What is the Feast of Epiphany?

Epiphany is a Solemnity (the most important type of feast day in the liturgical calendar). It has a very ancient history, probably originating in the Eastern tradition of Christianity rather than the Western tradition that we are more familiar with. It is celebrated either on January 6th (the "Twelfth Night" after Christmas) or on the Sunday between January 2nd and 8th. As the word "epiphany" refers to a "manifestation", the feast is essentially about the manifestation of Jesus Christ as God. In fact, in the Eastern Churches this feast is called Theophany, a word which even more directly refers to a manifestation of God's glory.

Epiphany is one of the richest and most fascinating celebrations on the Church calendar, both because of the many wonderful traditions surrounding it and because of the various events that are all commemorated as part of this single feast. Throughout its history, Epiphany has been celebrated as the date of Christ's birth as well as his Baptism in the Jordan River. It is also associated with the Wedding Feast at Cana and Christ's first miracle of turning water into wine there. But most of us in the West are familiar with Epiphany as "Three Kings Day", commemorating the visit of the magi (never referred to as kings in the Bible) and thus the revelation of God to the Gentiles.

Though the Western Church now has a separate feast day for the Baptism of the Lord (on Monday, January 8th this year), in the Eastern Churches this event is the primary focus of the celebration of Theophany. Traditional activities include blessing of water as well as the ritual of diving for a cross. Every year, Tarpon Springs hosts what may well be the largest and most spectacular traditional Eastern Orthodox Epiphany celebration in the world.

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