By Fr. Patrick Reardon, January 2, 2005 In the Christian East it is the Baptism of our Lord that receives the dominant emphasis in the Church’s annual celebration of Theophany (commonly called Epiphany in the West) on January 6. This feast is celebrated, moreover, as the manifestation of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This emphasis is clear in the troparion of the day: “When Thou, O Lord, wast baptized in the Jordan, the
On January 6, Orthodox Christians celebrate the Theophany or revelation of the Holy Trinity at Christ’s baptism in the Jordan River. When we, as Orthodox Christians, attempt to explain the significance of this feast, we normally stress two closely related themes. On the one hand, God reveals himself as a tri-unity of divine Persons, a revelation that will be repeated in modified form at Jesus’ Transfiguration. Thereby Jesus is revealed to be “one of the
The Two Theophanies: Epiphany and Transfiguration All three of the Synoptic Gospels provide full descriptions, fairly unanimous as to detail, of the two great theophanies: that which the Church observes as the Feast of Epiphany; and that which it commemorates in August, as the Feast of the Transfiguration. It may seem odd to consider them together as I propose to do. In reality they can hardly be considered separately. It is not accidental that in
[My] journey began on Christmas morning, 1988, in Ottawa in a small Anglo-Catholic church called St. Barnabas. It was my first encounter with what my high church friends call “smells and bells.” Throughout that Christmas service a translucent ribbon of incense lingered just above eye level. Its constant presence provided a gentle introduction to the physical elements of the Christmas service that I had not experienced before—the Eucharist, the processions, the sights, sounds, and, yes,
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO “LIVE THE CHURCH YEAR”? Our goal is to recover a more ancient way of looking at time and the mysterious relationship between the material and spiritual realms. The early Christians believed that the rhythm of the year gave us a perfect opportunity to re-enact the story of our salvation. In the holy days and seasons of the church year, the life of Christ and the entirety of human history are
So then the Lord Jesus, after He had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. Mark 16:19 (From the Third Eothinon Gospel of the Sunday Orthros) “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.” And when He had said this,
And when Jesus was baptized, He went up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and alighting on Him; and lo, a voice from heaven, saying “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” -Matthew 3: 16-17 (Gospel of Epiphany) The Feast we celebrate on January 6 is known by several names. One is the Baptism of Christ.
As for you, always be steady, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. For I am already on the point of being sacrificed, the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and
Bible Readings: Epistle: Titus 2:11-14.3:4-7 Gospel: St. Matthew 3:13-17 Liturgical Services: Christ is baptized! He comes up out of the water, and with Him He carries up the world. He sees the heavens opened that Adam had closed against himself and his posterity. The Spirit bears witness to His divinity, for He hastens toward His like. And a voice sounds from heaven, for it is from heaven that He has come down to those whom
Meditation: Looking Toward Epiphany Epiphany! Theophany! Two good Greek words expressing and proclaiming to the world the showing forth of God in His fullness. Epiphany is the showing forth of God because it was there, at the Baptism of Jesus, that all three Persons of the Holy Trinity appeared together for the first time. The Father’s voice testified from on high that Jesus is the Son of God. The Son accepted his Father’s testimony, and
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