Epiphany

In this episode of the I Can't Sleep Podcast, fall asleep learning about the Epiphany holiday. While this holiday has many wonderful celebrations and itself is not boring at all, reading a Wikipedia article about it sure is.

Happy sleeping!

Transcript

Welcome to the I Can't Sleep Podcast,

Where I read random articles from across the web to bore you to sleep with my soothing voice.

I'm your host,

Benjamin Boster.

Today's episode is from a Wikipedia article titled,

Epiphany.

Epiphany,

Also known as Theophany in Eastern Christian tradition,

Is a Christian feast day commemorating the visit of the Magi,

The baptism of Jesus,

And the wedding at Cana.

In Western Christianity,

The feast commemorates principally,

But not solely,

The visit of the Magi to the Christ Child,

And thus Jesus Christ's physical manifestation to the Gentiles.

It is sometimes called Three Kings Day,

And in some traditions celebrated as Little Christmas.

Moreover,

The feast of the Epiphany in some denominations also initiates the liturgical season of Epiphanytide.

Eastern Christians,

On the other hand,

Commemorate the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River,

Seen as His manifestation to the world as the Son of God.

The spot marked by Al-Maqdas in Jordan,

Adjacent to Qasr al-Yahud in the West Bank,

Is considered to be the original site of the baptism of Jesus and the ministry of John the Baptist.

The traditional date for the feast is January 6th,

However,

Since 1970 the celebration is held in some countries on the Sunday after January 1st.

Those Eastern churches which are still following the Julian calendar observe the feast on what,

According to the internationally used Gregorian calendar,

Is January 19th,

Because of the current 13-day difference between the Julian and Gregorian calendars.

In many Western churches,

The eve of the feast is celebrated as Twelfth Night,

Epiphany Eve.

The Monday after Epiphany is known as Plow Monday.

Popular Epiphany customs include Epiphany singing,

Chalking the door,

Having one's house blessed,

Consuming Three Kings cake,

Winter swimming,

As well as attending church services.

It is customary for Christians in many localities to remove their Christmas decorations on Epiphany Eve,

Twelfth Night,

Although those in other Christian countries historically remove them on Candlemas,

The conclusion of Epiphany Tide.

According to the first tradition,

Those who fail to remember to remove their Christmas decorations on Epiphany Eve must leave them untouched until Candlemas,

The second opportunity to remove them.

Failure to observe the custom is considered inauspicious.

The word Epiphany is from Koine Greek epiphaneia,

Meaning manifestation or appearance.

It is derived from the verb phaenaion meaning to appear.

In classical Greek it was used for the appearance of dawn,

Of an enemy in war,

But especially of a manifestation of a deity to a worshipper,

A theophany.

In the Septuagint,

The word is used of a manifestation of the God of Israel.

In the New Testament,

The word is used in 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 10 to refer either to the birth of Christ or to His appearance after His resurrection,

And five times to refer to His second coming.

Alternative names for the feast in Greek include ta theophaneia,

Theophany,

A neuter plural rather than feminine singular,

The Day of the Lights,

And the Lights.

Epiphany may have originated in the Greek-speaking eastern half of the Roman Empire as a feast to honor the baptism of Jesus.

In 1200,

Clement of Alexandria wrote that,

But the followers of the early Christian Gnostic religious teacher Basilides celebrate the day of his baptism too,

Spending the previous night in readings.

And they say that it was the fifteenth of the month Tibi of the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar,

And some say that it was observed the eleventh of the same month.

The Egyptian dates given correspond to January 6th and 10th.

The Basilides were a Gnostic sect.

The reference to readings suggests that the Basilides were reading the Gospels.

In ancient Gospel manuscripts,

The text is arranged to indicate passages for liturgical readings.

If a congregation began reading Mark at the beginning of the year,

It might arrive at the story of the baptism on January 6th,

Thus explaining the date of the feast.

If Christians read Mark in the same format the Basilides did,

The two groups would have arrived at the January 6th date independently.

The earliest reference to Epiphany as a Christian feast was in A.

D.

361 by Ammianus Marcellinus.

The holiday is listed twice,

Which suggests a double feast of baptism and birth.

The baptism of Jesus was originally assigned the same date as the birth because Luke chapter 3 verse 23 was read to mean that Jesus was exactly 30 when he was baptized.

It is said by many church fathers that Jesus was the age of 30,

Though not necessarily exactly that age.

Epiphanius of Salamis says that January 6th is Christ's birthday,

That is,

His Epiphany.

He also asserts that the miracle at Cana occurred on the same calendar day.

Epiphanius assigns the baptism to November 6th.

The scope to Epiphany expanded to include the commemoration of His birth,

The visit of the Magi,

All of Jesus' childhood events,

Up to and including the baptism by John the Baptist,

And even the miracle at the wedding at Cana in Galilee.

In the Latin-speaking West,

The holiday emphasized the visit of the Magi.

The Magi represented the non-Jewish peoples of the world,

So this was considered a revelation to the Gentiles.

In this event,

Christian writers also inferred a revelation to the children of Israel.

John Chrysostom identified the significance of the meeting between the Magi and Herod's court.

The star had been hidden from them so that on finding themselves without their guide,

They would have no alternative but to consult the Jews.

In this way,

The birth of Jesus would be made known to all.

In 385,

The pilgrim Majira,

Also known as Sylvia,

Described a celebration in Jerusalem and Bethlehem,

Which she called Epiphany,

That commemorated the Nativity.

Even at this early date,

There was an octave associated with the feast.

The Gregorian chant book of Jerusalem compiled in the mid-6th century contains hymns for this feast that were likely written between the time of Majira and the turn of the 6th century.

In a sermon delivered on December 25,

380,

St.

Gregory of Nazianzus referred to the day as the Theophany,

Saying expressly that it is a day commemorating the Holy Nativity of Christ and told his listeners that they would soon be celebrating the baptism of Christ.

Then on January 6 and 7,

He preached two more sermons,

In which he declared that the celebration of the birth of Christ and the visitation of the Magi had already taken place and that they would now commemorate his baptism.

At this time,

Celebration of the two events was beginning to be observed on separate occasions,

At least in Cappadocia.

St.

John Cassian says that even in his time,

Beginning of the 5th century,

Egyptian monasteries celebrated the Nativity and the baptism together on January 6.

The Armenian Apostolic Church continues to celebrate January 6 as the only commemoration of the Nativity.

Johann Sebastian Bach composed in Leipzig two cantatas for the feast which concluded Christmastide.

Sie werden aus Sabe alle kommen,

BWV 65,

1724 Liebster Immanuel,

Erzog der Frommen,

BWV 123,

1725.

Part 6 of his Christmas Oratorio,

Herr,

Wenn die stolzen Feinde schnauben,

Was also designated to be performed during the service of Epiphany.

In Ottorino Respighi's symphonic tone poem,

Roman Festivals,

The final movement is subtitled Bofana and takes place during Epiphany.

Nun Liebe Seel,

Nun ist es Zeit,

Is a German Epiphany hymn by Georg Weisel,

First printed in 1642.

Two very familiar Christmas carols are associated with the Epiphany holiday,

As was Gladness,

Men of Old,

Written by William Chatterton Dix in 1860,

As a response to the many legends which had grown up surrounding the Magi,

And We Three Kings of Orient Are,

Written by the Reverend John Henry Hopkins,

Jr.

,

Then an ordained deacon in the Episcopal Church.

He was instrumental in organizing an elaborate holiday pageant which featured this hymn for the students of the General Theological Seminary in New York City in 1857,

While serving as the seminary's music director.

Another popular hymn,

Less known culturally as a carol,

Is Songs of Thankfulness and Praise,

With words written by Christopher Wordsworth and commonly sung to the tune St.

Edmund by Charles Stegall.

A carol used as an anthem for the Epiphany holiday is The Three Kings.

Until 1955,

When Pope Pius XII abolished all but three liturgical octaves,

The Latin Church celebrated Epiphany as an eight-day feast,

Known as the Octave of Epiphany,

Beginning on January 6th and ending on January 13th.

The Sunday within that octave had been since 1893 the Feast of the Holy Family,

And Christmas Tide was reckoned as the twelve days ending on January 5th,

Followed by the January 6th through the 13th octave.

The 1969 revision of the General Roman Calendar made the date variable to some extent,

Stating The Epiphany of the Lord is celebrated on the 6th of January,

Unless,

Where it is not observed as a holy day of obligation,

It has been assigned to the Sunday occurring between the 2nd and the 8th of January.

It also made the Feast of the Epiphany part of Christmastime,

Which it defined as extending from the first vespers of Christmas,

The evening of December 24th,

Up to and including the Sunday after Epiphany,

The Sunday after January 6th.

Lutheran,

Anglican,

Methodist,

And United Protestant congregations,

Along with those of other denominations,

May celebrate Epiphany on January 6th,

On the following Sunday within the Epiphany week octave,

Or at another time,

Epiphany Eve January 5th,

The nearest Sunday,

Etc.

,

As local custom dictates.

Prior to 1976,

Anglican churches observed an eight-day octave,

Beginning on January 6th.

Today,

The Epiphany of Our Lord,

Classified as a principal feast,

Is observed in some Anglican provinces on January 6th exclusively,

E.

G.

The Anglican Church of Canada,

But in the Church of England the celebration is on the 6th of January or transferred to the Sunday following between the 2nd and the 8th of January.

Eastern churches celebrate Epiphany on January 6th.

Some,

As in Greece,

Employ the modern Revised Julian calendar,

Which until 2800 coincides with the Gregorian calendar,

The one in use for civil purposes in most countries.

Other Eastern churches,

As in Russia,

Hold to the older Julian calendar for reckoning church dates.

In these old calendar churches,

Epiphany falls at present on Gregorian January 19th,

Which is January 6th in the Julian calendar.

The Indian Orthodox Church celebrates the Feast of Epiphany,

Denaha,

Syriac term which means rising,

On January 6th,

And the Ethiopian Orthodox Church celebrates on January 19th as the Timkath Festival,

Which was included in the UNESCO Heritage List of Festivals.

In some churches,

The Feast of the Epiphany initiates the Epiphany season,

Also known as Epiphany Tide.

In Advent 2000,

The Church of England,

Mother Church of the Anglican Communion,

Introduced into its Liturgy and Optional Epiphany season by approving the Common Worship series of services as an alternative to those in the Book of Common Prayer,

Which remains the Church's normative liturgy and in which no such liturgical season appears.

An official publication of the Church of England states,

The Christmas season is often celebrated for twelve days,

Ending with the Epiphany.

Contemporary use is sought to express an alternative tradition in which Christmas lasts for a full forty days,

Ending with the Feast of the Presentation on the 2nd of February.

It presents the latter part of this period as the Epiphany season,

Comprising the Sundays of Epiphany and ending only with the Feast of the Presentation.

Another interpretation of Epiphany season applies to the term to the period from Epiphany to the day before Ash Wednesday.

Some Methodists in the United States and Singapore follow these liturgies.

Lutherans celebrate the last Sunday before Ash Wednesday as the Transfiguration of Our Lord,

And it has been said that they call the whole period from Epiphany to then as Epiphany season.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America used the terms time after Epiphany to refer to this period.

The expression with after has been interpreted as making the period in question correspond to that of ordinary time.

The Presbyterian Church USA does not celebrate Epiphany or Pentecost as seasons.

For this Church,

Expressions such as 5th Sunday after Epiphany indicate the passing of time,

Rather than a liturgical season.

It instead uses the term ordinary time.

In the Catholic Church,

Christmas time runs from First Vespers,

Evening Prayer 1,

Of the Nativity of the Lord,

Up to and including the Sunday after Epiphany or after the 6th of January.

An ordinary time begins on the Monday which follows the Sunday occurring after 6th of January.

Before the 1969 revision of its liturgy,

The Sundays following the Octave of Epiphany or,

When this was abolished,

Following the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord,

Which was instituted to take place of the Octave day of Epiphany,

Were named as the 2nd,

Etc.

,

Up to the 6th,

Sunday after Epiphany,

As the at least 24 Sundays following Pentecost Sunday and Trinity Sunday were known as the 2nd,

Etc.

,

Sunday after Pentecost.

If a year had more than 24 Sundays after Pentecost,

Up to four unused post-Epiphany Sundays were inserted between the 23rd and the 24th Sunday after Pentecost.

The Encyclopedia of Catholic Devotions and Practices,

Which has received the imprimatur of John Michael Darcy with reference to Epiphany tide,

Thus states that the Epiphany season extends from January 6 to Septuagesima Sunday and has from one to six Sundays,

According to the date of Easter.

White is the color for the Octave,

Green is the liturgical color for the season.

Epiphany is celebrated by both the Eastern and Western Churches,

But a major difference between them is precisely which events the Feast commemorates.

For Western Christians,

The Feast primarily commemorates the coming of the Magi,

With only a minor reference to the baptism of Jesus and the miracle at the wedding of Cana.

Eastern Churches celebrate the baptism of Christ in the Jordan.

In both traditions,

The essence of the Feast is the same,

The manifestation of Christ to the world,

Whether as an infant or in the Jordan,

And the mystery of the Incarnation.

The miracle at the wedding of Cana is also celebrated during Epiphany as a first manifestation of Christ's public life.

Even before 354,

The Western Church had separated the celebration of the Nativity of Christ as the Feast of Christmas and set its date as December 25.

It reserved January 6 as a commemoration of the manifestation of Christ,

Especially to the Magi,

But also at His baptism and at the wedding feast of Cana.

In 1955,

A separate feast of the baptism of the Lord was instituted,

Thus weakening further the connection in the West between the Feast of the Epiphany and the commemoration of the baptism of Christ.

However,

Hungarians,

In an apparent reference to baptism,

Refer to the January 6 celebration as viskerest,

A term that recalls the words vis,

Water,

And kerest,

Kerestseg,

Baptism.

Many in the West,

Such as adherents of the Anglican Communion,

Lutheran Churches,

And Methodist Churches,

Observe a 12-day festival,

Starting on December 25 and ending on January 5,

Known as Christmastide or the Twelve Days of Christmas.

The universal norms on the liturgical year and the general Roman calendar of the Roman Catholic Church determine,

Since 1969,

That Christmastime runs from First Vespers,

Evening Prayer 1,

Of the Nativity of the Lord,

Up to and including the Sunday after Epiphany or after January 6.

Some regions,

And especially some communities celebrating the Tridentine Mass,

Extend the season to as many as 40 days,

Ending Christmastide traditionally on Candlemas,

February 2.

On the Feast of the Epiphany in some parts of Central Europe,

The priest wearing white vestments blesses Epiphany water,

Frankincense,

Gold,

And chalk.

The chalk is used to write the initials of the three magi,

Traditionally Caspar,

Melchior,

And Balthasar,

Over the doors of the churches and homes.

The initials may also be interpreted as the Latin phrase,

Christus Mancionem Benedicat,

May Christ Bless the House.

According to ancient custom,

The priest announced the date of Easter on the Feast of Epiphany.

This tradition dated from a time when calendars were not readily available,

And the Church needed to publicize the date of Easter,

Since many celebrations of the liturgical year depend on it.

A proclamation may be sung or proclaimed at the ambo by a deacon,

Cantor,

Or reader,

Either after the reading of the Gospel or after the post-communion prayer.

The Roman Missal thus provides a formula with appropriate chant for proclaiming on Epiphany,

Whether it is customary to do so,

The dates in the calendar for the celebration of Ash Wednesday,

Easter Sunday,

Ascension of Jesus Christ,

Pentecost,

The Body and Blood of Christ,

And the first Sunday of Advent that will mark the following liturgical year.

Some Western Rite churches,

Such as the Anglican and Lutheran churches,

Will follow practices similar to the Catholic Church.

Church cantatas for the Feast of Epiphany were written by Protestant composers such as George Philip Telemann,

Christoph Kraupner,

Johann Sebastian Bach,

And Gottfried Heinrich Stötzel.

The name of the feast as celebrated in the Orthodox churches may be rendered in English as the Theophany,

As closer in form to the Greek,

God Shining Forth,

Or Divine Manifestation.

Here it is one of the great feasts of the liturgical year,

Being third in rank behind only Pascha,

Easter,

And Pentecost in importance.

It is celebrated on January 6th of the calendar that a particular church uses,

On the Julian calendar which some of the Orthodox churches follow that date corresponds during the present century to January 19th on the Gregorian or Revised Julian calendar.

The earliest reference to the feast in the Eastern Church is a remark by St.

Clemens of Alexandria in Stromates I.

And there are those who have determined not only the year of our Lord's birth,

But also the day,

And the followers of Basilides hold the day of His baptism as a festival,

Spending the night before in readings.

And they say that it was the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar,

The fifteenth day of the month of Tubi,

And some that it was the eleventh of the same month.

If this is a reference to a celebration of Christ's birth as well as of His baptism on January 6th,

It corresponds to what continues to be the custom of the Armenian Apostolic Church,

Which celebrates the birth of Jesus on January 6th of the calendar used,

Calling the feast that of the Nativity and Theophany of our Lord.

Origen's list of festivals omits any reference to Epiphany,

The first reference to an ecclesiastical feast of the Epiphany in Ammianus Maecilius.

In part of the Eastern Church,

January 6th continued for some time as a composite feast that included the Nativity of Jesus,

Though Constantinople adopted December 25th to commemorate Jesus' birth in the fourth century.

In other parts,

The Nativity of Jesus continued to be celebrated on January 6th,

A date later devoted exclusively to commemorating His baptism.

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 Trinity at the time of His baptism.

It is also celebrated because according to tradition,

The baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River by Saint John the Baptist marked one of only two occasions when all three Persons of the Trinity manifested themselves simultaneously to humanity—God the Father by speaking through the clouds,

God the Son being baptized in the water,

And God the Holy Spirit in the shape of a dove descending from heaven.

Thus,

The Holy Day is considered to be a Trinitarian feast.

The Orthodox consider Jesus' baptism to be the first step towards the Crucifixion,

And there are some parallels in the hymnography used on this day and the hymns chanted on Good Friday.

The liturgical forefeast of theophany begins on January 2nd and concludes with the Parimony on January 5th.

The eve of the feast is called Parimony.

Parimony is observed as a strict fast day on which those faithful who are physically able refrain from food until the first star is observed in the evening,

When a meal with wine and oil may be taken.

On this day,

The Royal Hours are celebrated,

Thus tying together this feast with Nativity and Good Friday.

The Royal Hours are followed by the Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil,

Which combines Vespers with the Divine Liturgy.

During the Vespers,

Fifteen Old Testament lections which foreshadow the baptism of Christ are read,

And special antiphons are chanted.

If the feast of the Theophany falls on a Sunday or Monday,

The Royal Hours are chanted on the previous Friday,

And on the Parimony the Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom is celebrated in the morning.

Fasting is lessened to some degree in this case.

The Orthodox Churches perform the Great Blessings of Waters on Theophany.

The blessing is normally done twice,

Once on the eve of the feast,

Usually at a baptismal font inside the Church,

And then again on the day of the feast outdoors at a body of water.

Following the Divine Liturgy,

The clergy and people go in a crocession,

Procession with the cross,

To the nearest body of water,

Be it a beach,

Harbor,

Quay,

River,

Lake,

Swimming pool,

Water depot,

Etc.

Ideally it should be a body of living water.

At the end of the ceremony,

The priest will bless the waters.

In the Greek practice,

He does this by casting a cross into the water.

If swimming is feasible on the spot,

Any number of volunteers may try to recover the cross.

The person who gets the cross first swims back and returns it to the priest,

Who then delivers a special blessing to the swimmer and their household.

Certain such ceremonies have achieved particular prominence,

Such as the one held annually at Tarpon Springs,

Florida.

In Russia,

Where the winters are severe,

A hole will be cut into the ice so that the waters may be blessed.

In such conditions,

The cross is not cast into the water,

But is held securely by the priest and dipped three times into the water.

The water that is blessed on this day is sometimes known as Theophany water,

Though usually just holy water,

And is taken home by the faithful and used with prayer as a blessing.

People will not only bless themselves and their homes by sprinkling with holy water,

But will also drink it.

The Orthodox Church teaches that holy water differs from ordinary water by virtue of the incorruptibility bestowed upon it by a blessing that transforms its very nature,

A miracle attested to as early as St.

John Chrysostom.

Theophany is a traditional day for performing baptisms,

And this is reflected in the Divine Liturgy by singing the baptismal hymn,

As many as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ,

Alleluia,

In place of the Trisagion.

On Theophany,

The priest will begin making the round of the parishioners' homes to bless them.

He will perform a short prayer service in each home,

And then go through the entire house,

Gardens,

And outside buildings,

Blessing them with the newly-blessed Theophany water while all sing the Troparion and Cotachion of the feast.

This is normally done on Theophany,

Or at least during the after-feast,

But if the parishioners are numerous,

And especially if many live far away from the Church,

It may take some time to bless each house.

Traditionally these blessings should all be finished before the beginning of Great Lent.

The Feast of Theophany is followed by an eight-day after-feast on which the normal fasting laws are suspended.

The Saturday and Sunday after Theophany have special readings assigned to them,

Which relate to the temptation of Christ and dependence and perseverance in the Christian struggle.

There is thus a liturgical continuum between the Feast of Theophany and the beginning of Great Lent.

In the Ethiopian Orthodox Church,

The feast is known as Timkat,

And is celebrated on the day that the Gregorian calendar calls January 19th,

But on January 20th in years when in Kudatash in the Ethiopian calendar falls on Gregorian September 12th,

I.

E.

When the following February in the Gregorian calendar will have 29 days.

The celebration of this feast features blessing of water and solemn processions with the Sacred Tabot.

A priest carries this to a body of water,

Where it stays overnight,

With the Metsahafekadassi celebrated in the early morning.

Later in the morning the water is blessed to the accompaniment of the reading of the four gospel accounts of the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan,

And the people are sprinkled with or go into the water.

The Tabot returns in procession to the church.

Among the Syriac Christians,

The feast is called Deno,

Upgoing,

A name to be connected with the notion of rising light expressed in Luke 1.

78.

In the East Syriac Rite,

This season of Epiphany,

Epiphanytide,

Is known as Denha.

In the Armenian Apostolic Church,

January 6th is celebrated as the Nativity and Theophany of Christ.

The feast is preceded by a seven-day fast.

On the eve of the feast,

The Divine Liturgy is celebrated.

This liturgy is referred to as the Eucharist of the Lighting of the Lamps in honor of the manifestation of Jesus as the Son of God.

Both the Armenian Apostolic Churches and Assyrian Church of the East liturgy is followed by a blessing of water during which the cross is immersed in the water,

Symbolizing Jesus' descent into the Jordan.

And Holy Miron,

Chrism,

Is poured in,

Symbolic of the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus.

The next morning,

After the liturgy,

The cross is removed from the vessel of holy water,

And all come forward to kiss the cross and partake of the blessed water.

Epiphany is celebrated with a wide array of customs around the world.

In some cultures,

The greenery and nativity scenes put up at Christmas are taken down at Epiphany.

In other cultures,

These remain up until Candlemas on February 2nd.

In countries historically shaped by Western Christianity,

These customs often involve gift-giving,

King cakes,

And a celebration close to the Christmas season.

In traditionally Orthodox nations,

Water,

Baptismal rites,

And house blessings are typically central to these celebrations.

In Argentina,

Paraguay,

And Uruguay,

As in other Latin American countries,

The day is called Dia de Reyes,

The Day of Kings,

A reference to the biblical Magi,

Commemorating the arrival of the Magi to revere Jesus as Son of God.

The night of January 5th into the morning of January 6th is known as Noche de Reyes,

The Night of Kings,

And children leave their shoes by the door,

Along with grass and water for the camels.

On the morning of January 6th,

They get up early and rush to see their shoes,

Where they are expecting to find gifts left by the Reyes,

Who,

According to tradition,

Bypass the house of children who are awake.

On January 6th,

A Rosca de Reyes,

A ring-shaped Epiphany cake,

Is eaten and all Christmas decorations are traditionally put away.

In Bulgaria,

Epiphany is celebrated on January 6th and is known as Boga Javleni,

Manifestation of God,

Or Yolanovden,

Day of Jordan,

Referring to the river.

On this day,

A wooden cross is thrown by a priest into the sea,

River,

Or lake,

And young men race to retrieve it.

As the date is in early January and the waters are close to freezing,

This is considered an honorable act and it is said that good health will be bestowed upon the home of the swimmer who is the first to reach the cross.

In the town of Kolofer,

A traditional horro with drums and bagpipes is played in the icy waters of the Tunza River before the throwing of the cross.

Speakers of Dutch and Flemish call this day Three Kings,

While German speakers call it Three Kings Day.

In Belgium-Luxembourg,

The southern parts of the Netherlands,

And in neighboring Germany,

Men in groups of three proceed in costume from house to house while singing songs typical for the occasion,

And receiving a coin or some sweets at each door.

They may each carry a paper lantern symbolizing the star.

In the Netherlands,

These tropes gather for competitions and present their skits or songs for an audience.

As in Belgium,

King's tart,

Puff pastry with almond filling,

Is prepared with a black bean hidden inside.

Whoever finds the bean in his or her piece is king or queen for the day.

A more typically Dutch version is king's bread.

In the north of the Netherlands,

The traditions have died out except for very few places.

Another Low Countries tradition on Epiphany is to open up doors and windows to let good luck in for the coming year.

In Brazil,

The day is called Dia dos Reis,

The Day of Kings.

In the rest of Latin America,

Dia de Reis,

Commemorating the arrival of the Magi to confirm Jesus as Son of God.

The night of January 5th into the morning of January 6th is known as Night of Kings,

Also called the Twelfth Night,

And is feasted with music,

Sweets,

And regional dishes as the last night of nativity,

When Christmas decorations are traditionally put away.

This day is sometimes known as the Dia de los Tres Reyes Magos,

The Day of the Three Royal Magi,

Or La Pascua de los Negros,

Holy Day of the Black Men,

In Chile.

Although the latter is rarely heard because it was the day when slaves were allowed not to work.

In the Dominican Republic,

The Dia de los Tres Reyes Magos,

The Day of the Three Royal Magi,

And in this day,

Children receive gifts on the Christmas tree in a similar fashion to Christmas Day.

On this day,

Public areas are very active with children,

Accompanied by their parents trying out their new toys.

A common practice is to leave toys under the children's beds on January 5th,

So when they wake up on January 6th,

They are made to believe the gifts and toys were left from Santa Claus or the Three Kings.

However,

And particularly in the larger cities and in the North,

Local traditions are now being observed and intertwined with the greater North American Santa Claus tradition,

As well as with other holidays such as Halloween,

Due to Americanization via film and television,

Creating an economy of gifting tradition that spans from Christmas Day until January 6th.

The Feast of the Epiphany is celebrated by the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria,

Which falls on the 11th of Tobe of the Coptic calendar,

As the moment when in baptism of Jesus the skies opened and God Himself revealed to all as Father of Jesus and all mankind.

It is then a moment of revelation of Epiphany.

This celebration started to include all the processes of incarnation of Jesus,

From His birth on Christmas until His baptism in the River Jordan.

For the Coptic Orthodox Church,

It is also a moment in which the path of Jesus to the cross begins.

Therefore,

In many celebrations,

There are certain similarities with the celebrations of Holy Friday during the time of Easter.

Since the Epiphany is one of the seven great feasts of the Coptic Orthodox Church,

It is a day of strict fasting,

And several religious celebrations are held on this day.

The day is related to the blessing of waters that are used all throughout the year in the Church celebrations,

And it is a privileged day to celebrate baptisms.

It is also a day in which many houses are blessed with water.

It may take several days for the local priest to bless all the houses of the parishioners that ask for it,

And so the blessing of the houses may go into the after-feasts of the Epiphany celebrations.

However,

It must be done before the beginning of Lent.

In England,

The celebration of the night before Epiphany,

Epiphany Eve,

Is known as Twelfth Night.

The first night of Christmas is December 25-26,

And Twelfth Night is January 5-6,

And was a traditional time for mumming and the wassail.

The Yule log was left burning until this day,

And the charcoal left was kept until the next Christmas to kindle next year's Yule log,

As well as to protect the house from fire and lightning.

In the past,

Epiphany was also a day for playing practical jokes,

Similar to April Fool's Day.

Today in England,

Twelfth Night is still as popular a day for plays as when Shakespeare's Twelfth Night was first performed in 1601,

And annual celebrations involving the holly man are held in London.

A traditional dish for Epiphany was Twelfth Cake,

A rich,

Dense,

Typically English fruitcake.

As in Europe,

Whoever found the baked-in bean was king for a day,

But uniquely to English tradition other items were sometimes included in the cake.

Whoever found the clove was the villain,

The twig the fool,

And the rag the tart.

Anything spicy or hot like ginger snaps and spiced ale was considered proper Twelfth Night fare,

Recalling the costly spices brought by the wise men.

Another English Epiphany sweetmeat was the traditional jam tart,

Made appropriate to the occasion by being fashioned in the form of a six-pointed star symbolizing the Star of Bethlehem,

And thus called Epiphany tart.

The discerning English cook sometimes tried to use thirteen different colored jams on the tart on this day for luck,

Creating a pastry resembling stained glass.

In the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and the Eritrean Orthodox Church,

The feast is known as Timkot and is celebrated on the day that the Gregorian calendar calls January 19th,

But on January 20th in years when New Year and the Ethiopian calendar falls on Gregorian September 12th,

I.

E.

When the following February in the Gregorian calendar will have twenty-nine days.

The celebration of this feast features blessing of water and solemn processions with the sacred tabot.

In Finland,

Epiphany is called Lopiainen,

A name which goes back to the 1600s.

In the 1500s,

The Swedish-Finnish Lutheran Church called Epiphany Day of the Holy Three Kings,

While before this the older term Epiphaneia was used.

In the Karelian language,

Epiphany is called Vierista,

Meaning cross,

From the Orthodox custom of submerging a cross three times to bless water on this day.

Today in the Lutheran Church,

Epiphany is a day dedicated to a focus on missionary work in addition to the Wise Men narrative.

Between 1973 and 1991,

Epiphany was observed in Finland on a Saturday each year,

No earlier than January 6th and no later than January 12th.

After that time,

However,

The traditional date of January 6th was restored and has since been observed once again as a national public holiday.

The Christmas tree is traditionally taken out of the house on Epiphany,

While the term Lopiainen means ending of Christmastime.

In reality,

Christmas celebrations in Finland are extended to Nuutis or St.

Kanut's Day on January 13th,

Completing the Scandinavian 20 days of Christmas.

In France,

People share one of two types of king cake.

In the northern half of France and Belgium,

The cake is called Jolette des Rois and is a round,

Flat,

And golden cake made with flake pastry and often filled with frangipane fruit or chocolate.

In the south,

In Provence,

And in the southwest,

A crown-shaped cake or brioche filled with fruit called a gâteau des Rois is eaten.

In Romandy,

Both types can be found,

Though the latter is more common.

Both types of cake contain a charm,

Usually a porcelain or plastic figurine called a fève broad bean in French.

The cake is cut by the youngest and therefore most innocent person at the table to assure that the recipient of the bean is random.

The person who gets the piece of cake with the trinket becomes king or queen and wears a paper crown provided with the cake.

In some regions,

This person has a choice between offering a beverage to everyone around the table,

Usually a sparkling wine or champagne,

Or volunteering to host the next king cake at their home.

This can extend to festivities throughout all of January.

January 6 is a public holiday in Austria,

Three federal states of Germany,

And three cantons of Switzerland,

As well as in parts of Graubünden.

In the German-speaking lands,

Groups of young people called Stersinger,

Starsingers,

Travel from door to door.

They are dressed as the biblical magi,

And their leader carries a star,

Usually of painted wood attached to a broom handle.

Among these groups are four girls or two boys and two girls,

In order to sing in four-part harmony.

They sing traditional songs,

And newer ones as the Stern über Bethlehem.

They are not necessarily three wise men.

German Lutherans often note in a lighthearted fashion that the Bible never specifies that the Weissen magi were men,

Or that there were three.

The starsingers solicit donations for worthy causes,

Such as efforts to end hunger in Africa,

Organized jointly by the Catholic and Protestant churches,

And they will also be offered treats at the homes they visit.

The young people then perform the traditional house blessing by marking the year over the doorway with chalk.

In Roman Catholic communities,

This may even today be a serious spiritual event with the priest present,

But among Protestants it is more tradition and a part of the German notion of Gemütlichkeit.

Usually on the Sunday following Epiphany,

These donations are brought into churches.

Here all of the children who have gone out as starsingers,

Once again in their costumes,

Form a procession of sometimes dozens of wise men and stars.

The German Chancellor and Parliament also receive a visit from the starsingers at Epiphany.

Some Germans eat a Three Kings cake,

Which may be a golden pastry ring filled with orange and spice,

Representing gold,

Frankincense,

And myrrh.

Most often found in Switzerland,

These cakes take the form of Buchtlein,

But for Epiphany studded with citron,

And baked as seven large buns in a round,

Rather than square pan,

Forming a crown.

Or they may be made of typical rich Christmas bread dough with cardamom and pearl sugar in the same seven-bun crown shape.

These varieties are most typically purchased in supermarkets,

With the trinket and gold paper crown included.

As in other countries,

The person who receives the piece or bun containing the trinket,

Or a whole almond,

Becomes the king or queen for a day.

Epiphany is also an especially joyful occasion for the young and young at heart,

As this is the day dedicated to Plündern,

That is,

When Christmas trees are plundered of their cookies and sweets by eager children and adults,

And when gingerbread houses and any other good things left in the house from Christmas are devoured.

Lastly,

There is a German rhyme saying or bound regal that goes,

Is bis drei Königs kein Winter,

Kommt keiner dahinter,

Meaning,

If there hasn't been any winter weather until Epiphany,

None is coming afterward.

Another of these Bauer and Regel,

German farmer's,

Rules for Epiphany states,

If the eve of Epiphany is bright and clear,

It foretells a good wine year.

Reviews

Thank you Ben! I pulled this one out and I hadn’t heard it! Right to sleep 😴