The Blessing of the Waters for the Great Feast of the Holy Epiphany seems to become a tradition in Germany. The traditional Blessing of the Waters ceremony on the Spree River took place in Berlin yesterday, marked by the inaugural presence of the President of the Republic of Germany, Frank Walter Steinmeier, accompanied by his spouse. This significant event ocurred at the invitation of Metropolitan Augustine of Germany.
“It is an opportunity for me to point out that 4 million Orthodox Christians live in Germany. Many individuals, initially labor migrants in the 1960s and 1970s, and now including their children and grandchildren, are celebrating today the Epiphany, the Baptism of Christ in the Jordan,” said Steinmeier in a statement to ERT.
“But I am here to thank them,” the German president said, stressing their current role in Germany. “In the Greek Orthodox Church in Germany, we have a significant and valuable interlocutor. We engage not only in dialogue but witness active involvement in our country. The Church contributes to integration, offering assistance and support not only to Greek Orthodox individuals from Greece but also extending help to people from Syria, Iraq, and, in the last two years, Ukraine. We are very grateful for that. The constant presence of Greek Orthodoxy in Germany is a blessing for Germany,” concluded President Steinmeier.
“Though our Church originated with labor migrants, known as Gastarbeiter, today it stands as the third officially recognized Church in Germany. It is a significant presence, not only here in Berlin but throughout the entire country,” Metropolitan Augustine told ERT.
“I would like to take this opportunity to wish our compatriots in Greece a happy new year and to extend my wishes for health. God bless our families,” said Metropolitan Augustinos, underlining the role of the Greeks of Germany as a bridge between the two countries. Here, we aim to be a bridge between Greece and Germany. We are not foreigners; we are integrated while always maintaining a connection to our homeland. Our homeland is Greece,” said the Metropolitan of Germany.
The ceremony of the Blessing of the Waters on the Spree River was attended by the Ambassador of Greece to Germany, Mara Marinaki, the staff of the Greek Embassy in Berlin, the President of the Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin, Cornelia Seibeld, and the local CDU MP, Christian Goiny, church representatives, such as the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Berlin, Heiner Koch, a senior representative of the Evangelical Church and other Orthodox communities of Germany, as well as more than 400 invited Greeks and other citizens of Berlin who had been included in a special list for security reasons.
Blessing of the Waters ceremonies on Epiphany Day have been held in recent years in other cities in Germany, such as Munich, Hamburg, etc.
Source: ertnews.gr / Translated by Thanos Chrysanthopoulos
