TAMPA, Fla. — Every year, a girl from St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral’s choir is selected to be the dove bearer at the Epiphany celebration in Tarpon Springs.

This year, the dove bearer selected is 17-year-old Elena Gonatos.

“It’s definitely a blessing to get this dove bearer role knowing that it’s gone through my family and so many people have gotten it that I consider family even if they’re not blood related to me,” Gonatos said.

This Friday, she’ll have the holy spirit in her hands serving as this year’s dove bearer in the annual Epiphany celebration.

“It’s a symbolism but I truly believe the holy spirit does come down and live within me during that precession because it is a very beautiful and very blessed thing,” she said.

The blessing comes with a bit of nervousness. “It’s going to be a little nerve-wracking to carry an actual bird but I used to have a pet bird so hopefully I’ll be comfortable with it,” Gonatos said.

Thankfully, the 17-year-old high school junior and singer is used to performing in front of crowds. But she still sought out advice for this event.

“I’ve gotten a lot of advice from previous dove bearers just telling me to stay calm," she said. "If you stay calm the bird will stay calm. Definitely have your hair pulled back, and just giving me a lot of tips and advice to make it a very smooth, running day.”

It’s a day she’s prepared for her whole life.

“So when we release the dove, the bird, we bring it down to the bayou and release it when they’re reading the gospel when they say that line. We release the dove into the air and it flies off,” she said.

It’s a spiritual experience that Elena says goes beyond the bayou and the walls of her church. It’s in the fabric of her family. Two of her aunts served as dove bearers in the 1980s and her grandfather retrieved the cross in California at an Epiphany celebration in the 1950s.

There’s been a dove bearer at every Epiphany celebration since World War II, except for 2021 during the pandemic.