WATER
VARIATIONS ON A HOMILY OF THEOPHANY
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EARTH AND WATER (1)
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Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop,
O Lord,
and I shall be cleansed; Thou shalt wash me,
and I shall be whiter than snow.
Ps 51, 9
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We begin this page with the above words of the psalmist, for they contain
the theme hereof which is the role of water in the life of the ancient
Jews (Israelites) and by extension in later years in our spiritual life
through the blessings of the Church. (2) Water, a
universal compound consisting of the chemical union of two atoms of hydrogen
and one atom of oxygen, is found throughout the cosmos in the form of
gas, liquid and solids. (3) Water did not cover the
Earth from the time of its formation. The Earth was too hot. As it cooled,
water vapor from volcanic eruptions and the impact of comets condensed
to cover the Earth with a watery blanket. Tectonic activity in the Earth's
crust pushed up land masses which we call continents.
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STORMY SEA
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God also said: Let the waters that are under
the
heaven, be gathered together into one place, and
let the dry land appear. And it was so done. And
God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering
together of the waters, He called Seas. And God
saw that it was good.
Gen. 1, 9 & 10
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WATER IS BEAUTIFUL
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Man like all other animate creation depends completely on water for his
existence. His body is over 70% water. Water and well watered places provided
mankind with sustenance. Water is not only a needed component of life;
it is also beautiful and contributes to the beauty of our Earth and to
our aesthetic sensitivities expressed in our arts. As the ancient human
populations grew, people were forced to move into less habitable areas
of the Earth where rainfall was less abundant or came only intermittently.
Our spiritual ancestors, the Jews developed under such conditions in the
Middle East and learned to exploit the meager water resources of their
environment. It was there that their cultural and spiritual life evolved.
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WINTER RAIN - ISRAEL
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For winter is now past, the rain is over and
gone.
The flowers have appeared in our land: the time
of pruning is come; the voice of the turtle dove
is heard in our land; The fig tree hath put forth her
green figs; the vines in flower yield their sweet smell.
Canticle of Canticles 2, 11 - 13
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SPRING FLOWERS - ISRAEL
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For I will pour out waters upon the thirsty
ground
and streams upon the dry land; I will pour out my
spirit upon thy seed and my blessing upon thy stock.
And they shall spring up among the herbs as willows
beside the running waters.
Isaias 44, 3 & 4
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TURTLE DOVE - ISRAEL
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The rains of winter quenched the thirsty Earth, brought forth the blooming
of the land and refreshed man, beast and plants. For the ancient Jews
water assumed significance also as a means of cleansing body and soul.
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Have mercy on me, O God, according
to Thy
great mercy. And according to the multitude
of Thy tender mercies, blot out my iniquity.
Wash me yet more from my iniquity, and
cleanse me from my sin.
Ps 51, 3 - 4
I saw water flowing from the right side of
the temple, alleluia; and all to whom that
water came were saved, and they shall say:
alleluia, alleluia.
Based on Ezekiel 47, 1 & 2
see Appendix 2
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Water joined the rest of creation in offering praise to God through the
surrogate office of mankind as seen in the Canticle of the Three Young
Men in the Fiery Furnace. (4)
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THREE YOUNG MEN
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All ye waters that are above the heavens,
bless the Lord: praise and exalt Him above all
forever.
Daniel 3, 60; see also 64, 68, 70, 77, 78;
see also Ps 148, 4
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Water too saved the ancient Jews from their enemies. As they fled their
bondage in Egypt, they came to the Red Sea and while passing through,
Pharaoh's army sought to recapture them, but God intervened.
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CROSSING THE RED SEA
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And the waters returned, and covered the
chariots and the horsemen of all the army
of Pharaoh, who came into the sea after them;
neither did there so much as one of
them remain.
Exodus 14, 28
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As the ancient Jews wandered in the desert thirsting for
water, the Lord said to Moses:
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Behold I will stand there before thee, upon
the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt strike the
the rock and water shall come out of it,
that the people may drink.
Exodus 17, 6
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MOSES STRIKING ROCK
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By the time of Christ the Jews had developed a system wherein ritual
purity had assumed great proportions in their religious life. Woman in
menses and after childbirth as well as those inflicted with disease and
physical anomalies were excluded from the community and from worship in
the Temple. Illness was widely regarded as the consequence of sin and
water as the means of ritual purification. Those who could afford it built
ritual baths (mikveh, pl. mikva'ot) in their homes; others had to be content
with public baths. Jesus had little patience with the minutia of ritual
purity. He could cure without water. Thus when He met the infirm man at
the Pool of Bethesda who complained that he had none to lower him into
the pool for a cure.
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Jesus saith to him: Arise, take up thy bed
and walk.
John 5, 8
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MIKVEH - ANCIENT RITUAL BATH
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Nevertheless water played a role in Jesus' ministry. At the wedding feast
of Cana, Jesus took the water set aside for ritual purification and converted
it into wine for the merriment of the guests. John 2, 1 - 10 (5)
Similarly in Jesus' dialogue with the Samaritan woman at the well, He
said:
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Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst
again: but he that shall drink of the water that
I will give him shall not thirst forever. But
the water that I will give him shall become in
him a fountain of water, springing up into
life everlasting.
John 4, 13 - 14
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WEDDING FEAST AT CANA
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JESUS AND SAMARITAN WOMAN
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Again on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, He
used the symbol of water for spiritual cleansing.
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…Jesus stood up and cried,
saying: If any man
thirst, let him come to me and drink. He that
believeth in me, as the Scripture saith: Out of his
belly shall flow rivers of living water. Now this
said of the Spirit which they should receive who
believed in Him.
John 7, 37 - 39
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No essay on the importance of water in the theology and blessings of
the Church would be complete without a few words about Theophany, the
Baptism of Christ celebrated in the Eastern Church on January 6. In his
discourse, On The Day Of The Baptism Of Christ (http://dfw.orthodox.net/theophany)
St. John Chrysostom stated:
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Jewish ritual cleansings did not
free
from sin, but only from bodily impurities.
Not so with ours: it is far more sublime and
it manifests a great peace, whereby it sets free
from sin, it cleanses the spirit and bestows the
gifts of the Spirit. (6)
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Christ, of course, had no need of spiritual cleansing
as noted by St. John the Forerunner:
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But John stayed Him, saying: I ought to be
baptized by Thee, and comest Thou to me? And
Jesus answering, said to him: Suffer it to be so now.
For so it becometh us to fulfill all justice.
Matt. 3, 14 - 15
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By submitting to baptism Christ served as an example in burying sin through
water, to fulfill the law, to reveal the mystery of the Holy Trinity,
and finally to sanctify water by proffering it to us in the form and example
of baptism by water.
In the centuries following the Ascension the uses of water as a sacramental
for spiritual purification were manifest and varied. Water blessed for
the purpose by the priest was used, inter alia, in the blessing or consecration
of churches, homes, the coffins and graves of the dead, sacred articles,
livestock, personal blessings and for the baptism of children and catechumens.
In the Western Church holy water is used before the High Mass of the Tridentine
liturgy for blessing the congregation, a rite which does not exist in
the Eastern Church. See Appendix 1 and 2
Our rapid course through the origins of the sacramental uses of water
bring us now to a consideration of the event which is at the heart of
this page, namely the Baptism of Christ in the rites of the Eastern Church.
The troparion of this day states the case clearly:
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At your baptism in the Jordan, O Lord, worship
of the Trinity was revealed, for the Father's voice
bore witness to You, calling You His "beloved Son",
and the Spirit in the form of the dove confirmed
the truth of these words. O Christ God, Who appeared
and enlightened the world, glory be to You.
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What follows now is paraphrased in substantial part from an article which
appeared in the December 30, 2001 edition of the Eastern Catholic Life,
bulletin of the Eparchy of Passaic. Theophany means "manifestation
of God" wherein the Holy Trinity was revealed in Christ's baptism
when the Father's voice proclaimed Jesus to be His obedient Son; and the
Son was revealed as the Messiah, anointed by the Holy Spirit, descending
on Him in the form of a dove. The focus of this liturgical festival is
the revelation of God as the loving, divine Trinity working for the redemption
and sanctification of humanity and the re-creation of the universe.
The fact that the eternal nature of God was revealed in forms perceived
by human senses receives appropriate manifestation in Christ's ritual
remembrance by the Great Sanctification of Water (see
below). The blessing takes place either outdoors (by a spring, river,
stream, lake or even at the ocean) or in the church before a large basin
of water.
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BAPTISM OF CHRIST - COPTIC
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ST. JOHN THE FORERUNNER
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After a solemn prayer for our renewed awareness of the Trinity's presence
in creation and in our lives, the priest plunges a metal cross into the
water three times while the troparion is sung. The water is sprinkled
on the people as "other Christs" or members of God's family.
The symbolism of the immersion of the cross in the water reminds us of
Christ's repentance on behalf of mankind and prefigures His death, burial
and Resurrection as well as our own baptism. As stated in the Matins of
the day: "By descending into water we ascend to God".
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BAPTISM OF CHRIST - ROMAN
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In descending into water, Christ sanctified water whereby divine life
was revealed by material creation. Thus the entire cosmos was revealed
as God's Temple, and we know all of creation as Spirit-bearing, or as
St. Gregory of Nyssa stated in The Great Catechism "…it is the
property of the Godhead to pervade all things and to extend Itself through
the length and breadth of the essence of existence in every part".
As stated earlier in this page, water is an abundant and primal element,
chief constituent and nutrient of life, a perfect vehicle for representing
all of creation in time and space as sacred and permeated by God's essence.
His omnipresence throughout spacetime, matter and history, especially
our history, serves to make our lives a more perfect reflection of God's
own existence, enabling us to image the Trinity by our mutual love. Through
the blessing of the water, our environment is revealed as the dwelling
place of God and our families as renewed members of the family of God
- children of the Father and co-heirs with Christ, who is the light of
the world and fills all things with Himself. Our understanding of God's
presence in all of creation is illumined so that we can glorify the indwelling
God and become "theophanies" of His peace and love and joy for
others.
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GREEK BISHOP BLESSES THE WATERS
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Prayer of the Great Sanctification of Water
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For this reason, O King and lover of mankind, be
present now through
the descent of your Holy Spirit and sanctify this water! Grant
it the grace
of giving redemption and the sanctifying power of the River Jordan.
Make it a font of incorruptibility, a gift of sanctification,
a redemption from
sins, a healing potion for illness, destroyer of devils, make
it hold back
the powers of the enemy, and fill it with the might of the angels,
so that
all who drink and receive it may be blessed in their souls and
bodies,
healed in their sufferings, sanctified in their homes, and may
receive every
befitting grace. For You are our God, Who drowned sin in the waters
at
the time of Noah. You are our God, Who cleaved the rock in the
wilderness,
so that the waters gushed out and the valleys overflowed, and
the people
were satisfied. You are our God, Who, with fire and water and
at the hands
of Elias, delivered Israel from the errors of Baal.
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THEOPHANY OF OUR LORD
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This page is based on the homily delivered by Fr. Philip
Scott at the Divine Liturgy of Theophany 2002.
FOOTNOTES:
1) A montage created by Deborah Hill of MALAYA CREATIONS.
The image reveals the living planet, our Earth, rising out of the sea,
while in the foreground stands, barely distinguishable, a human observer.
This is not a photograph of reality, but an allegory of the theme of this
Web page which seeks to draw together various ideas from Jewish religious
tradition as expressed and expanded in the traditions of the Church, finding
ultimate expression in the Baptism of Christ celebrated in the Eastern
Church on January 6 as Theophany.
2) Also called sacramentals. For definitions thereof in the
traditions of East and West, see THE ORTHODOX CHURCH by Timothy Ware (Bishop
Kallistos of Diokleia), ISBN: 0140146563, at p. 276 and THE CATECHISM
OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, ISBN: 0819815195, Chapter Four, Article 1
3) Cosmos - a Greek word for universe - created by God some
15 billion years ago out of nothing (creatio ex nihilo). The cosmology
of the physicist and of the orthodox theologian is similar except for
one significant difference; the former is not concerned with the origin
of creation, for to admit such would imply a creator which is a theological
matter beyond the competence of physicists.
Water did not exist in the earliest stages of the evolution of creation.
Hydrogen was the first element which emerged from the primordial plasma
of creation. Oxygen came much later through the thermonuclear process
of atomic fusion in the evolution and destruction of the largest stars.
Having a strong chemical affinity for each other and forming a strong
chemical bond, the two elements in the form of water serve as a universal
solvent and the medium in and out of which life on earth evolved. About
four and one half billion years ago a minor star formed in an outer arm
of our galaxy, called the Milky Way. From the debris, dust and gas which
swirled around this star (our Sun) planets evolved through gravitational
accretion. The third planet from the Sun, Earth, about ninety million
miles from the Sun, is close enough to received sufficient heat to support
life, yet far enough to allow water in most places to remain in liquid
form.
Cosmologists often speak of the "anthropic principle" which
states that we see the universe the way it is because if it were different
in the least respect we would not be here to observe it. All of creation
may be likened by way of crude analogy to computer science - physical
creation as the hardware; the laws of physics and chemistry as the operating
systems and software; and the mind of God as the source code. Suggested
reading for those interested in cosmology: A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME by
Stephen Hawking, ISBN: 0553380168; GOD'S EQUASION by Amir Aczel, ISBN:
0385334850; THE LITTLE BOOK OF THE BIG BANG by Craig Hogan, ISBN: 0387983856;
THE 5th MIRACLE by Paul Davis, ISBN: 068486309-X; THE BOOK OF THE COSMOS
edited by Dennis Danielson, ISBN: 0738202479; MODERN COSMOLOGY & PHILOSOPHY
edited by John Leslie, ISBN: 1573922501; THE HAND OF GOD edited by Michael
Reagan, ISBN: 0740703234.
4) In the cosmology of the ancient Jews as well as of the
Eastern Church, all of creation joins mankind as its surrogate in offering
praise to the Creator. God is regarded as "uncreated essence"
whereas creation is deemed permeated by God's immanence and omnipresence
in spacetime and matter, called by some "divine energies". See
BEYOND THE SHATTERED IMAGE by John Chryssavgis, ISBN: 1880971429 and THE
MYSTICAL THEOLOGY OF THE EASTERN CHURCH by Vladimir Lossky, ISBN: 0913836311.
The cosmology of the Eastern Church will be the subject of a future Web
page.
5) The Early Church speaks of four manifestations of God,
namely a) the Nativity, b) the Visit of the Magi, c) the Baptism of Christ
and d) the Marriage Feast of Cana. Two of the four involved use of water.
6) St. John seems to imply that the ancient Jews were concerned
only with ritual purification. With all due respect to our noble father,
he was factually incorrect. The ancient Jews were indeed obsessed with
ritual purification but were not unaware of the use of water as a sacramental
for spiritual purification as seen elsewhere in this page.
APPENDIX 1
In the Tridentine liturgy of the Roman Church, outside of the Easter
season and before the celebration of High Mass, the hymn called ASPERGES
ME is sung while the priest, vested in a cope, blesses the altar, the
celebrants and the faithful by sprinkling them with holy water. In ancient
times, hyssop, a tufted plant from the Mediterranean region, was used
for the aspersions. The hymn translated from the Latin reads as follows:
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Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, O Lord,
and I shall be cleansed; Thou shalt wash me, and
I shall be whiter than snow. Have mercy on me,
O God, according to Thy great mercy. Glory be
to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy
Spirit as it was in the beginning, is now,
and ever shall be, world without end.
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APPENDIX 2
During the Easter season in the Tridentine liturgy the Asperges Me is
replaced with the VIDI AQUAM which may be translated from the Latin into
English as follows:
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I saw water flowing from the right side of the
temple, alleluia; and all to whom that water
came were saved, and they shall say:
alleluia, alleluia. Praise the Lord, for He
is good; for His mercy endureth forever.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to
the Holy Spirit as it was in the beginning, is now,
and ever shall be, world without end.
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