"celebrated for twelve days, ending with the Epiphany. Contemporary use has sought to express an alternative tradition, in which Christmas lasts for a full forty days, ending with the Feast of the Presentation on February 2."" 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 (Candlemas)"". The Church of England's optional Epiphany season thus begins at Evening Prayer on the Eve of the Epiphany (which may be celebrated on January 6 or the Sunday between January 2 and 8) and ends at Evening"
"of food and drink. (If a wren could not be found then a sparrow would have to undergo the ritual.) Epiphany (holiday) Epiphany ( ), also Theophany, Denha, Little Christmas, or Three Kings' Day, is a Christian feast day that celebrates the revelation of God incarnate as Jesus Christ. In Western Christianity, the feast commemorates principally (but not solely) the visit of the Magi to the Christ Child, and thus Jesus' physical manifestation to the Gentiles. Moreover, the feast of the Epiphany, in some Western Christian denominations, also initiates the liturgical season of Epiphanytide. Eastern Christians, on the other hand,"
"Epiphany (holiday) Epiphany ( ), also Theophany, Denha, Little Christmas, or Three Kings' Day, is a Christian feast day that celebrates the revelation of God incarnate as Jesus Christ. In Western Christianity, the feast commemorates principally (but not solely) the visit of the Magi to the Christ Child, and thus Jesus' physical manifestation to the Gentiles. Moreover, the feast of the Epiphany, in some Western Christian 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"
"the event is commemorated in Western Christianity as the Feast of the Epiphany (January 6). The Orthodox Church commemorates the Adoration of the Magi on the Feast of the Nativity (December 25). The term is anglicized from the Vulgate Latin section title for this passage: A Magis adoratur. In the earliest depictions, the Magi are shown wearing Persian dress of trousers and Phrygian caps, usually in profile, advancing in step with their gifts held out before them. These images adapt Late Antique poses for barbarians submitting to an Emperor, and presenting golden wreaths, and indeed relate to images of tribute-bearers"
"on the same day, they do not have a series of twelve days between a feast of Christmas and a feast of Epiphany. The Oriental Orthodox, other than the Armenians, the Eastern Orthodox, and the Eastern Catholics who follow the same traditions do have the interval of twelve days between the two feasts. If they use the Julian Calendar, they celebrate Christmas on what is for them 25 December, but is 7 January of the Gregorian Calendar, and they celebrate Epiphany on what is for them 6 January, but is 19 January of the Gregorian Calendar. For the Eastern Orthodox,"
"star for the occasion to symbolize the Star of Bethlehem, and thus called Epiphany tart. The discerning English cook sometimes tried to use thirteen different coloured jams on the tart on this day for luck, creating a dessert with the appearance of stained glass. In the Eritrean Orthodox Church and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, the feast is known as ""Timkat"" and is celebrated on the day that the Gregorian calendar calls January 19, but on January 20 in years when Timket in the Ethiopian calendar falls on Gregorian September 12 (i.e. when the following February in the Gregorian calendar will"
"feast regained prominence after 800, when Charlemagne was crowned emperor on Christmas Day. Today, most Christians celebrate on December 25 in the Gregorian calendar, which has been adopted almost universally in the civil calendars used in countries throughout the world. However, some Eastern Christian Churches celebrate Christmas on December 25 of the older Julian calendar, which currently corresponds to January 7 in the Gregorian calendar, the day after the Western Christian Church celebrates the Epiphany. This is not a disagreement over the date of Christmas as such, but rather a preference of which calendar should be used to determine the"
"of the life of Jesus, the others being the Transfiguration, Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension. Most Christian denominations view the baptism of Jesus as an important event and a basis for the Christian rite of baptism (see also ). In Eastern Christianity, Jesus' baptism is commemorated on 6 January (the Julian calendar date of which corresponds to 19 January on the Gregorian calendar), the feast of Epiphany. In the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, the Lutheran Churches and some other Western denominations, it is recalled on a day within the following week, the feast of the baptism of the Lord."
"and obligations. The ""king cake"" takes its name from the biblical kings. In Western Christian liturgical tradition, the Solemnity of Epiphany—commemorated on January 6—celebrates the visit of the Magi to the Christ Child. The Eve of Epiphany (the night of January 5) is popularly known as Twelfth Night (the Twelve Days of Christmas are counted from Christmas Eve until this night). The season for king cake extends from the end of the Twelve Days of Christmas (Twelfth Night and Epiphany Day), up until the end of Shrovetide: Mardi Gras, ""Fat Tuesday,"" or Shrove Tuesday; the day before the start of"
"celebrated on January 7 or 8, on the following Monday. Pope John Paul II initiated a custom whereby on this feast the Pope baptizes babies in the Sistine Chapel. In the Church of England, Epiphany may be observed on January 6 proper, or on the Sunday between January 2 and 8. If Epiphany is observed on a Sunday on January 6 or before, the Baptism of Christ is observed on the following Sunday. If the Epiphany is observed on January 7 or 8, the Baptism of Christ is observed on the following Monday. In the Church of England, Ordinary Time"
"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"
"than an out-of-the-blue flash of inspiration about an issue they had not thought about previously. Another myth is that epiphany is simply another word for (usually spiritual) vision. Actually, realism and psychology make epiphany a different mode as distinguished from vision, even though both vision and epiphany are often triggered by (sometimes seemingly) irrelevant incidents or objects. In Christianity, the Epiphany refers to a realization that Christ is the Son of God. Western churches generally celebrate the Visit of the Magi as the revelation of the Incarnation of the infant Christ, and commemorate the Feast of the Epiphany on January"
"Festivals and Commemorations are also celebrated, with a few exceptions. In some Anglican traditions (including the Church of England) the Christmas season is followed by an Epiphany season, which begins on the Eve of the Epiphany (on 6 January or the nearest Sunday) and ends on the Feast of the Presentation (on February 2 or the nearest Sunday). Ordinary Time then begins after this period. The ""Book of Common Prayer"" contains within it the traditional Western Eucharistic lectionary which traces its roots to the ""Comes"" of St. Jerome in the 5th century. Its similarity to the ancient lectionary is particularly"
"there; Donald N. Levine describes a typical celebration of the early 1960s: Timkat Timkat ( ""T’imik’et"", literally ""Baptism""; also spelled ""Timqat"") is the Orthodox Tewahedo celebration of Epiphany. It is celebrated on January 19th (or 20th in a leap year), corresponding to the 10th day of Terr in the Ethiopian calendar. Timkat celebrates the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River. This festival is best known for its ritual reenactment of baptism (similar to such reenactments performed by numerous Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land when they visit the Jordan). During the ceremonies of Timkat, the Tabot, a model of"
"Birth, inclusively counting the first day and last day. This day, or some day proximate to it, is also celebrated by the Pope and Roman Catholics as World Day of Peace. In many nations, e. g., the United States, the Solemnity of Epiphany is transferred to the first Sunday after 1 January, which can occur as early as 2 January. That solemnity, then, together with customary observances associated with it, usually occur within the Twelve Days of Christmas, even if these are considered to end on 5 January rather than 6 January. Other Roman Catholic liturgical feasts on the General"
"corner apple cakes are eaten on this day, and as in other countries, star singing, visiting and house blessings have long been popular. Epiphany, celebrated on January 6, is the feast for the Roman Church that commemorates the visit of the Wise Men, the magi. However, in the Maronite Church, in accordance with the ancient tradition, it represents the public announcement of Jesus’ mission when he was baptized in the Jordan by John the Forerunner, also known as ""John the Baptist"". On the occasion, Lebanese Christians pray for their deceased. It is celebrated by attending church most often to the"
"few references to a theophany from the gospels. Mk 1:9-11, and Lk 9:28–36 are cited which recount the Baptism, and the Transfiguration of Jesus respectively. Although Jesus Christ is believed by Christians to be truly God, it is only when his divine glory is not veiled by his humanity, that it could be termed ""theophany"". Eastern Orthodox Christian Churches celebrate the theophany of Jesus Christ on the 6th of January according to a liturgical calendar as one of the ""Great Feasts"". In Western Orthodox Christian Churches, the 6th of January is kept as the holy day Epiphany, while the feast"
"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 over the doors of churches and homes. The letters stand for the initials of the Magi (traditionally named Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar), and also the phrase ""Christus mansionem benedicat"", which translates as ""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"
"feast, beginning on January 6. Today, ""The Epiphany of our Lord"", classified as a Principal Feast, is observed in some Anglican provinces on January 6 exclusively (e.g., the Anglican Church of Canada) but in the Church of England the celebration is ""on 6 January or transferred to the Sunday falling between 2 and 8 January"". Lutheran, United Methodist and United Church of Christ congregations, along with those of other denominations, may celebrate Epiphany on January 6, on the following Sunday within the Epiphany week (octave), or at another time (Epiphany Eve January 5, the nearest Sunday, etc.) as local custom"
"at the story of the Baptism on January 6, thus explaining the date of the feast. If Christians read Mark in the same format the Basilides did, the two groups could have arrived at the January 6 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 Nativity was assigned to the same date as the birth because was misread to mean that Jesus was exactly 30 when he was baptized. Epiphanius of Salamis says that January"
"Prayer (or Night Prayer) on the Feast of the Presentation (which may be celebrated on 2 February or on the Sunday between January 28 and February 3). The Epiphany season is seen as in some sense a continuation of the Christmas season, and together they last forty days. The three main events focused on during the Epiphany season are the visit of the Magi, the baptism of Jesus, and Jesus' miracle at the marriage at Cana. The visit of the Magi is traditionally interpreted as symbolic of God's revelation of himself to the Gentiles, and so one of the themes"
"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 ""Koningenbrood"", or Kings' bread. 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) and in the rest of Latin America ""Día de Reyes"" commemorating the arrival of the Magi to confirm Jesus as son of God. The night of January 5"
"placed Christmas on December 25, a date that was later adopted in the East. Today, most Christians celebrate on December 25 in the Gregorian calendar, which has been adopted almost universally in the civil calendars used in countries throughout the world. However, some Eastern Christian Churches celebrate Christmas on December 25 of the older Julian calendar, which currently corresponds to January 7 in the Gregorian calendar, the day after the Western Christian Church celebrates the Epiphany. This is not a disagreement over the date of Christmas as such, but rather a preference of which calendar should be used to determine"
"both Christmas and Epiphany are among the Twelve Great Feasts that are only second to Easter in importance. The period between Christmas and Epiphany is fast-free. During this period one celebration leads into another. The Nativity of Christ is a three-day celebration: the formal title of the first day (i. e. Christmas Eve) is ""The Nativity According to the Flesh of our Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ"", and celebrates not only the Nativity of Jesus, but also the Adoration of the Shepherds of Bethlehem and the arrival of the Magi; the second day is referred to as the ""Synaxis"
"Twelfth Night (holiday) Twelfth Night is a festival in some branches of Christianity marking the coming of the Epiphany. Different traditions mark the date of Twelfth Night on either 5 January or 6 January; the Church of England, Mother Church of the Anglican Communion, celebrates Twelfth Night on the 5th and ""refers to the night before Epiphany, the day when the nativity story tells us that the wise men visited the infant Jesus"". In Western Church traditions, the Twelfth Night concludes the Twelve Days of Christmas; although, in others, the Twelfth Night may refer to the eve of the Twelfth"
"does not begin until the day after the Presentation of Christ in the Temple. In the Episcopal Church [USA], Epiphany is always celebrated on January 6, and the Baptism of the Lord is always celebrated on the following Sunday. It is not clear as to whether or not the Feast of the Baptism of our Lord is the end of Christmastide for the Episcopal Church. On one hand, the Prayer Book refers to the ""Twelve Days of Christmas,"" and clearly distinguishes the Christmas and Epiphany seasons, the latter extending until Ash Wednesday. On the other hand, the Prayer Book allows"
"the feast is celebrated as Twelfth Night. The Monday after Epiphany is known as Plough 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 Epiphanytide. 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"
"Epiphany season The Epiphany season, also known as Epiphanytide, is in some churches recognized as a liturgical period following the Christmas season (Christmastide). It begins on the day of Epiphany, and ends at various points as defined by those churches. In Advent 2000, the Church of England introduced into its liturgy an optional Epiphany season by approving the ""Common Worship"" series of services as an alternative to those in the ""Book of Common Prayer"", defining Epiphanytide as lasting from the feast of the Epiphany to Candlemas. An official publication of the Church of England states: ""The Christmas season is often"
"recognise a distinction between the date of their arrival and the date of Jesus' birth. The account given in the Gospel of Matthew does not state that they were present on the night of the birth; in the Gospel of Luke, Joseph and Mary remain in Bethlehem until it is time for Jesus' dedication, in Jerusalem, and then return to their home in Nazareth. Western Christianity celebrates the Magi on the day of Epiphany, January 6, the day immediately following the ""twelve days of Christmas"", particularly in the Spanish-speaking parts of the world. In these areas, the Three Kings (""""los"
"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 to penance 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 19, but on January 20 in years when Enkutatash in the Ethiopian calendar falls on Gregorian September 12 (i.e. when the following February in"
"came into general use. The American Book of Common Prayer of 1892 introduced it to Episcopal use, and from there it has been taken into most modern Anglican calendars (sometimes called ""The Transfiguration of Our Lord""). The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, and the North American Lutheran Church (NALC) observe the Feast of the Transfiguration as the last Sunday after the Epiphany, which is the Sunday immediately preceding Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent. In the Presbyterian Church, the Sunday of the Transfiguration marks the last day of the Epiphany"
"have 29 days). The celebration of this feast features blessing of water and solemn processions with the sacred Tabot. In Finland, Epiphany is called ""loppiainen"", 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 ""Epiphania"" was used. In the Karelian language Epiphany is called ""vieristä"", 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"
"6 is Christ's ""Birthday; that is, His Epiphany"" (""hemera genethlion toutestin epiphanion""). He also asserts that the Miracle at Cana occurred on the same calendar day. Epiphanius assigns the Baptism to November 6. 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"