OXNARD : Churches to Join in Harbor Ceremony
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About 120 members of the county’s two Eastern Orthodox churches are expected to attend the 12th annual blessing-of-the-waters ceremony in the Channel Islands Harbor on Sunday on the eve of Epiphany.
Traditionally celebrated Jan. 6, Epiphany is also called “the Feast of the Three Kings” in Western churches in reference to the Magi. It is known as “the Feast of Lights” in Eastern churches in reference to Christ’s baptism.
Priests from St. Herman’s Orthodox Church in Oxnard and St. Demetrius Greek Orthodox Church in Camarillo will conduct a liturgical ceremony on a boat in the harbor while congregants remain on shore. A dove will be released after the service, and divers will vie for prosperity in the new year by retrieving a cross that will be dropped in the water.
The public is welcome to join participants by meeting at noon in the lobby of the Casa Sirena Marina Resort, 3605 Peninsula Road, Oxnard. If it rains, the ceremony will be held at 11:15 a.m. at St. Demetrius church, 400 Skyway Drive, Camarillo. To verify the site, call (805) 482-1273 on Sunday morning.
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