Archbishop Vikenty promises to bathe in ice-hole at Epiphany
Mass celebration of Epiphany is to take place on January 19 in Yekaterinburg. Some officials of high standing and cregy are going to participate in religious procession to Shartash lake and bathe in consecrated ice-holes. The participants of the future events say that they will go into water even in case of - 30C frost.
VIP bathing at Epiphany in Shaktash ice-holes is already over 10 year tradition. Yekaterinburg Vice Mayor Victor Konteyev is one of the first people who started bathing in ice water. Last year about 1,5 thousand people bathed in Shaktash during one Epiphany day.
This year the holiday on Shaktash is to start from the religious procession from the Christmas church at 2 p.m. Moscow time. The procession is to be headed by archbishop of Yekaterinburg and Verkhnyaya Tura Vikenty. He also is to consecrate the ice-holes, six ice-holes are already cut in Shartash ice.
All the fonts are made in the cross shape. To avoid crowd and possible crack because of too many people on the ice, the access to the lake is to be limited. At the lake side an ambulance car is to be on duty.
Among those who intends to dip into ice water this year there is father Vladimir Zyazev, Vice Mayor Victor Konteyev, vice mayor assistant on social policy in Sverdlovsk region Ilya Budkevich, and probably his boss and great ice bathing admirer Vladimir Vlasov.
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