20 January 1998
The Pious Pastors
of the Holy Diocese of Denver
Beloved in the Lord,
It has come to my attention that during the recent Feast of Theophany some pastors chose to "move the Feast" and the Great Blessing of the Waters from Wednesday to the preceding or following Sundays. This is not correct, and there is absolutely no provision in the Typikon of the Great Church nor in our Liturgical tradition for such practices.
The reasons given for this action were purportedly pastoral; viz., to permit the faithful to observe the Blessing of the Waters when they came to church as they customarily do only on Sundays. This expression of pastoral concern, however, can have a detrimental effect upon the faithful because it can lead to spiritual laxity. Our obligation is to submit to the will of God and to conform our lives according to His ways. This practice of "moving a feast" is a failure by the pastors in question to conform with the norms of our liturgical tradition and it indicates that the ways of God's Church can be conformed to the weaknesses of the people.
Festal commemorations, such as Theophany and the Exaltation of the Cross, are to be celebrated on the appointed days and not transferred to the "nearest Sunday."
May our merciful Lord strengthen each of you in His service, and inspire you to do all things in accordance with His holy will.
With Paternal Blessings,
+Metropolitan Isaiah
Presiding Hierarch
of
the Diocese of Denver