The feast of the Life-Giving Spring is one of the most important movable feasts of the Orthodox Church, with particular devotional and cultural significance for the faithful.
It is always celebrated on the Friday of Holy Week, that is, the first Friday after Easter.
When is Zoodochou Pigis celebrated?
The holiday does not have a fixed date like other holidays on the calendar, and this is due to the fact that it is directly linked to Easter, the most important holiday of Christianity.
What is the meaning of the feast of the Life-Giving Source?
The Life-Giving Spring refers to the Virgin Mary, whom the Orthodox Church honors as a source of life, grace, and healing. According to tradition, the holiday is related to a miracle attributed to the Virgin Mary, when Emperor Leo the Thracian was blessed by a spring of water outside Constantinople, which was considered to have healing properties. Since then, in many parts of Greece this day is associated with festivals and processions, mainly in churches dedicated to the Virgin Mary, the Life-Giving Spring, while the sanctification of the waters is also common.
Who celebrates the Life-Giving Spring?
On this day, those who bear the name Zoodochos, Pigi and their derivatives, such as Zoi, Penelope (in some cases), as well as compound names that include "Pigi" or "Zoi", celebrate.
In some regions, it is also considered a feast day for those who bear names dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It is worth noting that, although the feast is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, it is not among the great Mother of God feasts such as the Annunciation or the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, but it retains a special place due to the combination of the celebration with the Easter climate.
The Life-Giving Spring is particularly honored in the Greek region, and especially in areas where there are monasteries or churches of the same name. Characteristic is the custom of therapeutic baths or sanctified springs, where believers come to receive holy water or to wash themselves with thermal water.
In many communities, festivals are organized, where residents and visitors gather to participate in the divine service, honor the Virgin Mary, and celebrate with traditional music and food.
The processions of the icon of the Life-Giving Source are also one of the most characteristic elements of the day.
Legends and traditions for the celebration of the Life-Giving Spring
It was around 450 AD, when a Byzantine soldier, Leo by name, was taking walks in a forest in the area of the capital, when he suddenly saw a blind man in front of him asking for some water to quench his thirst.
The Lion volunteered to find and bring him water. So he searched in the forest to find water but in vain and so, he returned sad.
But then, he heard a female voice say to him: "I don't owe you, Leo, worry, the water is near," that is, "Leo, there is no need to worry, to be anxious, to be sad, the water is next to you." And again he hears the unknown voice commanding him: "Leo King, take some of this water and give it to the blind man to drink to quench his thirst, and something else, anoint his eyes with it and you will immediately understand who I am who is speaking to you."
So indeed did Leo, and immediately the blind man regained his sight. But at the same time, Leo's eyes were also opened, and he now understood that the voice that spoke to him was that of the Virgin Mary, who performed this miracle and spoke to him, and that also, to that Great Grace, the great miracle of the blind man's healing was due.
Furthermore, the discovery of the source of this saving water was an admirable miracle. But the verification of the Virgin Mary's address of Leo as king was also a miracle.
Because indeed Leo, in 486 AD, ascended to the throne of the Byzantine Empire as Leo I of Thrace, also called Makellis (457-474), and whom our Holy Church honors as a Saint on January 20. Countless are your wonders, our Virgin Mary.
Leo, now as emperor, will erect a magnificent temple dedicated to the Virgin Mary, the Life-Giving Spring, on the miraculous spring, to commemorate the gifts of the Virgin Mary to him, as well as all her great benefits to the human race.
In the miraculous spring of this holy Church, the emperor Justinian I, Leo VI the Wise, his wife, Holy Queen Theophano, Romanos I the Lekapenos and his wife, Patriarch Stephen (886-912), Patriarch John of Jerusalem (964-966), as well as many others, both nobles and ordinary people, found healing there. The holy water of the Zoodochos Spring even resurrected the dead.
The Church of the Life-Giving Spring was demolished by the Turks to use its materials to build the mosque of Sultan Bayezid. The Christians built a chapel on this site and later a larger Church (1835).
Our Church celebrates the inauguration of this holy Church of the Most Holy Theotokos of the Life-giving Spring on the Friday of the Transfiguration (Lamb Week).
This temple became known in history as the holy water of "Balukli". "Baluk" in Turkish means fish and tradition tells us that there, next to the holy water, on May 23, 1453, a monk was frying fish when someone brought him the news that the Turks had taken the city.
The monk replied that only if the fish he was frying left the pan and fell into the holy water would he believe that such a thing had happened. And indeed the fish came to life and fell into the holy water source. To this day, seven fish are preserved in the tank of the Life-Giving Spring, and in fact, they look as if they were half-fried on one side.
But beyond legends and traditions, the Virgin Mary, mother of Christ and mother of all Christians, remains for all of us the Source of Life, as She brought Life, Christ into the world, our hope and protection, "refuge, shelter and joy."
Source: newsbomb
