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By Ariana Almeida-Martínez, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | 2025-12-30 - The Bible says: “No one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit”(John 3:5). Water reminds. Cleans. Heals. Blesses. On Tuesday, Jan. 6, an ancient, silent, and deeply symbolic ceremony will unfold in Peekskill, for the first time. It has more than a thousand years of history. The Great Sanctification of Water is a rite that commemorates Jesus’s Baptism in the Jordan River and invites the community to view water not only as a natural resource but as a source of life, spiritual renewal, and collective responsibility.

Fr. Jack Custer, of Sts Peter and Paul Byzantine Catholic Church, explains that this celebration is central to Eastern Christian traditions. Beyond the historical fact, the Church understands this moment as a point of transformation for all creation. “We believe that by this event, Jesus empowered water to become a sacrament,” he explains.

It refers to baptism, an act that cleanses sin and initiates a new spiritual identity. “The baptism that washes away human sins and initiates believers into God’s own family as adopted sons and daughters and heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven.” To describe the depth of this mystery, Fr. Custer draws on the words of St. Ephrem the Syrian, a theologian and poet of the fourth century. “When Jesus went down into the Jordan, He left behind a robe of glory — our new identity as adopted children of God — and we put that robe on when we are baptized,” he adds.

Continue reading this article at the Peekskill Hearald.