The Liturgical Calendar: The Church Remembers

Today the church remembers The Epiphany of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

In the course of time the Lordship of Christ was revealed to various people. The “Wise Men from the East” observed his star and were guided to his cradle where they worshiped him as a newborn king. When John baptized him in the Jordan, the Holy Spirit descended “as a dove” and a voice from heaven proclaimed, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” At a wedding feast at Cana his embarrassed host was amazed when Jesus turned water into wine. He revealed himself to his disciples, and through their witness the knowledge of him spread. As the church grew, its witness to him was formalized in the sacraments and the canonical scriptures. In the Epiphany season we remember these events and the expanding revelation and manifestation of Christ to the world. We pray for the continuing growth of his kingdom until “the earth shall be filled with the glory of God as the waters cover the sea.”

In the ancient Eastern Church, January 6 was observed as the feast of the Nativity, Christmas. The Eve of Epiphany is still observed in some places as the “Twelfth Night” of Christmas and the conclusion of the nativity season.

O God, lead all peoples of the earth to know your only Son now by faith, and in the world to come to see him in the splendor of his glory. Amen.

Read the Wikipedia article here.

Back to the Calendar page.