The Holy Epiphany will be celebrated tomorrow in the Holy Temples in the Metropolitan Regions of Kiti and Constantia - Famagusta and the waters will be sanctified, but with measures for the protection of the faithful and without the presence of official guests.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, there will be no diving of the Holy Cross on the beaches this year, while in the churches, depending on their size, only 75 people will be able to attend the Divine Liturgy and the presence of persons outside the temples will be allowed, observing the appropriate protection distances.
As the Protosyggellos of the Metropolis of Constantia - Famagusta, Archimandrite Augustinos Kkaras, told KYPE, the official celebration of the Epiphany this year was scheduled to take place in the church of Panagia Ayia Napa, in Ayia Napa, in the presence of the President and the President of the Republic. However, "due to the coronavirus pandemic, there will be no official guests and the celebration will be held by Metropolitan Constantius - Famagusta Vassilios, in the presence of local authorities and with only 75 people, as provided by the Decrees of the Ministry of Health."
He added that in all the churches where there are two priests, only one will work tomorrow in order to perform the Divine Liturgy of the Epiphanies in as many churches and chapels as possible, while in some there will be a second service.
He also noted that "the sanctification of the waters will take place inside the holy temples and chapels and the diving of the Holy Cross will not take place on any beach".
The Archimandrite also said that today, on the eve of the Epiphany, a Divine Liturgy was performed in the chapel of Agios Ephraim, which exists at the General Hospital of Famagusta. During the service, a prayer was made for the support of the patients, the medical, nursing and paramedical staff, who work in the Hospital, while the Great Sanctification of the Epiphanies followed in the open space of the public hospital ".
Answering a relevant question, the Protosyggelos of the Diocese of Constantia - Famagusta said that "unfortunately this year, due to the pandemic with the coronavirus, the established Divine Liturgy of the Epiphanies will not be performed in Agios Georgios Exorinos and the traditional diving of Stamios occupied Famagusta. "Since 2016, when the Liturgy and the sanctification of the waters in occupied Famagusta began, this year is the first year that it will not take place".
This, he continued, "is something we are sorry for, but above all we put the health of the world. We hope that next year the circumstances will be such that they will allow us to operate in as many churches as possible in our occupied territories ".