Happy Epiphany/Theophany!

For those who don’t know, in the Eastern Orthodox church, today is the Feast of the Theophany of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, in which we commemorate Christ’s Baptism in the Jordan. The word “Theophany” means “appearance/showing of God” [Wikipedia]. The reason this word is applied to this feast is because, at Christ’s Baptism, He was revealed to the Word world [edited 2008-01-07] to be the Son of God:

It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove. Then a voice came from heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. (Mark 1:9-11)

In addition to the proclamation of Christ as the Son of God, the Trinity is also here revealed, as all three Persons are clearly present, as the Troparion (a short hymn) of the Feast explains:

When Thou wast baptized in the Jordan, O Lord, the worship of the Trinity made it’s appearance. For the voice of the Father bore witness to Thee, when He called Thee His beloved Son. And the Spirit in the form of a dove confirmed the truth of the word. O Christ our God Who hast appeared and hast enlightened the world, glory to Thee!

Also, we believe that, by His Baptism in the Jordan, Christ blessed the waters, and so we commemorate this with the Great Blessing of Waters that occurs, usually after Liturgy, on this feast.

For a more detailed description of all this, go here.

Originally, January 6 was not only the celebration of Christ’s Baptism, but also of His birth and the visitation of the Magi. The Feast of the Nativity of Christ (Christmas) became a seperate feast celebrated on Dec 25 later on, for the purpose of offsetting the pagan feast of the Sun. This, of course, led to the traditional 12 days of Christmas, the period between Christmas and the Theophany in which no fasting is allowed (except for the Eve of Theophany, which is prescribed as a strict fast in preparation for the celebration of the Feast).

In the West, by the way, this Feast is called Epiphany, and is primarily the celebration of the Magi’s coming to visit the infant Christ. The idea, as I understand it, is similar, though: Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, the Light of the World, is revealed.

So, to my Western friends, happy Epiphany, and to my Eastern friends, happy Theophany!