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Athos Karistinis, 18, whose father, Anesti, also retrieved the blessed cross in 1991, and whose grandfather immigrated from Greece and voyaged in Tarpon Springs as a sponge-diver, emerged from the bottom of the Spring Bayou and held up the Epiphany cross.
“It’s a huge blessing.” Karistinis said, who found the cross seconds after it was thrown into the bayou by His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America. “That’s all I can say.”
Karistinis was lifted into the air by his peers, and carried to the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral, holding both a trophy and the cross close.
Epiphany, which commemorates the baptism of Jesus Christ in the River Jordan by Saint John the Baptist, is one of the most significant feasts in the Orthodox Christian calendar. The Epiphany celebration in Tarpon Springs is considered to be the largest of its kind in the Western Hemisphere, and is in its 120th consecutive celebration.
Thousands of faithful and spectators of all religious backgrounds descended on the grassy slopes of the Spring Bayou to watch the young men dive into the murky waters. In search of the cross, the one who finds it is said to receive a yearlong blessing.
“As these marvelous young people dive into the depths to retrieve the Holy Cross, let us all plumb the depths of our own souls to lay hold of It for ourselves. Let the grasp of our hearts and minds and souls be on the Precious and Life-giving Cross, and may it be as firm and strong as the hands that will emerge from the Bayou today, uplifting the Cross of our Savior,” said His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America.
> Read His Eminence’s full remarks on the Holy Theophony here.
“120 years of anything is remarkable,” Tarpon Springs John Koulianos mayor said yesterday, at the Blessing of the Fleet. “But the continuity and connection across time and space make this moment even more profound.”
> Read: “Abp. Elpidophoros arrives to Tarpon Springs for the Blessing of the Fleet”
Karistinis out-swam 73 teenage boys to the center of Spring Bayou’s Crystal Lake, a shallow inlet of the Anclote River that arrives from the Gulf, and among the very first to dive below the waters in search of the cross.
“Today, we celebrate with immense joy and the full array of our magnificent liturgical tradition the Baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ by His prophetic cousin, Saint John the Baptist. Once again, we rejoice to share these holy days with the Faithful of Tarpon Springs and the surrounding Communities of our spiritual Γένος,” His Eminence stated during the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy alongside His Eminence Metropolitan Sevastianos of Atlanta and Cathedral Dean Rev. Fr. Athanasios C. Haros at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral. “Everything that we do and say is a prayer and supplication to God, that He might shower upon us the same blessings of Epiphany that occurred those many centuries ago by the banks of the River Jordan.”
> Read His Eminence’s full remarks during the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy here.
The Great Feast of Epiphany continues, as the evening will culminate in food, drink, live music, and dancing at the Glendi happening at the Spanos-Pappas Community Center in Tarpon Springs.
The post Teen who retrieved Epiphany cross carries family legacy in Tarpon Springs appeared first on Orthodox Observer.
