8,000 Christians converge at Baptism site
AMMAN -- Thousands of pilgrims gathered at the Baptism Site on the banks of the Jordan River Friday as the Orthodox Church held its annual celebrations for the feast of Theophany, or "Manifestation of God."
This year's religious services were marked by the official inauguration of a new bell tower adjacent to the site's St. John the Baptist Church. The bells were donated by the Greek parliament and several parliamentarians from the Hellenic Republic and the country's Ambassador to Jordan Ioannis Kambolis attended the event.
The bells were rung by Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Osama Dabbas, in the early afternoon -- the first time bells have sounded at the site of Jesus' baptism since the fifth century.
"The most special part of the service was the bells, which have not sounded at Bethany-Beyond-the-Jordan in over 1,500 years," Baptism Site Commission Director Dia Madani said, adding that this year's celebration brought over 8,000 Orthodox Christians to the Baptism Site.
It was the third time that Fuheis resident, Kafa Shaheen Makhamreh, attended the Baptism Site's Theophany celebrations.
"[The service] is always very nice and we're very proud of this place," Makhamreh, who was accompanied by her husband and son, told The Jordan Times.
The celebrations attracted many people from outside the Kingdom as well.
Three Ethiopian friends, Getu, Faray and Nabiate, were on their first visit to the Baptism Site and its annual Theopany celebrations.
The young women, who have lived in Jordan for the past five years, expressed their excitement at seeing thousands of pilgrims in one place.
"I really like it and everything is done so nice... there's so many people," said Nabiate.
The early morning prayer service was led by Jordan's Orthodox Bishop Metropolitan Benedictos at Bethany-Beyond-the-Jordan while another service was performed simultaneously on the West Bank by Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilus III.
After the liturgy, the congregation joined the bishop and archbishops for the "Great Blessing of Water," who made their way down to the banks of the river with a wooden cross.
As per Orthodox tradition, the cross was submerged into water three times. The archbishops then collected and blessed some of the water, which will be later used to bless Orthodox parishioners.
Jesus' baptism in the waters of the Jordan River marked the first recorded manifestation of the Trinity, the central tenet of the Christian faith.
The biblical site of Bethany-Beyond-the-Jordan in Wadi Kharrar is therefore referred to as the birthplace of Christianity.
According to history, the revelation of Jesus Christ as the Messiah and the second person of the Holy Trinity --- along with God and the Holy Spirit -- took place at the time of his baptism by John the Baptist.
The Baptism Site has been organising the Theophany celebrations and the Annual Day of Pilgrimage in cooperation with the Orthodox Church for the past six years. On January 12, the Kingdom's Roman Catholic congregation gathered at the site for similar religious festivities, known to followers as "Epiphany" (the anglicised version of the Greek Theophany).
By Cheryl Haines
© Jordan Times 2007
