The Feast of the Epiphany

The Feast of the Epiphany, celebrated on January 6th,
is one of the oldest in the Church and one of the greatest
in the ecclesiastical year. The word Epiphany is a Greek
word which signifies a manifestation or revelation.
During the first three centuries the manifestation of
Christ to the chosen people and His manifestation as the
Savior of all races and nations, were celebrated on the
same day, but since the 4th century, December 25th has
been the Feast of the Nativity, or Christmas, and
January 6th the Feast of the Epiphany, or the Feast of the
Three Kings. It is so-called because the gospel of the
day tells us that Wise Men, or Magi, came from the East
to Jerusalem saying: “Where is He that is born King of
the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and we
have come to adore Him.”
They may have come from Arabia, Chaldea or Persia.
Tradition says that there were three, Gaspar, Melchior
and Balthazar. The prophecy that “a star shall rise out of
Jacob,” and the teaching of the prophet Daniel at
Babylon had spread throughout the East. When the
mysterious star appeared, learned men recognized it as a
sign that the coming of the Messias was at hand and that
He would be born in Judea. Following the star, they
reached Bethlehem. “And going into the house they
found the child with Mary, His Mother, and falling
down they adored Him; and opening their treasures,
they offered to Him gifts, gold, frankincense and
myrrh.”

PRAYER: O God, who on this day revealed Thy Only
begotten Son to the Gentiles under the guidance of a
star, mercifully grant that we who know Thee now by
faith, may be led on even to look upon the beauty of
Thy majesty. Amen. Lives of the Saints, pgs. 23-24