One of the main holidays for Christians is theEpiphany. It is also called the Epiphany. It is believed that it was on this day that John the Baptist baptized in the waters of the Jordan Jesus Christ. This holiday is celebrated by the adherents of the Orthodox Christian faith on January 19. The baptism of the Lord: how to celebrate what to cook on this day, what beliefs are associated with it ... All this you will learn by reading this article.
About Baptism mention in their revelations allfour evangelists. But the name of the Epiphany was due to the fact that during the baptism of John the Baptist Jesus in the holy waters of the Jordan, the Holy Spirit descended from heaven in the form of a snow-white pigeon. This is written in the Gospel of Luke. After the pigeon descended from heaven, a voice rumbled among the roar, which proclaimed Jesus as his beloved son. Today, Orthodox Christians celebrate Epiphany on January 19, but Catholics continue to celebrate this feast on January 6. Naturally, any hostess on the eve of the holiday is interested in what is being prepared for Epiphany, on January 19. After all, we are used to the fact that every church holiday has its own special traditions, which in most cases are associated with the preparation of a dish.
If you follow all the rules, then the holidayEpiphany, or Epiphany, you need to celebrate 8 days, of which 4 - pre-holiday, and the remaining 4 - after the feast. And these days it is not so important that preparing for the Feast of Baptism, more importantly, that the baptized consecrated water is "life-giving" and helps cure many ailments. By the way, people generally believe that in Cruces, even tap water is special. If you can not go to the temple for water, you can drink a glass of it from under the tap, and only after a while (at least half an hour) after that you can have breakfast. But the consecrated baptismal water brought from the temple, you need to use a spoon on an empty stomach. In the homes of believers, this water is stored in a red corner. By the way, if you are interested in what is prepared for Epiphany, January 19, then on Christmas Eve you need to eat lean dishes, but on the holiday itself - everything you want. Nevertheless, there are some dishes, the presence of which on the festive table is not only desirable, but also necessary, for example, a whole fried piglet.
So, the main dishes on Christmas Eve should befor example, kutya, lean pies, cookies, Uzvar, flat cakes, kissels, etc. These dishes should be on the pre-holiday table, either seven or nine or twelve. Kutyu in the old days, as a rule, washed down with a knot. The cookies were in the shape of crosses, pancakes were made from wheat or oats, then dumplings with potatoes, cherries, etc. were made. Another fasting dish on Christmas Eve is stuffed cabbage without eating meat, that is, instead of filling, rice with vegetables is used, and borsch with rice beans. In Ukraine, this day, baked karavai - Karachun. At the same time people not only ate these dishes, but also fed them livestock.
That's what they prepare for Epiphany (January 19) mistress. The recipe and method of preparation we will tell you in this chapter.
Required Products
1. Soak wheat grains, fill them with cold boiled water. After a few hours, drain excess water, add water again and put it on the stove.
2. After the water has boiled in the saucepan, reduce the heat and cook for another 40 minutes.
3. Mack wash, pour boiling water and leave on the sideways to swell, the same to do with dried fruit.
4. After the wheat is cooked, fold it into a colander and allow the water to drain.
5. Swollen poppy seeds in a mortar or in a blender until the formation of milk-like mass.
6. Nuts, if necessary, you need to lightly fry (without adding oil) in a frying pan, and honey - dilute with warm water until a thick syrup.
7. Cut the dried fruits into small pieces.
8. Mix all the ingredients in a deep bowl. In the end, pour all the honey sauce.
9. Kutya put on a festive dish and decorate with whole dried fruits.
Of course, one of the main treats onbaptismal table are cookies in the form of a cross. For their preparation, the following ingredients are needed: flour (a quarter kilogram), one egg, half a cup of butter and half a glass of granulated sugar, and also the salt and vanillin at the tip of the knife. All the ingredients must be mixed and kneaded with an elastic dough. Then roll it out on a table into a layer and cut into strips, and from them to form crosses, decorate the center with a nut or candied fruit. Bake in the oven until golden.
There are many signs in the people that are associated withthe feast of Baptism. Here are some of them. If at noon the clouds in the sky are blue - this means that the coming year will be fruitful. The same means if the night in the Epiphany is snowed with flakes. But if it is cloudless and the stars shine brightly, then the year is poor. If this night is heard the barking barking of dogs, it also means that hunters this year will be lucky. If blizzard night blizzard, it means that the winter will be long and will continue for 3 more months. But if there is a full moon on Baptism, then in the spring one should wait for the flood.
Despite the cold, in Baptism after the prayer peoplebegin to dive into the rivers, in the ice-hole. This is done to cure diseases. It is believed that those who are baptized on this day will be happy all their lives. And the betrothal committed on this day is also fortunately. After the feast of the Epiphany before the Carnival in Rus, the period of weddings began. On Epiphany night, the girls would guess at the first person they met. If they turned out to be an old man, it was not good, but if the young guy - it meant a short marriage. In some settlements on that day, the brides of future brides took place. The girls dressed up and stood on the beach. Those who wanted to get married, put on a shirt with red stripes on the hem. Naturally, each of them knew that they were preparing for baptism on January 19, and she cooked these dishes herself. And when matchmakers came to their house, the mother of the girl, treating them, boasted that all these delicacies had been prepared by her daughter. Also there was such a belief: in the morning if the "sky is open" (that is, not covered in clouds), then you need to pray to heaven, and any request will be heard by God. Since ancient times, in cities and villages on ice-covered rivers, a hole was cut out - the Jordan, - where the believers dived. It was believed that you need to collect water from the three Jordan and store it until the spring, and then sprinkle the soil in order to have a good harvest.
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