Before recorded history, the Church's calendar, like ballads, rhymes, and symbols, transmitted its cultural and religious heritage to the next generation. In Epiphany, or Twelfth Night (also called King's Day, Cross Day, Old Christmas, and the Feast of the Three Kings), our parish has selected a name dating back to the beginnings of Christianity. Epiphany, from the greek theophany, is the first great religious festival of the calendar year, marking the three appearances or divine manifestations of Jesus Christ. These are (1) the visit of the Magi to acknowledge Jesus as God of Gentiles as well as Jews, (2) the descent of the Holy Spirit to proclaim the divinity of Christ at the time of His baptism in the Jordan River, and (3) the marriage at Cana, a time when mastery of the elements was exhibited in the miracle of turning water into wine. In the early church, Epiphany often superseded Christmas as the most important and popular Holy Day (or holi-day) or the year.
Twelfth Night, like most Holy Days, played a major role in the struggle between the East (i.e., the Church based in Constantinople) and the West (i.e., the church based in Rome), which colored and shaped the Christian Church in the first one thousand years after the Crucifixion. Of these two divisions, the Orthodox (Eastern) branch deserves credit for institutionalizing the day. Clement of Alexandria is probably the first to record its existence, noting that some Gnostic Christians celebrated the Feast of the Epiphany to commemorate the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. Later, the festival become known as the Feast of Jordan or Feast of Lights. By A. D. 386, the great St. John Chysostom stated in a sermon given in Antioch on Pentecost, "With us the Epiphanies is the First Festival." But gradually, the day merged with Christmas and became one.
In the West, Epiphany continued to have a separate identity. Pope Julius is usually given credit for dividing this day from Christmas. He wrote in his journal that a separate feast was held in A. D. 813. Subsequently, missionaries grafted the day to civil and church calendars throughout Europe, including England, the home of Anglicanism. There, the holiday flourished, becoming center stage in miracle plays and performances in churches, courts of kings and queens, the Inns of the Court, and, of course, in colleges and universities. Shakespeare himself wrote a play called "Twelfth Night."
With the changing of the calendar in 1752 (eleven days were dropped when England moved from the Julian to the Gregorian Calendar), a quarrel evolved between the reformers and, in this case, the conservatives who wanted to celebrate the dates of the Old Christmas. Confusion and resentment de-emphasized Epiphany until it became virtually lost in liturgies and hymnbooks.
The modern American holiday is mostly identified with the carol entitled "The Twelve Days of Christmas," or the blessing given to the sponge divers who descend into the waters of the Atlantic Ocean at Tarpon Springs, Florida, to retrieve a golden cross every January 6th. This custom shows the early connection between Epiphany and the baptism of Jesus. On the other hand, the modern communications revolution is slowly creating convergence between East and West, as well as Western Catholics and Protestants. More information is becoming available on possible relationships to the greater pagan past and similarities to Jewish festivals. Some hope this stimulation will produce a lost document that will compel church leaders to restore our first major church holiday to more rightful pre-eminence in our church lives.
Until then, we must rely on parishes, such as our own, to serve as beacons for the Feast of the Epiphany, until the antiquity of the past illuminates the potential of the future.