Tens of thousands of Russians jumped into holes cut in ice on Monday night and Tuesday morning on the holiday of the Epiphany, when Russian Orthodox believers take part in a baptism ceremony.

为庆祝主显节，数万名俄罗斯东正教信徒参加了冰水洗礼仪式，在本周一晚间和周二清晨跳进冰窟中沐浴冰水。

Russians stripped to swimsuits or loose robes（长袍，礼服） to plunge¹ into cross-shaped holes cut in frozen rivers, believing that the water takes on sacred powers on the holiday, which commemorates² the baptism（洗礼） of Jesus by John the Baptist.

The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, held an all-night service in Moscow's Yelokhovsky cathedral and on Tuesday morning blessed water, which believers collect in bottles, crediting it with healing powers.

"I feel like a new man," exclaimed Nikolai Ivanov, 42, as he vigorously toweled himself off after plunging³ into a cross-shaped ice hole in Zaozyorye, 60 kilometres (37 miles) east of Moscow.

Church spokesman Vladimir Legoida warned believers only to jump into the freezing water after consulting a doctor, the RIA Novosti news agency reported, as temperatures fell below 30 degrees Celsius⁴ in Siberia.

But many believers seemed entirely⁵ ignorant of the cold, wearing little but huge smiles as they took part in an ancient rite⁶（仪式，惯例） that has passed on through the generations since the early tsarist（沙皇式的） times.

"The cold is one of the best gifts you can give a Russian," said Dmitry Chulkov, 25, while pulling on his boots after a particularly spectacular dive. "We are all a little crazy," he later admitted.

Father Sergei, who oversees⁷ the local church, observed the hundreds of brave believers with an air of satisfaction.

"This is good for both their bodies and their souls," he said.

In Moscow around 58,000 people gathered to jump in ice holes overnight, far exceeding last year's total of 32,000 people, city police spokesman Viktor Biryukov told RIA Novosti.

The Church estimates that hundreds of thousands of believers take part in the ceremony across the country each year.

Rescue workers at the emergency ministry⁸ manned 46 officially sanctioned（制裁，处罚） ice holes in Moscow, where the temperature was minus 15 degrees Celsius on Tuesday morning.