Why did they not do this on January 6? Why are they following the Julian calendar for this and not the rest of the liturgical year?
And I’m pretty sure that the Orthodox understanding is not that “everything has a spirit, including water”. There are more scriptural and catholic ways of getting at this (as when the psalms speak metaphorically of the waters praising the Lord in various ways), without using language that risks being misunderstood as animism.
Or perhaps I’m missing something.
I hasten to add that the liturgy as adapted by Bishop MacDonald is entirely orthodox. It’s only the comments of a participant that risk misunderstanding.
There is no allowance for this in the 1662 BCP. Just another illustration of Continuing Episcopalianism above the 49th Parallel.
Good points.