Epiphany celebrations in Tarpon Springs and the Cross Dive at the Spring Bayou took place on Monday. The dove bearer plays a vital role in the annual Epiphany celebration. A member of the community, typically a young woman,

As Luc Boillot slept the night before, he said he dreamed of the Epiphany cross retrieval. So when he rose out of Spring Bayou today, white cross in hand, it was hard to tell the difference between fact and fiction.

The Orthodox Christian Church celebrates Epiphany on Jan. 6 of each year, in remembrance of the baptism of Jesus Christ in the water of the Jordan River 2000 ago. The observance spread to the new world and eventually to Tarpon Springs, which boasts the largest percentage of Greek Americans of any city in the U.S.