Epiphany in different Christian rites ~
Western Christian Churches (Old World) :
In the Western
church, the feast of Christmas was established before that of
Epiphany. The early western Christian Church decided to
celebrate Christmas on December 25. The East continued to treat
January 6 as the day marking Jesus's birth. The west generally
acknowledges a twelve-day festival, starting on December 25, and
ending on January 6, known as the twelve days of Christmas,
although some Christian cultures, especially those of Latin
America and some in Europe extend it to as many as forty days,
ending on Candlemas, or February 2 (known as Candelaria in
Spanish). In the Western Churches it is associated principally
with the visit of the Magi or Wise Men Prior to 1970, the Roman
Catholic Church (and prior to 1976, the Anglican churches)
reckoned Epiphany as an eight-day feast, beginning on January 6
and continuing through the Octave of Epiphany, or January 13.
Many traditionalist Catholics continue to use this calendar,
celebrating the feast of the Holy Family on the Sunday within
the octave. On the Feast of the Epiphany itself, the priest,
wearing white vestments, will bless the Epiphany Water,
frankincense, gold, and chalk. The chalk is used to write the
initials of the three magi over the doors of churches and homes.
More recently, most Roman Catholics in the United States mark
Epiphany on the Sunday after the first Saturday in January
(before this the Sunday between January 1 and January 6 in years
when there was one, was designated the Feast of the Holy Name of
Jesus), and most Catholics and Anglicans (along with many other
Protestants) now formally end the Christmas season on the Sunday
immediately following January 6, or, for American Catholics, the
ensuing Monday in years when the Epiphany falls on January 7 or
January 8. In either case, the feast of the Baptism of the Lord
is observed on the latter day, after which the first installment
of Ordinary Time begins. (But note that some Churches, such as
the Anglican Catholic Church, and some groups of Roman
Catholics, still use the pre-1970 calendar; for these bodies,
Christmas still has twelve days and ends on January 5, and
Epiphany is still celebrated on January 6 with an 8-day octave.)
The Irish call this day Little Christmas or Women's Christmas
(Irish: Nollaig na mBan). In Rome, "Epiphania" was transformed
into Befana, the great fair held at that season, when sigillaria
of terracotta or baked pastry were sold (Macrobius I, x, xxiv;
II, xlix). In France, on Epiphany people eat the gâteau des Rois
in Provence or the galette des Rois in the northern half of
France and Belgium. This is a kind of king cake, with a trinket
or a bean hidden inside. The person who gets the piece of cake
with the trinket becomes king for a day. In the United States
Christmas usually ends the day after December 26 while other
parts of the World are still celebrating Christmas up until the
Epiphany or even beyond the Epiphany.
Western Christian Churches Spain and Ibero-America :
In Spain, Mexico, Cuba and some Latin American countries
Epiphany day is called El Día de los Reyes (The Day of the
Kings). The day when the Three Kings or Three Magi of the Bible
arrived to worship and bring gifts to the baby Jesus after
following a star in the heavens. This day is sometimes known as
the Día de los Tres Reyes Magos (The day of the Three Magi) or
La Pascua de los Negros (Holy Day of the Blackmen) in Chile,
although the latter is rarely heard. In Spanish tradition, on
the day of January 6th, the Kings: Melchor, Gaspar, and
Balthazar, representing Europe, Arabia, and Africa, arrived on
horse, camel and elephant, bringing respectively gold,
frankincense and myrrh to the baby Jesus.
In Mexico, it is traditional for children to leave their shoes out on
the evening of January 6, sometimes filling them with hay for the
camels, so that the Kings will be generous with their gifts. In Puerto
Rico, it is also a tradition for children to fill a box with grass or
hay and put it underneath their bed, for the same reasons. This is
analogous to children leaving mince pies or cookies and milk out for
Santa Claus in Western Europe. In some parts of northern Mexico the
shoes are left under the Christmas tree with a letter to the Three
Kings. In the afternoon or evening of the same day the ritual of the
Rosca de Reyes is shared with family and friends. The Rosca is a type of
sweet-bread made with orange blossom, water, and butter; decorated with
candied fruit. Baked inside is a small doll representing the baby Jesus.
The person who finds the doll in his piece of rosca must throw a party
on February 2nd, Calendaria Day, offering tamales and atole (a hot sweet
drink thickened with corn flour) to the guests. Notably, in Spain, it is
also known as Roscon; made with the same items, however, between the
layers of bread, lies different flavoured whip cream. The 'Jesus' doll
evolved into a small toy similar to a Kinder Surprise. The person gets
the toy, is then responsible for the purchase of the Roscon the
following year.
Eastern Christian Churches :
The first reference to Epiphany in the Eastern Church is a slighting
remark by Clement of Alexandria in Stromateis, I, xxi, 45 :
"There are those, too, who over-curiously assign to the Birth of Our
Saviour not only its year but its day…"
Origen's list of festivals (in Contra Celsum, VIII, xxii) omits any
reference to Epiphany. The first reference to an ecclesiastical feast of
the Epiphany, in Ammianus Marcellinus (XXI:ii), is in 361. Today in
Eastern Orthodox churches, the emphasis at this feast is on the shining
forth and revelation of Jesus Christ as the Messiah and second person of
the Holy Trinity at the time of his baptism. It is also celebrated
because, according to tradition, the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan
River by St. John the Baptist marked the only occasion when all three
persons of the Holy Trinity manifested their physical presence
simultaneously to humanity: God the Father by speaking through the
clouds, God the Son being baptized in the river, and God the Holy Spirit
in the shape of a dove overflying the scene. Usually called the Feast of
the Theophany (Greek: Θεοφάνεια), it is one of the great feasts of the
liturgical year; "theophany" is Greek for "God shining forth". In the
Ethiopian Orthodox Church, it is known as Timkat.
Orthodox Churches also perform a "Blessing of the Waters" on Epiphany
Day: following Divine Liturgy, clerics proceed to the nearest body of
water, be it a beach, a harbor, a quay, a river, a lake, a swimming
pool, a water depot etc, and after a short ceremony they cast a cross in
the water. If swimming is feasible on the spot, any number of volunteers
may brave the cold winter waters and try to recover the cross. The
person who gets the cross first swims back and returns it to the cleric,
who then delivers a special blessing to the swimmer and their family and
household. Certain such ceremonies have achieved particular prominence,
such as the one held annually at Tarpon Springs, Florida.
