scenes from celebration of the Epiphany in Russiascenes from celebration of the Epiphany in Russia
Come on in, the water's lovely! Hundreds of Russian Orthodox Christians plunge into icy pool to celebrate baptism of Jesus
By Leon Watson
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Thousands of Orthodox Church followers plunged into icy rivers and ponds across Russia and the former Soviet republics to commemorate the baptism of Jesus Christ.
Worshipers braved temperatures of -26C to mark Epiphany by cleansing themselves with water deemed holy for the day.
Water that is blessed by a cleric on Epiphany is considered holy and pure until next year's celebration, and is believed to have special powers of protection and healing.
A boy emerges after dunking his head in ice cold water in Red Square in Moscow
A child is given an icy dip in a lake in celebration of Epiphany, near the village of Leninskoe, some 14 miles from the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
An Orthodox believer reacts as he takes an icy dip in a lake in celebration of Epiphany, near the village of Leninskoe, near the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek
A priest blesses Orthodox believers in the town of Vyshgorod outside the capital Kiev, Ukraine
Believers were pictured cleansing themselves in Moscow's Red Square, at Tyarlevo village outside St Petersburg, where the temperature was -26C, in Lviv, western Ukraine, and in Minsk, Belarus.
Orthodox Christians celebrate the religious holiday of Epiphany according to the Julian calendar on January 19
Epiphany Day marks the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan by Saint John and is traditionally held in Russia, which uses the Julian calendar, on January 19.
Egypt, Syria and Lebanon follow the same calendar but churches that use the Gregorian calendar celebrate the feast on January 6.
A man crosses himself while bathing in the ice cold water after plunging into it to mark Epiphany in Minsk, Belarus
A man plunges in the ice cold water to mark Epiphany in St Petersburg, Russia
A priest blesses a woman before she jumps into an ice hole, in the Dnipro River
Brrrave: A woman in an ice hole in the Dnipro River, as the others wait for their turn
Russian Orthodox church faithful mark the Epiphany by plunging into ice cold water near the Red Square in Moscow
Since 1970, the rule for the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church is: 'The Epiphany of the Lord is celebrated on 6 January, unless, where it is not observed as a Holy day of obligation, it has been assigned to the Sunday occurring between 2 and 8 January.'
In the Church of England also, the feast may be celebrated on the Sunday between January 2 and 8, although the official date of epiphany in the UK is always January 6.
Water that is blessed by a cleric on Epiphany is considered holy and pure until next year's celebration, and is believed to have special powers of protection and healing
People bathe in a lake during Orthodox Epiphany celebrations in Kiev
Believers plunge into an ice-hole during celebration of Orthodox Epiphany in Kiev
Assistants help an Orthodox believer to take a bath in the icy waters of a lake near Bishkek
Orthodox believers pour cold water over themselves in Lviv, western Ukraine
A Russian Orthodox believer takes a dip in the ice cold water of the Moskva River, marking Epiphany in Moscow
Russian Orthodox believers swim in the icy water on Epiphany at a pond in at a pond in Tyarlevo village outside St Petersburg, Russia
In this photo taken with a fisheye lens a Russian Orthodox believer swims in Tyarlevo village outside St Petersburg
Thousands of Russian Orthodox Church followers plunged into icy rivers and ponds cleansing themselves with water deemed holy for the day
Rescue workers control Russian Orthodox believers swimming in the icy water on Epiphany at a pond in town of Pushkin outside St Petersburg
Kazakhstan Orthodox church's faithful celebrates the Epiphany by plunging into the ice cold water of a river in Pavlodar as the air temperature dropped down to -27C
Orthodox believers traditionally jump into cold water to clean their souls. Moscow temperature dropped below -14C
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2265166/Come-waters-lovely-Hundreds-R...
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