EPIPHANY: January 6th

SOJOURNER · Post by **SOJOURNER** » Fri Jan 06, 2006 5:39 am

It is also known as Three KingsÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ Day.

Epiphany is the climax of the Christmas Season and the Twelve Days of Christmas, which are usually counted from December 25th until January 5th. In most traditions, the day before Epiphany is the Twelfth Day of Christmas, the evening of which is called Twelfth Night. This is an occasion for feasting in some cultures, including the baking of a special King's Cake as part of the festivities of Epiphany (a King's Cake is part of the observance of Mardi Gras in French Catholic culture of the Southern USA). In some church traditions, January 5th is considered the Eleventh Day of Christmas, while the evening is still counted as the Twelfth Night, the beginning of the Twelfth day of Christmas the following day. In these traditions the Twelfth Day of Christmas is January 6th, the Epiphany.

The term epiphany means "to show" or "to make known" or even "to reveal." In Western churches, it remembers the coming of the wise men bringing gifts to visit the Christ child, who by so doing "reveal" Jesus to the world as Lord and King.

As with most aspects of the Christian liturgical calendar, Epiphany has theological significance as a teaching tool in the church. The Wise Men or Magi who brought gifts to the infant Jesus were the first Gentiles to acknowledge Jesus as "King" and so were the first to "show" or "reveal" Jesus to a wider world as the incarnate Christ. This act of worship by the Magi, which corresponded to SimeonÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s blessing that this child Jesus would be "a light for revelation to the Gentiles" (Luke 2:32), was one of the first indications that Jesus came for all people, of all nations, of all races, and that the work of God in the world would not be limited to only a few.

The day is now observed as a time of focusing on the mission of the church in reaching others by "showing" Jesus as the Savior of all people. It is also a time of focusing on Christian brotherhood and fellowship, especially in healing the divisions of prejudice and bigotry that we all too often create between GodÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s children.

chonsigirl · Post by **chonsigirl** » Fri Jan 06, 2006 5:42 am

Thank you Sojo for starting this thread. This is considered a major holiday among many churches, especially among the Greek and Roman Orthodox Churches.

Some customs involve the giving of gifts. The gifts most of us receive from eacxh other are exchanged on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. My husband's Russian Orthodox family exchange their gifts today, and believe this is the most meaningful day of the Advent/Christmas season.

SOJOURNER · Post by **SOJOURNER** » Fri Jan 06, 2006 5:55 am

SnoozeControl wrote: That was pretty interesting, Sojo... thanks for posting that.

Do I get a gift?:D

Here you are Snooze.......... Hope you like it.

SOJOURNER · Post by **SOJOURNER** » Fri Jan 06, 2006 6:06 am

chonsigirl wrote: Thank you Sojo for starting this thread. This is considered a major holiday among many churches, especially among the Greek and Roman Orthodox Churches.

Some customs involve the giving of gifts. The gifts most of us receive from eacxh other are exchanged on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. My husband's Russian Orthodox family exchange their gifts today, and believe this is the most meaningful day of the Advent/Christmas season.

For you, Chonsi............

SOJOURNER · Post by **SOJOURNER** » Fri Jan 06, 2006 6:08 am

tmbsgrl wrote: Thanks SOJO.. :-6

For Tmbsgrl................

chonsigirl · Post by **chonsigirl** » Fri Jan 06, 2006 9:37 am

SOJOURNER wrote: For you, Chonsi............
Thank you Sojo!:)

Bronwen · Post by **Bronwen** » Fri Jan 06, 2006 10:00 am

chonsigirl wrote: Some customs involve the giving of gifts. The gifts most of us receive from eacxh other are exchanged on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. My husband's Russian Orthodox family exchange their gifts today, and believe this is the most meaningful day of the Advent/Christmas season.Very nice post , Soj.

Chon, I may be wrong here, but I believe that your Russian inlaws are actually celebrating Christmas, since the Russian Orthodox Church still uses the old Julian calendar, which is now almost two weeks behind the modern Gregorian calendar.

The big Epiphany celebration in Germany and Austria is the blessing of doorways. The priest - and I believe Lutheran ministers do it also - goes around from house to house (including business establishments) and blesses each house, chalking above the door the year and the initials C-M-B (for Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar, the traditional names of the three wise guys).

By the way, all three magi are entombed in a triple sarcophagus (hope I spelled that right) behind the main altar of the Cathedral in Cologne, Germany.

Or so they say. To my knowledge, DNA samples have not been taken.

SOJOURNER · Post by **SOJOURNER** » Fri Jan 06, 2006 2:19 pm

For Bronwen........................

Bronwen · Post by **Bronwen** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 9:20 am

Thank you, Soj, that was sweet.

Best wishes for 2006, and keep up the good work. I always enjoy reading your posts.