О крещенской воде

What gift is as necessary to us as water? asks Hieromartyr Hippolytus of Rome. “Everything is washed by water, and nourished, and cleansed, and irrigated. Water waters the earth, produces dew, fattens the grapes, brings the ears of corn to maturity... But why talk so much? Without water, nothing that we see can exist: water is so necessary that when other elements have a home under the vaults of heaven, it has received a container for itself above the heavens. The Prophet himself testifies to this, crying out: “Praise Him, you heavens of heavens and the waters that are higher than the heavens” (Ps. 149:4). Why is it in this substance, water, that the Christian and universal consciousness finds a cleansing, life-giving force? St. Cyril of Jerusalem says this about this primary element: “The beginning of the world is water, and the beginning of the Gospel is the Jordan. A sensible light shone from the water, for the Spirit of God hovered over the top of the water and commanded light to shine out of the darkness. The light of the Holy Gospel shone from the Jordan, for, as the holy evangelist writes, “from that time,” that is, from the time of Baptism, Jesus began to preach and say: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). By His baptism, Jesus Christ “drowned the sins of the whole world in the waters of the Jordan”, sanctified the water nature. The conditions of our life - drinking, washing, a necessary part of many types of food, means of transportation, a means of cooling and refreshing - create the value and significance for us of water already in its natural state as a gift from God. Water, as created by God, is sacred as such, by its participation, together with everything that was "That which was," that is, Christ, the mystery of God's building, directed to the salvation of the world. In Christian life, this “natural”, that is, without vicious actions on our part, sanctification is increased by the signs of the cross performed over it - over drinking water, over water for eating, drinking it from consecrated dishes, and so on. In a Christian well, water is not simple: already “digging a well” is consecrated by a special ceremony. “Give us water in this place, sweet and tasty, sufficient for consumption, harmless for acceptance ...”, the priest prays and the first begins to dig a well. Again, a special prayer is made over the dug-out new well: “To the Creator of the waters and the Maker of all ... You Yourself sanctify this water: eat Your holy power on every resistive work, and give it to everyone who receives from it, for drink for the sake of, or for the sake of washing, the health of the soul and body, to the change of every passion and every ailment: as if there would be healing of water and peace to all who touch it and accept it ... ”Even such a seemingly ordinary thing as well water is a miraculous object -“ water of healing and rest."