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Theophany ( 19.01.2009 )

"Today the heaven revealed itself to the people. Today the Divine grace abundantly pours out on the world and gives wings to man to serve God and his neighbor; today the Divine energy from above touches the human soul and elevates it towards heaven; today the human nature washes in the waters of Jordan river and becomes new."

As apostle Paul has said: "The Divine grace appeared to the world – grace redeeming for all human kind."

This grace, which came from above to sanctify the waters, touched the hearts of a great number of faithful, who came to the Bigorski monastery in order to continue the centuries - old tradition which has been preserved in the monastery even during the hardest years of communism, and now is fully restored in all its beauty.

Inspired by their great love, the monks prepared a night vigil in honour of their patron, who on this very day, was honoured to lay his right hand on the head of our Saviour and to baptize the One Who needeth no baptism, and at the same time to witness the appearance of the Holy Trinity in the world. They spent a festive night of prayer and psalm chanting, which was crowned by a ceremonious ritual of water blessing, typical for this holy day. Namely, in the dim light of the candles, as the people approached the phiale, you could vagely recognize the misterious beauty of the miraculous icon of St. John the Baptist, carried in front of the litany, in this way testifying the presence of the Forerunner at the ritual of water blessing performed by the Metropolitan of Debar and Kichevo Diocese, Mr. Timothy. Thus, in the early morning hours, even before the sun rays could touch the earth,  the hearts of all the present glittered, enlightened by a different light, touched by the grace of the Holy Spirit, Who descended in order to sanctify the waters.

The presence of the miraculous icon at the water blessing ritual reminded the monks from the Bigorski monastery of the joy they felt several days ago when a copy of the famous miraculous icon from the Ochrid Icon Collection, called "Hodigitria", came to the monastery bringing with itself the great blessing of the Mother of God.

The tradition continued the very next day with a Divine Liturgy in the nearby village Rostushe and ceremonious litany, after which the waters of the Radika River were blessed. This brought great joy to Tomche Gavriloski who whit God’s blessing caught the cross for the third time and was awarded with a Theophany icon and an especial gift from the regular sponsor of the monastery, Mr. Harry Lockvenec and the "HA - EM" Company.