The Great Consecration is done every year on the 5th and 6th of January. Many people ask whether this Holy Consecration is drunk, used for sprinkling, kept in homes and whether it replaces Holy Communion.
The text that follows, translated into English, is a “special opinion on the subject of the Great Holy Consecration, i.e. how it is drink by Christians, whether it is stored, written by the blessed Bishop of Patras, Mr.Nicodemus. It was originally published in DIPTYXA of 1999 (pp. o-f), for the information of the reverend Pastors and the information of the faithful.
- Is there a difference between the Great Holy Consecration celebrated on the eve of Epiphany and that of the main day of the feast?
The Great Holy Consecration which is celebrated on the eve of Epiphany and on the day of the feast is exactly the same. Some people mistakenly believe that the “small holy water” is celebrated on the eve of the feast and the “Great Holy Water” the next day. In both cases the Great Holy Consecration is celebrated.
Small Holy Consecration is celebrated on the first day of every month, as well as on special occasions when Christians request it on various occasions (inauguration of houses, shops and institutions, foundations of buildings, etc.). The Great Holy Consecration is celebrated only twice a year (on January 5th and 6th) in the Church.
- Where is the Great Consecration kept and why
The Great Consecration is stored in the all year round in the Church. It is kept not without reason. And the reason is no other than to be “received” by the faithful under certain circumstances and conditions. A common case is the one concerning those under the admonition of the Spiritualist, which prevents their participation in Holy Communion for a certain period of time, and it is customary to give them, for their blessing and consolation, Holy Great Consecration. There is no obstacle to this, provided that they are “in repentance and confession”.
However, they must necessarily realize that the Great Holy Consecration is not a substitute or a replacement for the Holy Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ, for which they must prepare themselves through repentance, in order to free themselves from the impediments of sin, so that they may be able to receive Communion as soon as possible.
- Can the Great Consecration be kept in the house and drunk from it in times of sickness or to prevent witchcraft and all evil actions?
The answer is positive. This is provided by the sacred text of the Sequence of the Great Consecration, which provides “that all those who drink and drink this (the holy water…) for the cure of diseases, for the sanctification of houses, for all the benefits of all the wicked”, and also “for the destruction of demons, inaccessible to the opposing powers” (cf. and the related blessing in a basilica; “flee and expel every evil action, every satanic tax, and every evil spirit… and the eye of the evil-doers”).
The believer is undeniably manipulated in this way to avoid other outlets (“spells”, cures and other methods of the evil one), and to resort to the valid “mysteries” of the Church, such as the Great Holy Consecration, but also the so-called “little” Holy Consecration, as a conscious member of the Church, the repository of divine grace and sharer of its sanctifying means.
It is, of course, presupposed that in homes where the Great Consecration is kept, the candle will be lit and burned diligently, and reverence will be shown to the members of the family, spouses and children, and any cause that excludes divine grace (such as blasphemies or other ugliness) will be avoided.
- What is the relationship between fasting and Great Sanctification?
The historical principle of the Great Consecration is the following: In the ancient Church, on the eve of Epiphany – as on the eve of Easter and Pentecost – the baptism of the Catechumens, i.e. the new Christians, took place. At midnight the consecration of water for the ceremony of Baptism was performed; then the custom was introduced – as St. John Chrysostom informs us – Christians to take from the consecrated water and drink it or carries it to their homes for blessing and to keep it all year round.
Later, however, in times of liturgical decline, the service of Holy Consecration was isolated from that of Baptism, although it retained many of its elements. The custom remained for the faithful to take of the holy water ‘for the sanctification of the house’, as the Consecration wish of the Great Consecration states.
Early on, the custom of fasting before the feast of the Epiphany also prevailed, for two reasons: First, the two great feasts of Christmas and Epiphany in the ancient Church were united into one, that of Epiphany, which was celebrated on January 6 (a custom that is still maintained in the Armenian Church today); but St. John Chrysostom (4th century AD), of the separated the two feasts and appointed the Nativity of Christ to be celebrated on December 25th, and the Baptism and Revelation of the Holy Trinity on January 6th. Before each Feast of the Christ, a fasting period preceded for the mental and physical purification of the faithful. Let us remember how fasting has in it the element of mourning for sins. Thus, when the two feasts were separated, the fasting that preceded them followed the feast of Christmas; that is why the Church ordained that we should fast only on the eve of Epiphany in preparation for the feast, and not for more days, because we are in a festive period, the Holy Twelve Days.
And secondly, it was also an ancient custom for those who were to be baptized to fast, and along with them the sponsors, relatives, and other Christians who voluntarily observed a fast “for the benefit of the baptized”. It was therefore not difficult in the minds of Christians to link the drinking of holy water and fasting without there being a causal relationship between them.
Thus, transferring the issue to the present time, we can say that those who regularly partake of the Holy Sacraments and observe the fasts of our Church, such as the fast of January 5, are already ready to drink from the Great Holy Consecration of January 5 and 6. In other cases, it is advisable for them to fast as prescribed by their spiritual director.
Finally, those who drink from the Great Holy Consecration which they keep in their homes, in times of sickness and danger, etc., after or without fasting, should not be lax in spiritual fasting, abstaining “from all defilement of the flesh and spirit, keeping themselves holy in the fear of God” (2 Cor. 7:1).
BLESSED THEOPHANY
Bishop of Patras, + Mr.Nicodemus
