Eastern Orthodox heritage countries, water rites play a special role on this day. A unique piece of Romanian folk wisdom holds that if a girl slips on ice–or, better yet, falls into water–on Epiphany, she will surely marry before the year is out. In Transylvania (Erdély/Siebenbürgen), Lutheran and Reformed Christians of Hungarian and Saxon descent celebrate Epiphany with star singing and house blessing, as in Central Europe. The star singing custom had long ago spread throughout Romania and the Republic of Moldova. Here the star, called Steaua, today resembles a stained-glass lantern and features an Orthodox icon at its center, a tradition pointing to the blending of both East and West which characterizes the two nations on the river Prut. Russia The Epiphany, celebrated in Russia on January 19, marks the baptism of Jesus in the Eastern Orthodox Church. As elsewhere in the Orthodox world, the Russian Church conducts the rite of the Great Blessing of the Waters, also known as "the Great Sanctification of the Water" on that day (or the eve before). The priest-led procession could simply proceed to the font, but traditionally the worshipers would go to a nearby lake or river. Historical records indicate that the blessing of the waters events took place at the courts of Moscow Czars since no later than 1525. According to historians, the blessing of the waters procession was the most magnificent of the annual Czar's court's ceremonies, comparable only to such special events as royal coronations and weddings. After a divine liturgy in the Kremlin's Dormition Cathedral, the procession, led by the Czar and the Patriarch of Moscow would proceed to the frozen Moskva River. An ice-hole would have been made in the ice, called Iordan' (in memory of the Jordan River), over which a small gazebo would have been erected and decorated with holy icons, one of which would depict the Baptism of Christ. The Patriarch would immerse his cross into the river's water; and sprinkle the Czar, his boyars, and the banners of Czar's army's regiments with the holy water. A load of holy water would then be brought back to the Kremlin, to be used in blessing the Czar's palace. On a smaller scale, similar events would take place in the parishes throughout the nation. Believing that on this day water becomes holy and is imbued with special powers, Russians cut holes called Iordan' in the ice