When it is said
It is the main hymn of Theophany, on 6 January, the feast of Jesus’s baptism in the Jordan. It is sung at the services of the feast.
At the Great Blessing of Water, the priest plunges the cross upright into the water as it is sung. Then it is sung again and again while everyone is sprinkled with the blessed water.
After the feast, priests bless their people’s homes. In one Greek parish’s order for it, the priest says this hymn as he sprinkles the whole house with holy water.
Where it comes from
No author known
What is Theophany?
Theophany is the feast of Jesus’s baptism in the Jordan. A Greek Orthodox parish explains it as the moment God was shown to the world as the Holy Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The hymn tells how. The Father’s voice called Jesus His beloved Son, and the Spirit came down as a dove.
Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, Orlando, House Blessings; Matthew 3:16-17
The cross in the water
At the Great Blessing of Water on Theophany, the priest blesses the water with the cross. Holding it in both hands, he plunges it upright into the water and lifts it out, as this hymn is sung. The Greek book has it sung three times. Then it is sung over and over while the people are sprinkled.
G. V. Shann, Book of Needs (1894), the Great Sanctification on the Holy Theophany; Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, Menaion for 6 January
Sung in your home
After the feast, priests visit their people’s homes to bless them. One Greek Orthodox parish prints its order. The family sets out a candle, an icon, holy water and the names of all who live there. The priest prays for them, then says this hymn as he blesses the whole house with holy water.
Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, Orlando, House Blessings
The Scripture in it
As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the water. Suddenly the heavens were opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and resting on Him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased!”
Then John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and resting on Him. I myself did not know Him, but the One Who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit descend and rest is He Who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”
Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.
In Greek
Ἐν Ἰορδάνῃ βαπτιζομένου Σου Κύριε, ἡ τῆς Τριάδος ἐφανερώθη προσκύνησις·
τοῦ γὰρ Γεννήτορος ἡ φωνὴ προσεμαρτύρει Σοι, ἀγαπητόν Σε Υἱὸν ὀνομάζουσα·
καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα ἐν εἴδει περιστερᾶς, ἐβεβαίου τοῦ λόγου τὸ ἀσφαλές.
Ὁ ἐπιφανεὶς Χριστὲ ὁ Θεός, καὶ τὸν κόσμον φωτίσας δόξα Σοι.