www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Epiphany not the same in the West as in the East?

Dear knowledgeable brethren in Christ,

Just when I thought that I knew so much about the West, I just ( :rolleyes: )realized that the Ephiphany means something different in the East (baptism of our Lord, or Theophany) than it does in the West, (Feast of the three kings). As we were once one church, when did this liturgical feast(I know that the RC will celebrate our Lord's baptism a week after the Ephiphany) take on a different meaning in the West?

In Christ our Lord,
Alice

Alice

Don't feel bad, I found out the very same thing last year, only in reverse.

The 2nd Council of Tours proclaimed the sanctity of the Twelve Days from Christmas to Epiphany (Western version) in either 566 or 567 AD, so apparently some type of celebration of the coming of the Magi was already occuring at that time.

Alice,

Originally the Nativity, Adoration of the Magi and Baptism were all celebrated together, Dec 25 in West and Jan 6 in the East. Both soon adopted the other Church's date and split the commerations. Both assigned the Nativity to Dec 25 but the Adoration was assigned to Dec 25 by the East and Jan 6 by the West. I am unsure as to the old assignement of the Baptism in the West, I believe it was assigned somewhere in the Ocatve of Epiphany. The Roman Rite now assigns it to the Sunday after Epiphany.

Fr. Deacon Lance

In the monastic office or Liturgy of the Hours that we use at our Abbey actually three events in the life Christ are celebrated in the Octave of Epiphany. They are:

1) The adoration of the Christ Child by the Magi {emphasized the first Sunday}
2) Christ's first miracle at the wedding feast at Cana
3) The Baptism of Christ by John in the Jordan {emphasized the last Sunday}

True, in the Roman calendar the observance of the Baptism of the Lord is designated on the Sunday following Epiphany - but this is because it is the Octave day like Fr. Deacon Lance stated. The major solemnities of the Church year are so important that they merit a week of celebration! So you see Epiphany and the Baptism of the Lord are really one united celebration [much like Christmas & Jan. 1 ~ Mary, Mother of God].

The daily round of the Divine Office makes this very clear. In our prayers we have antiphons and readings that specifically mention the Baptism all throughout this week. It is a shame that the average churchgoer misses out on this. Therefore it seems in many eyes that the two feasts are split or unrelated. Too bad everyone isn't exposed to the Liturgy of the Hours.

To read more about Epiphany see the link below:

http://www.catholicculture.org/lit/activities/view.cfm?id=987

PAX

Brother,

Thank you for the information. Do you know where the Baptism is placed in the Tridentine Use?

Fr. Deacon Lance

Fr. Deacon Lance--

I believe that feast of the Baptism of the Lord is January 11 or 13 in the old calendar of the Roman rite. It was a fixed date feast. I'l double check when I get home tonight.

Blessings of the Feast!!

John.

I don't know, but in our recently Byzantine family it has created something of a dilemma: our children were used to the twelve days of Christmas with the feast of the wise men on January 6. Now we are celebrating the baptism of the Lord then, liturgically. We continue to privately celebrate the coming of the Wise Men, though. I mean, really, we don't want our children to think that "Byzantine" means one less day of gift-giving, do we? Maybe this solution will not please the purists, but for those of us with a Roman Catholic formation some latitude must be granted; there are other western liturgical dates that we still honor, for example. [saint's days, Our Lady of Guadalupe, and other westeren Marian feasts].

In the East the ancient celebration included the Birth of Christ, the Adoration of the Magi and really everything up to the Baptism of Christ and the Wedding at Cana. The movement of the festival of Christ�s birth from January 6th to December 25th was in imitation of the Church at Rome (thinking that they had access to the imperial records and knew best about the date).

A friend of mine who is a Roman Catholic priest called me this evening and told me that he thought it ironic that the Gospel in the Latin Church today was of the Baptism. In our discussion he noted that the entire Western Office for Epiphany remains largely that of the feat of the Baptism. It seems they revised the celebrations at the Mass but left the Hours alone.

I�ve posted this before but the article "Calculating Christmas" [touchstonemag.com] by William J. Tighe �on the Story Behind December 25� is very interesting.

Daniel,

Pastoral prudence and (at least my idea of) good parenting suggests that you should continue to celebrate both. As your children grow older you can educate them about how the East and West complement one another in they way we each celebrate the events of salvation history.

In my family there is a mix of Byzantines and Romans. Add into this that we Byzantines used to follow the Julian Calendar so Western Epiphany (January 6) used to be Eastern Christmas Eve (December 25/January 7)!

Admin

Well, I'm glad it's not so simple even for the not-so-recently Byzantine...

There is even a blessing of water for the Epiphany in the 1962 and earlier Latin sacramentaries which was not performed very often, the "Benedictio aquae in vigilia Ephipaniae Domini". I don't know if it is present in the post-Vatican II sacramentaries.

Christ is baptized! In the Jordan!

In the pre-Vatican II "Breviarum Romanum," the First Vespers of Jan. 6 was ALL about the Magi.
The Matins is a mixture of "baptism" and "magi" themes in the psalmody and antiphons, and the readings and responsories. For example, Responsory II says:

The Holy Spirit was seen in the form of a dove,
and the voice of the Father was heard:
This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.

The heavens were opened,
and the voice of the Father thundered:
This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.

(It's interesting: in the Sarum Use, this same responsory is used, but the repetenda goes on to add, "Hearken unto Him!" <G>)

But the homily of St. Leo the Great, read in the Second Nocturn, refers only to the Magi, with no references to the Baptism; this is also true of the homily of St. Gregory the Great read in the Third Nocturn.

At Lauds, the only references to the Baptism are in the antiphon to the Canticle of the Three Young Men, which is: "All you seas and waters, bless the Lord; you fountains, sing a hymn to the Lord, alleluia!" and the antiphon on the Canticle of Zechariah, which is one of the two famous "threefold epiphany" texts:

"Hodie caelesti Sponso iuncta est Ecclesia,
quoniam in Iordane lavit Christus eius crimina;
currunt eum muneribus Magi ad regales nuptias,
et ex aqua facto vino laetantur convivae alleuia!"

"Today the heaveny Bridegroom is joined to the Church, for Christ has washed away her sins in the Jordan; the Magi hurry with gifts to the royal wedding; and wine is made from water, that the wedding guests might rejoice, alleluia!"

The Little Hours are all "Magi" oriented (pun intended!).

At Second Vespers, all of the antiphons are from first vespers; the psalms are those appointed for Sunday; but the antiphon on the Magnificat is the other "threefold Epiphany" text:

"Tribus miraculis ornatum diem sanctum colimus:
hodie stella Magos duxit ad praesepium;
hodie vinum ex aqua factum est ad nuptias;
hodie in Iordane a Ioanne Christus baptizari voluit, ut salvaret nos, alleluia!"

We celebrate this holy day,
adorned with three miracles:
Today the star led the Magi to the manger;
today wine is made from water for the wedding;
today in the Jordan, Christ willed to be baptized by John that we might be saved, alleuia!"

In the Roman Rite itself, the Commemoration of the Baptism of the Lord was kept on January 13, with the rank of II Class, but with very little proper to the feast except the wonderful homilies of St. Gregory Nazianzus and St. Augustine of Hippo.

It should be noted that in the northern European uses before the Reformation, especially in Sarum, and in the uses of some of the religious orders (Dominicans, Carmelites, Norbertines in particular) a great deal more attention was paid to the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord.

(Prof.) J. Michael Thompson
Byzantine Catholic Seminary
Pittsburgh, PA

Addendum:

The Blessing of Water on Epiphany is described in the last pre-Vatican II edition of the "Rituale Romanum" (not a Sacramentary) as "influenced by the Eastern Church." There is no such blessing in the current "Book of Blessings" in post-Vatican II Roman Catholic use.

It might also be noted that there is a special blessing for chalk, which is then used to mark the homes of the faithful by the priest when he comes to bless homes during Epiphany, writing on the lintel +2+0+C+M+B+0+4+. The letters are either taken to refer to the names of the Magi (Caspar, Melchior, Balthasar) or to the phrase "Christus mansionem benedicat," "Christ blesses [this] house."

The final blessing in the "Rituale Romanum" for Jan. 6 is a blessing of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Most Roman clergy as (I have above) use these terms as synonomous in Roman usage. Most Latin priests I know still call the Rituale as the "sacramentary". The Rituale does indeed contain the formula for sacramental celebrations.

Diak:

The term "Sacramentary" re-entered* the Roman Catholic usage in 1970 with the publication of a divided Roman Missal in two volumes (Sacramentary, which contained the prayers used by the priest and deacon at the altar for the celebration of the Eucharist; and Lectionary, which contained the readings and the chants in between the readings).

So no Roman Catholic priest or deacon would be using the term "Sacramentary" and meaning the celebration of other sacraments or rituals (with the sole exception of the blessing of candles on Feb. 2 and the blessing and imposition of ashes on Ash Wednesday and the blessing of palms on Palm Sunday---all of which are done IN THE CONTEXT of the Eucharist).

Correcting incorrect usage was done with no offense intended. However, the usage in your posting was incorrect.

(Prof.) J. Michael Thompson
Byzantine Catholic Seminary
Pittsburgh, PA

*The term Sacramentary was, of course in common usage in the Roman Church pre-1054, where the book contained even LESS material than the current post-Vatican II Sacramentary. Those books, especially the ones with papal names, such as the Gelasian Sacramentary, the Leonine Sacramentary, are wonderful historical sources.