CHRISTENING SWIMS IN SERBIA
On Epiphany in the Balkans it is customary not to dive into the hole, as we have in Russia, and to arrange competitions – swimming for the thrown in the water cross. Beginning in 2017, staff of the Russian-Serbian Humanitarian Centre have been participating in activities held throughout Serbia, organized under the patronage of the Serbian Orthodox Church and supported by local administrations.
Swimming is held everywhere throughout the country, but the main one is swimming on the Danube in the Belgrade district of Semun. The first such swim in Serbia was carried out at the end of the 19th century, and in modern Serbia the tradition was revived about 20 years ago.
The beginning of the swim is preceded by a solemn liturgy and a procession, and then the representatives of the Church bless the participants of the swim and the font itself.
At the request of the semun district administration, at the request of the administration of the district, they arrived with the necessary equipment and a rescue boat on the site of the swim and examined the swim track in the absence of dangerous items, and then monitored the implementation of the prescribed security measures.
In 2017, at the end of the event, Patriarch Irina of Serbia presented the leadership of the RSGC with a commemorative cross – an award to the Center for its activities and "for the assistance of the Serbian people." The cross is kept in the museum of the RSGC.
The RSGC also took part in the Baptist Swims on Vlasinsky Lake and in the fonts organized in the Park of Chair in Nish.