Cyprus celebrates the Epiphany

A LARGE crowd yesterday gathered in Nicosia’s Eleftheria Square for a special Epiphany Day Service.

The people, including high-ranking military officials, were entertained by Greek, English and French festive songs, which were followed by the reading of psalms and the setting free of white doves. The Bishop of Kykkos then performed the blessing of the waters.

The event was organised by Nicosia Municipality with Mayor Michalakis Zampelas, telling the Cyprus Mail that, “the water was brought by the Municipality and a special citizen’s team from the sea. The day is part of our special events programme over the Christmas and New Year period, which will be coming to an end tomorrow. It will end with the giving of presents to all the children here.”

George Papandreou, conducting the musical group, expressed his wish for “peace and happiness for all people, including both Greek and Turkish Cypriots.”

Balloons and inflatable toys were also on offer as well as traditional lokoumades, the proceeds of which are going to the children of the Phaneromeni School.

Epiphany was marked all over Cyprus yesterday with special church services. In coastal areas, people dived into the sea to retrieve the cross thrown in as part of the blessing of the waters.

Epiphany celebrates the ‘shining forth’ or revelation of God to mankind in human form, in the person of Jesus. The observance had its origins in the eastern Christian churches, and included the birth of Jesus; the visit of the three Wise Men who arrived in Bethlehem; and all of Jesus’ childhood events, up to his baptism in the Jordan by John the Baptist. According to tradition, the baptism marked the only occasion when all three persons of the Holy Trinity manifested their physical presence simultaneously to humanity: God the Father by speaking through the clouds, God the Son being baptised in the river, and God the Holy Spirit in the shape of a dove overflying the scene.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.