As I have shared, the Cappadocian Fathers are greatly responsible for our understanding of God, the Holy Spirit. Their understanding truly influences our worship and the way that we celebrate various feasts. In the last issue I mentioned our Eastern Christian celebration of Pentecost. Their understanding of the Holy Spirit is deeply embedded in the feast of Theophany which we will be celebrating in the very near future. It is clearly seen in the Great Blessing of Water.
Water, which is the primeval cosmic substance that is symbolic of life, is sanctified by the power, effectual operation or energy, and descent of the Holy Spirit. The action of the Spirit has a purifying function. In essence the water is exorcised of any evil spirits.
The full significance of this rite of exorcism becomes evident when on recalls that, in Biblical categories, water is a source of life for the entire cosmos, over which man is called to rule. The Spirit liberates man from dependence upon nature. Nature receives “the grace of redemption, the blessing of Jordan,” and becomes a “fountain of immortality, a gift of sanctification, a remission of sins, a healing of infirmities, a destruction of demons.” Instead of dominating man, nature becomes his servant, since he is the image of God. The paradisiac relationship between God, man and the cosmos is proclaimed. The descent of the Spirit anticipates the ultimate fulfillment when God will be “all in all.”
This anticipation is not, however, some sort of magical operation that occurs in the material universe. The universe does not change in its empirical existence. The change is seen only by the eyes of faith – because man received in his heart the Spirit which cries: “Abba, Father”, he is able to experience, in the mystery of faith, the paradisiac reality of nature serving him and to recognize that this experience is not a subjective fancy, but one which reveals the ultimate truth about nature and creation as a whole. By the power of the Spirit, the true and natural relationship is proclaimed and made real between God, man and creation.
As we bless water on Theophany, we proclaim again and experience again the reality of our unity with God and nature. The Spirit of God is actively working at this very moment to bring us into union with God and nature. Our prayers over the water actually make real this union with God and nature.