Christ is risen!

Today at Saint Elizabeth Church water was again sanctified according to the Orthodox rite called the Lesser Blessing of the Waters. It is a somewhat shorter version of the Great Blessing of the Waters that Orthodox parishes serve on the feast of Holy Theophany (January 6).

Since our parishioners are shut in by the current pandemic and unable to attend services, this holy water is being made available to take home and keep there as a physical reminder and manifestation of God’s presence with us, especially in times of affliction. It is not the Eucharist, but it is consumed as a life-giving sacrament of health for both soul and body.

The prayer below, with which the service at our church today concluded, reminds us of this.

Bow down Your ear and listen to us, O Lord, Who deigned to be baptized in the river Jordan, and there sanctified the water. Bless us all who by the bowing of our heads do show forth our apprehension that we are Your servants. Grant that we may be filled with Your sanctification through the partaking of this water, and let it be for us, O Lord, for the health of soul and body.