The Epiphany Day, 150-year-old ancient custom revives in Bukovina

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Two days before the Epiphany Day, locals from Bosanci become true artists with the help of civil firefighters and carve ice crosses out of the fresh ice ice brought from the lake close to the commune.

On Epiphany Day (Boboteaza) priests bless the water and the ice crosses mounted in front of churches. People take the holly water to their homes believing it is good for health and protects their houses.

The tradition is very simple for the locals and crosses are easily made from ice, measuring 1 meter and 20 height to 1 meter 40.

Once carved, crosses are taken to the churches in the commune with a carriage pulled by horses. Villagers had serious work to do this year because other priests from adjacent villages ordered ice crosses.

The blocks of ice are pretty good this year, last year we had to bring from Bistrita or Vatra Dornei, said a local quoted by Pro TV.

The Epiphany Day is one of the most important holidays both for Orthodox and Catholic Christians. Romanian Christians celebrate ‘Boboteaza’ on January 6, the day Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist.

The priest wander from house to house, in the villages, with the holy cross and splashes with holly water the children, the fountains, the households, the trees in order to chase away the evil spirits. This holly water, called ‘Aghiasma’ in Romanian it is said to have miraculous powers and protects people from diseases, children from the evil eye, cures the intemperance or infertility.

According to folk tradition if the weather is fine on the Epiphany Day, the year will be rich in bread and fish, or the young unmarried girls should find the husband if they put a branch of basil under the pillow the night before.

You shouldn’t do the laundry on the Epiphany Day as all the waters are blessed. Old people believe the holly water has miraculous powers and it never alters. They say whoever troughs in the water on the Epiphany day will never go ill.

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