Eid el-Ghtas: Epiphany in Lebanon

The feast of the Baptism of the Lord, January 6

On the night of January 5, a grandmother mixes flour and water with her own hands, no yeast, not a grain. She ties the dough in a white cloth and hangs it from a branch outside the door, then she turns off nothing, because tonight the lights stay on. This is Epiphany in Lebanon: Eid el-Ghtas, the feast of the Baptism of Christ, the night the water is blessed and the dough rises.

By morning the cloth is full. The dough has risen without yeast, and the house knows what that means: the Lord passed over it in the night, the way the old people always said He would. Neighbors greet each other with two words, Deyim Deyim, may it last forever, and the smell of frying dough drifts from every kitchen.

The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

Ghtas means immersion, the plunge into the water. The feast remembers the day Jesus walked into the Jordan River and John baptized him, and the heavens opened. The Father's voice spoke, the Spirit came down like a dove, and for one moment the whole Trinity stood revealed above a muddy river.

That is why the Christian East calls this feast Theophany, the manifestation of God. In the West, January 6 came to center on the Magi and their gifts; in the East, the star of Bethlehem leads on to the Jordan, where God shows His face. Lebanon kept that Eastern heart of the feast and gave it a name in its own tongue.

In the Maronite Church the feast opens an entire season. The Maronite liturgical calendar calls it Denho, a Syriac word meaning the dawning, the rising of light, and the Sundays of Denho carry the Church from January 6 all the way to the edge of Great Lent. The Child of the Nativity now stands in the water as a man, and the light of Christmas begins to shine on everyone.

At the heart of the feast stands the blessing of water. During the Divine Liturgy of Ghtas, the priest blesses water in memory of the Jordan, and in the Maronite rite the prayers speak of fire and Spirit descending into the water, the same Spirit that hovered over the deep at creation. The faithful line up afterward with bottles and jars, because that water is going home with them.

The Night the Dough Rises

The tradition Lebanon loves best needs no church at all, only flour, water, and faith. On the eve of Ghtas, families prepare the khmire, a small batch of dough or starter with no yeast, sometimes with a few coins tucked inside for prosperity. It goes into a cloth bag and out into the night, hung on a tree branch, set on the roof, or left by the door.

The belief is as simple as it is beautiful. Christ passes over the houses at midnight, blessing every home that waits for Him, and the proof is in the dough: by morning it has risen on its own, leavened by the blessing and by nothing else. Many families then keep that khmire as the starter for the whole year's bread, so that every loaf baked until next Ghtas carries a trace of the blessed night.

The children are told something more. At midnight, the trees themselves kneel down to adore the Lord as He passes, every tree except, some villages insist, the fig, the mulberry, and the carob, the three proud ones that refuse to bow, which is exactly why the dough gets hung on their branches. It is folk tradition, not doctrine, and it is told with a smile, but it teaches what the liturgy teaches: when God passes, all creation bends.

Then comes the frying. Zlebye, ribbons and twists of dough fried golden, and awwamat, crisp little balls dipped in syrup, fill the kitchens of Ghtas, and even the sweets preach the feast. The dough is plunged into the depths and lifted out shining, the way Christ went down into the Jordan and came up, the way the baptized go down into the water and rise new. A spoonful of humble dough that swells into abundance is a very Lebanese way of saying what Jesus said about the kingdom in the parable of the mustard seed: the smallest beginnings, blessed, become shelter and bread for everyone.

Blessed Water in the Home

The water blessed at the liturgy does not stay in church. Families carry it home and sprinkle it through the house, over the doorway, in the corners of the rooms, on the beds of sleeping children, on the vines and olive trees if there is land. The house gets baptized along with the year.

Many keep a bottle of Ghtas water beside the icons until the next January, brought out when someone is sick, when someone travels, when a new home needs blessing. Some families also set an open jar of water outside on the eve, next to the dough, trusting that the passing Lord blesses it too. Starting the year sprinkled and signed with blessed water is Lebanon's way of insisting that the new year belongs to God before it belongs to anything else.

Lebanon's Greek Orthodox neighbors carry the same feast to the sea. In their tradition the priest blesses the waters and casts a cross into the waves, and young men dive after it, with a year of blessing promised to the one who brings it up; communities on the old Julian calendar keep the feast on January 19. The Maronite Ghtas is quieter, a feast of the house more than the harbor, but it is one baptism both traditions remember, and one blessing carried home in two different vessels.

Epiphany in Lebanon's Season of Feasts

Ghtas does not arrive alone. It comes as the crown of a long season of light that opens with Eid il-Burbara on December 4, gathers at the manger for Christmas in the Maronite tradition, passes through New Year's Eve, and lands on January 6 with the dough on the trees. For Armenian neighbors in Beirut and Anjar, January 6 is Christmas itself, so the day carries two feasts in one country.

Between Christmas and Ghtas, the visits never stop. The same plates of sweets circle the neighborhood, godparents visit godchildren, and no one takes down the crib before the feast, because the season is not over until the Lord has been baptized. Ghtas closes the celebrations the way a blessing closes a prayer.

The diaspora carries the feast in its suitcase. From the Maronites in the USA to the Maronites in Australia, parishes bless water on the feast of the Baptism, and in apartment buildings far from any olive tree, a small bag of dough still hangs on a balcony rail on the night of January 5. The tradition asks for so little, flour, water, and a night of trust, that no distance has managed to end it.

Perhaps that is the secret of Eid el-Ghtas. Other feasts need a village; this one needs only a household that believes a blessing can pass in the night. The dough rises in Sydney and Detroit exactly as it rose in the mountains, and the old greeting still answers every doubt: Deyim Deyim, may it last forever.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Eid el-Ghtas?

Eid el-Ghtas is the Lebanese name for Epiphany, the feast of the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River, celebrated on January 6. The word ghtas means immersion or plunging, the going down into the water. In Lebanon the feast combines the Church's blessing of water with beloved home traditions: dough left out to rise without yeast on the eve, blessed water sprinkled through the house, fried sweets, and the greeting Deyim Deyim.

When is Epiphany in Lebanon?

Epiphany in Lebanon falls on January 6, with the most beloved traditions kept on the eve, the night of January 5. Catholics and most Orthodox communities in Lebanon celebrate on January 6, while communities that follow the old Julian calendar keep the feast on January 19. In the Maronite Church, January 6 also opens the Season of Denho, the weeks of the Glorious Epiphany that run until Great Lent.

Why do Lebanese hang dough on Epiphany?

On the eve of Ghtas, families prepare a small batch of dough or starter, the khmire, with no yeast in it, tie it in a cloth, and hang it on a tree branch or leave it outside the door. Folk tradition holds that Christ passes over the houses at midnight to bless them, and by morning the dough has risen on its own. The risen dough is the sign that the blessing has entered the house, and many families keep it as the starter for the year's bread.

What do Maronites do on Epiphany?

Maronites go to the Divine Liturgy for the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, where the priest blesses water in memory of Christ's baptism in the Jordan. Families bring the blessed water home and sprinkle it through the rooms, on the doorway, and on the children, and many keep a bottle near the icons for the rest of the year. At home they keep the khmire tradition, fry zlebye and awwamat, and greet each other with Deyim Deyim, a wish that God's blessing remain all year.

What are Epiphany sweets in Lebanon?

The sweets of Eid el-Ghtas are fried doughs: zlebye, ribbons or twists of dough fried golden, and awwamat, crisp little balls soaked in syrup. The frying itself carries the meaning of the feast, dough plunged into the depths and lifted out again, the way Christ went down into the Jordan and came up, and the way the baptized go down into the water and rise.