Wostok-Bukowina, Alberta

Members of St. Nicholas Russo-Greek Orthodox church in Wostok talk about the Yordan church service. This is the blessing of water that is performed after the New Year and is also known as Theophany or Epiphany. People bring water from home for the priest to bless. The priest also blesses water that he then uses to sprinkle all sides of the church, blessing it for the coming year. Traditionally, people bring the water blessed at Yordan home and drink it before supper on that day.

The water blessed at Yordan is often used when someone does not feel well. When someone is sick, he or she can have a drink of holy water. The same water can be also used for sprinkling the house and the animals or a bit of it can be added to the drinking water for chickens. The water is usually kept for one year, from one Yordan to the next, and can stay in a fridge for a very long time. When the year is over, holy water can be poured down the well to bless the family’s drinking water. A distinctive trait of holy water is that, unlike water that has not been blessed, holy water will not go bad. It does not get stale no matter how long one keeps it.