The Christian Wheel of the Year: Epiphany

[readoldthings]

Epiphany

Happy Epiphany!

The Feast of Epiphany commemorates the visitation of the 3 magi to the infant Jesus; it is the last official day of Christmas (the Christmas Season as a whole goes until Candlemas on February 1st.)

Traditional Observations

There are many old traditions and customs associated with Epiphany, as there have been with the rest of our Feast Days. Many of these have very similar themes; one regularly sees house blessings, various forms of "trick-or-treating," divinations, and the crowning of child-kings and boy-bishops.

Epiphany in particular is associated with cakes in which a small bean or coin is placed; whoever discovers the bean becomes the king of the Epiphany.

Epiphany is also a day for giving gifts. Sometimes the gifts are said to come from the magi; other times a Santa Claus-type of figure provides them. In Italy and in the Italian diaspora, gifts are distributed by a witch called La Befana; in some households, it's the role of the youngest daughter to put on a witch's hat and pass out presents.

Epiphany is also associated with the blessing of waters. It is still the custom among the Orthodox to bless the waters during Epiphany; whether those waters were lakes, rivers, or the ocean. This includes tossing a cross into the water, which the gathered parishioners then compete to find. When I lived in Santa Barbara, there was a large Greek Orthodox Church and, nearby, an Antiochian Orthodox Church-- the "Antiochian Orthodox Church" is the American Orthodox Church for all intents and purposes, and its members tend to be converted American Protestants. Members of both churches would gather at Leadbetter Beach at Epiphany, bless the ocean and dive for the cross.

It's worth noting that cold water has strong powers of magical purification which are used in many traditions. You'll find the Greeks at the beginning of the Iliad purifying themselves after offending Apollo by casting themselves into the sea; you'll find modern Japanese Shintoists doing the same sort of thing with waterfalls. Give it a try yourself sometime, if you have a body of water available, and you'll find the effects immediate and remarkable (and all the more so if you preface your swim with a suitable prayer).

In Greece it was also the custom to take ashes from a hearth in which cedarwood has been burning since Christmas to a blessed river, "baptize" the ashes," and then scatter the ashes at the four corners of vineyars and at the foot of apple and fig trees. Similar customs prevailed as far away as England, where men would drink a toast of cider before the largest apple tree, and sing the following find old song:

 

 

Here's to thee, old apple-tree,
Whence thou may'st bud, and whence thou may'st blow!

And whence thou may'st bear apples enow!

Hats full! caps full!

Bushel!—bushel—sacks full,

And my pockets full too! Huzza!

Today, the best known Epiphany devotion is the blessing of the home with water and consecrated chalk. As we discussed yesterday, that's what we're going to do today. If you have blessed chalk already, that's what you'll need; if not, you can refer back to the ritual I posted yesterday.

The Blessing of the Home

1. Begin in the usual way, with the following twist-- if you can, you should set up your prayer space either in the kitchen or in some place representing the center of the home to you.

2. Recite the following:

A. The Prologue to Saint John's Gospel

B. The Our Father

C. The Collect:

 

O God, who by the star this day revealed Your only-begotten Son to all nations, grant that we, who know You now by faith, may be brought one day before the vision of Your majesty. Through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.

3. Now, take your chalk, and go outside, to the door of your house. At the top part of the door (the lintel), you are going to write the following:

20 + C + M + B + 22

This stands for Caspar Melchior Balthazar, the names of the 3 magi. And it also stands for Christus mansionem benedicat-- or Christ bless this house.

Write the formula while reciting the following words:

 

The Three Wise Men, Caspar C (write the letter), Melchior M and Balthazar B followed the star of God’s Son Who became man, Two Thousand 20 and Twenty One years ago 21. May Christ bless our home ++ (inscribe the first two crosses), and remain with us through the new year ++ (then the last two crosses).

 

 

You can then bless the home with holy water; the water will have an added effect if it is blessed today (or yesterday).

A blessed Eiphany to one and all!

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Comments

[flanerieoconnor]

Thanks for this- the blessing was simple and elegant, less clumsy-feeling to perform than others I've found online, but, as far as I'm able to judge such things, quite effective. I also appreciated the rite for the blessing of chalk, having been unable to procure any from a church this year.

Also, at the risk of expressing a bit of chauvinism for my own adopted tradition, if you haven't ever attended an Orthodox liturgy for Theophany, I can't recommend it highly enough- the Great Blessing of the Waters is among the most moving and beautiful liturgical prayers I know of, East or West (I also remember coming across reference to an Orthodox folk tradition that all the waters of the entire world become Holy Water for the duration of Theophany/Epiphany, due to the effect of the blessing- reminds me somewhat of the tradition that animals gain the power of speech on Christmas Eve. I've never been able to track down the reference since, but I love the notion)!

[readoldthings]

the blessing was simple and elegant, less clumsy-feeling to perform than others I've found online

This kind of feedback is very helpful-- Thank you!

I haven't attended an Orthodox liturgy yet-- we have a few churches nearby, and I had a long conversation with the pastor of one recently (a very interesting guy, I think he was in the "Orthodox West" documentary that's been floating around YouTube). I would like to see the blessing of the waters, though. If you do find a reference to that tradition, please let me know-- that kind of thing is very helpful for this whole project.

[onesage]

Here in the Tampa area there is a large Greek population in Tarpon Springs that does a huge dive for a cross every year - snarls traffic for miles! It’s a huge thing but I think there is some material benefit for the young man who comes up with the cross - it might be a scholarship or similar but there’s definitely something. Not to mention “winning”! Anyway, this tradition at least is alive and well :)

[prayergardens]

I just noticed that my daughters school (yes, Catholic) has this over their front door. Wow - I've never seen this in the wild before yesterday. What synchronicity! Do you think it's too late to do it to our own house? Perhaps the spirit of the intention matters more than the exact day?

[readoldthings]

There's never any reason not to try. In a worst case scenario, you'll still pray over your house and bless it with holy water, so my guess is that it just won't have quite the same power it would if you were plugged into the energy of the day itself.

[prayergardens]

Well, I just got up and did it. Very sloppy beginner effort but I thought it was more important to do it ok then do it perfectly. That was the first time I ever 'did' something in Catholicism other than pray or listen. Very emotional. My heart chakra opened up completely. Thank you.

[readoldthings]

Thank you, this is great work.

Anyone listening in, take notice-- This is what to do. Don't worry about getting things exactly right, just do it!