Timket Celebration - Washington, DC (2025)
On a cold morning at 7am, the priest begins the “kidase” in other words a “thanksgiving to the Lord”. Traditional clothing along the pews creates a blanket of white in the main hall of the church and children play games with each other in the arms of their mothers. Shoes are left just outside the door, and I leave mine in a corner that I hope can guard my pair from getting mixed in with the others. Incense floats through the crowd and washes over as a kind of blessing.
The celebration of Timket is celebrated the baptism of Jesus Christ in the Jordan river, and Ethiopian Orthodox churches from all over DC gather at Debre Meheret Kedus Michael. Priests from these various churches carry through the crowd an ark over their heads believed to carry the presence of God. Church officials fill up a large tub with water and pray over it, to then be sprayed over the crowd, believing that it is the receiving of a cleansing. Many charge to front with empty water bottles in their hands to be filled with this holy water.