On January 5, 2026, Archbishop Elpidophoros of America was welcomed by Tarpon Springs Mayor John Koulianos for the annual blessing of a fleet of sponge and fishing boats, as well as to commemorate today’s 120th consecutive celebration of the Great Feast of Epiphany.
“This community of Tarpon Springs is central to the identity of the Omogeneia, because you have held forth an exemplary demonstration of what it means to be Greek Orthodox in America,” Archbishop Elidophoros said.
“You preserve the traditions that define us as a people, and you live the traditions of the Church in your everyday lives. We bless these boats, which are symbolic of the countless conveyances that brought the Greek People to this blesséd land.”
Tarpon Springs Mayor John Koulianos read aloud a proclamation for the city’s 120th consecutive Epiphany celebration.
During the Agiasmos, Archbishop Elpidophoros was accompanied by Metropolitan Sevastianos of Atlanta and His Grace Bishop Athenagoras of Nazianzos.
“America has been a fertile field for the seeds of our Faith and Culture –ἡ Πίστις καὶ Παιδεία ἡμῶν – that have been planted through the decades from sea to shining sea. And nobody knows the ‘wine-dark’ waters better than the Hellenes who have been sailing them for millennia.”
The celebration of Epiphany at the sponge docks of Tarpon Springs is one of the largest in the world, attracting thousands of faithful.
“It is a deeply spiritual occasion, honoring the baptism of Jesus Christ by John the Baptist. It is also a cherished tradition, the most visible and well-attended event our city hosts,” Mayor Koulianos said. “120 years of anything is remarkable. But the continuity and connection across time and space make this moment even more profound.”
Tarpon Springs was founded in the late 19th century, its economy propagated by Greek immigrants who brought advanced diving techniques to the region. Drawn by the promise of the Gulf, many became sponge divers, carrying with them generations of maritime knowledge shaped by the Aegean Sea.
The water sustained generations economically and anchored sacred traditions from boat blessings to Epiphany celebrations. In Tarpon Springs, the bayou became both a means of survival and a sacred inheritance, binding early on a community of the Greek diaspora to its ancient seafaring past.
“Water has always been sacred to the Greek immigrant, who arrived in Tarpon Springs at the beginning of the 20th century,” Kaoulianos said. “After traveling thousands of miles across the globe to this small village, it was their livelihood, their comfort and their security.”
Photos by Orthodox Observer/Brittainy Newman
