Blessing of the Ocean during Prayer week

The International Week of Prayer for Christian Unity was celebrated in Iceland on January 17th - 24th with services and prayer meetings every day, in the capital area and in the north of the country. A memorable service was in the ocean of the coast of Reykjavík.

The Russian Orthodox church participated by inviting other churches to join the church in a ceremony of blessing the waters. This was done on the cold and windy night of January 19th. Father Timor Zolotutskyi waded into the ocean in  Reykjavik bay and blessed the waters. Afterwards some of those present donned swimsuits and swam in the artic ocean, orthodox in a true ecumenical spirit.