The Feast of the Epiphany/Theophany was celebrated worldwide on January 6. His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America presided over the 116th Epiphany celebrations and the Blessing of the Waters in Spring Bay at Tarpon Springs where Alexander Makris, 16, dove and retrieved the cross.
His grandmother Angeliki Makris, who happens to also be the godmother of last year’s winner, had a premonition and prayed that her grandson would be the lucky cross diver this year. She told The National Herald, “We must pray with our hearts for what we ask for to come true. I, too, said my prayers and believed that everything would go well. I wish health and blessings to the whole world.”
At the entrance of the historic Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Tarpon Springs, stood Miltiadis Makris, the excited grandfather of the winner. “I feel very proud and happy for my grandson,” he said. “It is the first time that someone from our family swam to catch the Cross of the Epiphany. Alexander had not told us anything in the previous days, but I had a premonition that he would be the winner this year. I did not say anything to anyone, but I still had the feeling. I wanted my grandson to catch the Cross because it is a great blessing from God.”
This year’s winner is from New Port Richey, just north of the “Greek Village” of Tarpon Springs, and is a high school student at River Ridge. “I swam down and as soon as I saw the Cross shining, I grabbed it,” he said inside the church, where he had been carried from the bay on the shoulders of the other swimmers. “It’s amazing. It’s a dream come true.”
Read more at thenationalherald.com
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