Timkat – the Feast of Epiphany is TODAY!!

 

The afternoon will see the start of the Timkat (baptism) celebrations. Many Ethiopians will form a procession from a local church – particlarly in Gondar - and walk behind a priest bearing a model of the Ark of the Covenant. They will proceed to the Fasiledes bath accompanied by chanting and traditional dancing.

Tomorrow, in the early morning  there will again,  be a procession and wonderful religious chanting until the priest blesses the water at which point onlookers can immerse themselves in a ritual reenactment of the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River and take the opportunity to symbolically renew their baptismal vows. The holy Arks will then be returned to their churches.

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