Epiphany continues the work done at Christmas, bringing light and life to a dying world desperate for hope.
Growing up, my family did not celebrate Epiphany. We upheld the more prominent Christian feasts of Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, and Pentecost, but in attending a Southern Baptist church, our familiarity with the visit of the magi was crammed into Christmas. Just as the three kings are in that old nativity scene you're thinking about putting away this week (if you haven't done so already).
My appreciation of Epiphany deepened when I married a Lutheran and entered a more liturgical world – one that is more attuned to the rhymes and rhythms of the Christian year. My husband's family upholds the twelve days of Christmas to their glorious end, doing a book exchange with a feast on its final day before we return to the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
In a time when we think about January blues and the onset of "SAD" in the dreary days of winter, Epiphany continues the work done at Christmas, bringing light and life to a dying world desperate for hope.
"Sacred" Epiphany
Epiphany takes its name from the Greek, meaning "appearing" or "manifestation." This "Epiphany" could take on a few layers, but at its base, this feast commemorates the visit of the Magi as reported in Matthew 2:1-12, marking the first appearance of Christ to the Gentiles, who had seen the star in the east, traveled (at great risk!) to worship him, and gifted him gold, frankincense, and myrrh. [1]
The earliest celebrations of Epiphany date back to the fourth century. In the Eastern church, it commemorated – as it does to this day – the birth of Christ. In contrast, the Western church had, by 354, adopted the traditional date of December 25th for Christ's birth.
For the church in the East, this "manifestation" was manifold, incorporating several recorded events in the early portion of Christ's earthly life: his birth, his adoration, his baptism, and his first miracle. He appears in the flesh, with the heavenly host proclaiming his arrival and the Magi worshipping the young child; his divinity is proclaimed at his baptism, the outset of his public ministry, and his divinity is proclaimed further at the wedding at Cana. Thus, traditions in the Orthodox churches typically involve water. The "Great Blessing of Water" is performed, whereby a priest blesses water twice, consecrating it for holy purposes, including the blessing of congregants' houses. It is also a popular feast for baptisms to be performed.
The Western church organizes these feasts differently, reserving Epiphany for the visitation of the Magi. On January 6th, some churches might have a service focusing on God as revealed through Christ, with readings and lit candles, calling out to the star that the Magi followed. The Baptism of Our Lord is observed on the following Sunday, the first Sunday of the season of Epiphany.
The season of Epiphany, for Western Christians, is an elastic concept. For Anglicans, it concludes at Candlemas, a feast forty days after Christmas for Christ's presentation at the Temple. For most Catholics and Protestants who observe this feast, Epiphany lasts until the day before Ash Wednesday, meaning it could have anywhere from four to nine Sundays. The church exchanges the liturgical white of Christmas and Epiphany proper for green as this season of proclamation is one of growth, where Christ's mission on earth announces the arrival of his kingdom, beginning with the adoration of the Magi and culminating in his Transfiguration on the season's last Sunday. The appearance of Christ on earth comes to its climax as his glory is revealed on earth, if only for a moment, on that mountaintop before his journey to the cross takes us through the Sundays of Lent.
"Secular" Epiphany
Like Christmas and Easter, Epiphany has gained a foothold as a broader cultural holiday with folk traditions worldwide. Many—whether churchgoers or not—might be diving into a "king cake," "galette de rois," or "Rosca de Reyes," a crown-shaped cake with a bean or a plastic baby baked in, whose lucky finder gets to be "king" for a day.
In the United States, Christmas is by far the biggest shopping holiday of the year, with plenty of help from Santa Claus and marketing executives. Some places, like Spain, have resisted this trend and give Epiphany top billing for gift giving. It makes a good deal of sense, seeing as that's when Jesus received his gifts. Instead of climbing onto Santa's lap to ask for gifts, children visit the three kings with their lists and watch the Magi go on parade at the Noche de Reyes with their coterie of animals and attendants. [2]
In Italy, La Befana is the feast's most visible character. While Babbo Natale takes Christmas Eve to deliver toys, this old, soot-covered witch, "La Befana," delivers toys on the eve of Epiphany. Some trace her origins to Rome's pagan times, but her connection to this Christian feast day approximates to the Magi stopping to ask her for directions to the Christ child. While she does not know the way, she provides them with rooms for the night. When they invite her to join them on their journey in the morning, she politely declines as she is busy with housework. Like Mary's sister Martha, La Befana has a change of heart. Once valuing her housework, she repents of this and seeks out the Christ child. She cannot find him, so every year, she flies around on her broom – or, as in Venice, sails around in her gondola – giving gifts to good children and coal to naughty ones.
Come and Worship
The frivolity of Epiphany's secular traditions underscores the sacred joy to be found in a Savior who, in his perfect humanity and majestic divinity, tells us where we are to find him and how we are to worship him. We are to gather with his people, celebrate his feast, and share our gifts with God and neighbor.
As we embrace this joy, we should also remember that the Magi faced a hard journey before reaching the boy, Jesus. King Herod pursued them such that they had to change their way home, and once they left, we never heard of them again. We are not told if they see Christ beyond his boyhood and the fulfillment of prophecies long foretold in his ministry, death, and resurrection. All the same, they were willing to come and worship the promised King. Like the Magi, we adore the Christ child who has come once, and we await greater joys at his second coming when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that he is the King of kings.
[1] “Epiphany,” Encyclopædia Britannica, November 14, 2024, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Epiphany.
[2] “Epiphany: When Is Epiphany and How Is It Celebrated?,” BBC Newsround, December 7, 2023, https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/42565054.
