“On Christmas, God appeared as a man, on Epiphany this man manifests himself as God to the world,” Pastor Peil says. Still, the message survives - regardless of the specific “real” dates for the Nativity, Magi visitations or immersion of a Nazarene rabbi by a wilderness river prophet. And some may argue that, through the millennia, Epiphany better retains its spiritual origins, avoiding the inroads of holiday materialism that, in some ironic respects, seems a kind of 21st-century revival of Saturnalia. “It was not the River Jordan washing away sins, but Christ himself sanctifying its waters, and by extension all of creation.”Įpiphany predates Christmas, all who celebrate it agree. “Tradition is that the waters of the Jordan reversed their course when Jesus was baptized,” Nikas explains. The water, generally blessed in a font inside the church, is then made available for anyone to drink, use in cooking, or sprinkle to bless homes and businesses, as well as to consecrate sacred objects. George Nikas, dean of the Greek Orthodox Holy Trinity Cathedral in Salt Lake City and Prophet Elias Church in Holladay, says his ancient faith’s “blessing of the waters” rites, along with fasting beforehand, also set apart Orthodox Christians. John the Baptist, revered as the forerunner of Christ. To Eastern Orthodox Christians, it is that baptism - and scriptural accounts of the Holy Spirit appearing as a dove over the dripping Jesus as a voice from heaven declares his divine heritage - that remains the heart of Epiphany.Įastern Christians commemorate Epiphany, also called Theophany (Greek for a “visible manifestation of deity”), on Jan. “The weeks following the visit of the wise men bring us Jesus’ baptism, where he is announced to be the Son of God.” “Epiphany is part of our annual journey from the manger to the cross and on to Easter,” Peil says. Tyler Peil, pastor of Taylorsville’s Prince of Peace Lutheran Church.ĭuring Sunday’s services, Peil and his flock will hear the prophetic, messianic words of Isaiah 60:1: “Arise, shine for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.” Lutherans honor Epiphany for revealing “who the Christ child is, and why he has come into the world,” says the Rev. In addition to a possible special Communion service, “many congregations will have festive dinners or candle-lighting, and the wise men will be brought on the final leg of their journey the Nativity scene.” “Whoever receives a coin in their piece of cake gets to wear a crown bearing one of the traditional names of the Magi - Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar.”Įpiphany also is when the Dodge family removes its Christmas tree, a ceremony accompanied by carols and blessings on their home for the new year.Įpiscopal Epiphany practices vary from parish to parish, Nestler says. “We have a Kings’ Cake that contains three coins,” the deacon explains. “Apart from perhaps completing the Christmas crêche by including the Magi and their camels,” Dodge says, “in most churches and homes in the U.S., Epiphany tends to be a fairly low-key affair.”įor the Dodge family, Epiphany means a party with friends, albeit one incorporating several Catholic Epiphany traditions. Especially within the United States, Catholics since have celebrated the Epiphany Mass on the second Sunday after Christmas this year it falls on Jan. The Second Vatican Council (1962-65) made Epiphany a “movable feast,” no longer strictly tied to Jan. Olaf’s Catholic Church and a writer and educator for the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City, acknowledges that Epiphany once was of “far more significance than it is today for Roman Catholics.” While Christmas today arguably has devolved into a holiday for retail materialism gone wild, Epiphany has survived as the more untainted and divine of Christian winter traditions.įor Nestler’s Episcopalians, as well as Roman Catholics, Lutherans and other Western churches still following the liturgical calendar, Epiphany celebrates the Magi, or the “wise men,” who brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the baby Jesus from the East. In the process, upstart Christmas borrowed gift-giving traditions and, to a less-ribald extent, the Romans’ propensity for merrymaking. 25 to elevate Jesus’ birthday - though its true date remains disputed - as a singular event.Īs cultural appropriations go, it was a direct, and eventually triumphant, challenge to the more ancient festival of Saturnalia. 320 that Rome’s Pope Sylvester decreed a separate “Christ’s Mass” on Dec. Historians note that Christians were celebrating Epiphany (from the Greek “epiphaneia” or “shining forth”) as early as A.D. “Epiphany is, then, the time that light burst forth to all.” “ at the darkest time of the year, so Christ, the coming light, makes sense,” she adds.
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