TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. — When Chloe Kotis joined the choir at the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Tarpon Springs, the teen had no idea she would be chosen as dove bearer for the Epiphany celebration years later.

“I actually didn’t know that you had to be in choir to be a dove bearer. Which is crazy,” she said. “I just did it because my sister was in choir.”

Her sister, Fotini Sisois, 25, was chosen as dove bearer in 2016 and Kotis, 17, will be following in her footsteps for the 118th annual Epiphany celebration, which is the largest in the Western Hemisphere.

“I’m super excited and I’m honored,” she said. “It’s just really traditional and it’s a blessing.”

Kotis will carry a live dove in her hands, which represents the holy spirit, during a procession from the church to Spring Bayou on Jan. 6.

“I’m obviously going to have to be really aware that it’s like a live bird in my hands,” she said. “I don’t want to hold it too tight because I’m going to be nervous. I don’t want to let it go.”

Once they reach the water’s edge, the cross divers, as many as 70 young men, will enter the water and wait on dinghies preparing to dive. The Archbishop of America will read a gospel, and that’s when Kotis releases the dove to signify the descent of the holy spirit.

“During the reading, it’ll say ‘the holy spirit in the form of a dove,’” she said. “Which is exactly what I’m doing is holding the holy spirit in the form of a dove and then I’ll let it go right when he says that and it’ll fly away.”  

The Archbishop then casts a cross into the bayou and the young men try to retrieve it. The ceremonial cross dive commemorates Christ’s baptism. It’s a tradition that runs deep in Kotis’ family.

“It’s been in my family for a long time. My grandfather, Vasil Kotis, caught the cross in 1956,” she said. “Which just being here representing my sister, my grandfather and my mom, (she) has one of her boats out here. She passed away in 2018.”

Kotis said while being surrounded by the holy spirit, she’ll likely feel her mom’s presence too.

The Epiphany celebration is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. and Spectrum News always carries the cross dive live on the air.