The blessing of Hubble Creek

Ben Matthews

Sunday, January 5, 2020

After relocating from Cape Girardeau to Jackson in April of last year, St. John the Theologian Orthodox Church held its Great Blessing of the Waters ceremony at Hubble Creek on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020, in Jackson. In past years, the annual ceremony has been held at Riverfront Park.

Fr. Daniel Morton of St. John the Theologian Orthodox Church recites a hymn as he concludes the church's annual Great Blessing of Waters ceremony by tossing the blessing cross into Hubble Creek for the third time Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020, in Jackson. (Ben Matthews ~ Southeast Missourian)
Fr. Daniel Morton looks down from the Hubble Creek bridge as Chris Johnson retrieves a blessing cross from the water with his wife, Anna-Maria Tsikhlakis, and his 8-year-old daughter, Joanna Johnson, during St. John the Theologian Orthodox Church's annual Great Blessing of the Waters ceremony Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020, in Jackson. (Ben Matthews ~ Southeast Missourian)
Fr. Daniel Morton speaks from atop the Hubble Creek bridge during St. John the Theologian Orthodox Church's annual Great Blessing of the Waters ceremony Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020, in Jackson. (Ben Matthews ~ Southeast Missourian)
Fr. Daniel Morton of St. John the Theologian Orthodox Church leads parishioners in the annual Great Blessing of Waters ceremony on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020, at Hubble Creek in Jackson. (Ben Matthews ~ Southeast Missourian)

St. John the Theologian Orthodox Church presbytera Laura Morton, left, joins parishioners in the drinking of holy water at the conclusion of the church's annual Great Blessing of Waters ceremony Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020, at Hubble Creek in Jackson. (Ben Matthews ~ Southeast Missourian)
Anna-Maria Tsikhlakis watches her husband, Chris Johnson, hand a blessing cross to their 8-year-old daughter, Joanna Johnson, after retrieving it from the waters of Hubble Creek during the annual Great Blessing of the Waters ceremony Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020, in Jackson. (Ben Matthews ~ Southeast Missourian)