Epiphany: The Brightness of Christ’s Revealed Presence

The Christmas season is only the beginning of the liturgical calendar’s narrative of the life of Christ. The story continues with Epiphany. “[N]ations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.” (Isaiah 60:3) These prophetic words set the theme for the season of Epiphany, a meditation on the light of the world revealed to all people in our Savior, Jesus Christ. The word Epiphany means ‘the manifestation of God to man,’ and this season reflects on the many ways Christ manifested himself as the fully-God and fully-human Savior through his life and ministry. This guide is designed to walk you through the seasonal feasts that signify these Epiphany moments. May the shining presence of Christ be manifest in your heart this season.

 

Deacon, Redeemer Anglican Church

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THE FEAST OF THE EPIPHANY
January 6

Just as the Christmas season begins with Christmas Day, so the Epiphany season begins with the feast of the Epiphany, on January 6. The Feast of the Epiphany celebrates the adoration of the wise men. In the coming of the wise men, the rulers of the Gentiles offered gifts, tribute, and worship to the revealed Savior of Israel. Together, the wise men presented Jesus with gold (a gift signifying royalty), frankincense (an incense intended for worship), and myrrh (used for anointing bodies for burial). In this act of mystical significance, ancient prophecies were fulfilled, that kings and nations would serve and worship the Messianic king.

The Feast of the Epiphany is one of the most ancient celebrations in the Christian calendar. There was a time when the church considered Epiphany, Easter, and Pentecost to be the three most special days of the church year. While Christmas has now overshadowed Epiphany, there are many ways that we as the church can keep Epiphany traditions alive and well. After 12 Days of Christmas celebration, keep the charcuterie board stocked for one more day! The Eve of Epiphany (the night of January 5, known to Shakespeare aficionados as “Twelfth Night”) is a final opportunity to enjoy your Christmas decorations and eggnog – a great, last hurrah as the decorations come down. But even taking down the decorations becomes an occasion for merriment. The feast of Epiphany is a time for celebration, bonfires, and parties. Epiphany is often celebrated by taking the old Christmas tree into the backyard and setting it ablaze, creating an enormous bonfire that fills the cold winter darkness with brilliant light; a fitting representation of the light of Christ that has entered our dark and cold world.

Epiphany is also a traditional time for house blessings, when a church leader or family elder will pray in each room and anoint the doorposts with oil, asking that the Light of Christ’s Epiphany would shine forth from the home to the neighborhood and the world. As part of this act, some will mark their front door with chalk, writing a pattern of four crosses positioned in between the initials for the Latin phrase, Christus Mansione Benedicat (“May Christ bless this dwelling place”), surrounded by the first two and last two digits of the new year (example: “20+C+M+B+28”).. C, M, and B are also the initials for the traditional names of the three wisemen ( ‘Caspar,’ ‘Melchior,’ and ‘Balthazar’) and this act of prayer and devotion petitions the Lord to visit the home, just as the wise men visited the Holy Family at Epiphany.

Hymn for Epiphany
We three kings of Orient are;
Bearing gifts we traverse a-far,
Field and fountain, Moor and mountain,
Following yonder star.
O star of wonder, star of night,
Star with royal beauty bright,
Westward leading, Still proceeding, Guide us to thy perfect light!

Prayer for Epiphany
O God, by the leading of a star you manifested your only Son to the peoples of the earth: Lead us, who know you now by faith, to your presence, where we may see your glory face to face; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

 
 
 

Baptism of Jesus
The First Sunday of Epiphany

The first Sunday of Epiphany remembers the Baptism of Jesus and the church often celebrates with the baptisms of babies and adult converts. At the launch of his ministry, Jesus journeyed to the Jordan river, where his cousin, John the Baptist, was baptizing in the Jordan river and calling the people of Israel to repentance, in anticipation of the coming Messiah. Quoting the prophet Isaiah, John cried out, “Make straight the way of the Lord!” (John 1:23) When Jesus arrived, John identified Jesus as this Messiah, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) Jesus asked that John baptize him and John protested, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus insisted, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” (Matthew 3:14-15) John then baptized Jesus in the Jordan, the same river through which the people of Israel crossed on dry ground on their way to the promised land (Joshua 1:1-9). Rising from the baptismal water, Jesus was revealed in Trinitarian glory when the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove and the Father in Heaven was heard to say, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17) Jesus’ divinity was manifested, and his ministry of calling his people to the promised land of his heavenly kingdom had begun.

Hymn for The Baptism of Jesus

Hail to the Lord’s Anointed,
Great David’s greater Son!
Hail in the time appointed,
His reign on earth begun!
He comes to break oppression,
To set the captive free,
To take away transgression,
And rule in equity.

Prayer for The Baptism of Jesus
Eternal Father, who at the baptism of Jesus revealed him to be your Son, anointing him with the Holy Spirit: grant to us, who are born again by water and the Spirit, that we may be faithful to our calling as your adopted children; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

 

WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY
January 18 - 25, 2026

The Feast of the Confession of Peter (January 18) and the Feast of the Conversion of Paul (January 25) bookend the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, where churches of all traditions join in Jesus’ prayer that all “might be one” so that the light of Christ may be shared with the world and that the fellowship of Christ’s body might be whole. Peter and Paul had their conflicts (Galatians 2:11) and were restored to unity because of their common confession of the truth in Jesus. In the hours before his death, Jesus issued his own heartfelt prayer for the unity of his people, “Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one… That they may be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me… I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” (John 17:6, 21, 23) Jesus clearly tied the unity of his people to the manifestation (the “epiphany”) of his identity to the world. As we observe the epiphany of Christ this season, it is appropriate to set aside time to pray earnestly for unity in the church, that the world may know Christ and his love.

Hymn for The Week of Christian Unity
The Church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord;
She is the new creation by water and by word;
From heaven he came and sought her to be his holy bride;
With his own blood he bought her, and for her life he died.

Prayer for The Week of Christian Unity
Lord Jesus Christ, you said to your apostles, “Peace I give to you; my own peace I leave with you.”: Regard not our sins, but the faith of your Church, and give to us the peace and unity of that heavenly city, where with the Father and the Holy Spirit you live and reign, now and for ever. Amen.

 
 
 

CANDLEMAS
February 2, 2026

The day Americans and Canadians call “Groundhog Day” is actually a significant moment in the church’s liturgical calendar. February 2 marks forty days after Christmas Day and commemorates the events of Luke 2:22-40. This passage recounts that 40 days after Jesus’ birth, his mother and father presented him at the Temple in Jerusalem. This profound moment marked the first time God incarnate entered his temple. There, two prophets, Simeon and Anna, welcomed the child with joy. Like many prophets before them, Simeon and Anna had longed to see the Messiah who would bring salvation, and they recognized that this moment had now come. The Lord would be “a light of revelation to the Gentiles,” said Simeon, “and the glory of [his] people, Israel.” (Luke 2:32)

This light of revelation is traditionally celebrated with the abundant lighting of candles, and the blessing of their continued use throughout the year. In the Northern hemisphere, the Candlemas feast falls in mid-winter, and the theme of light advancing in the darkness has held particular resonance on this day. Candlemas is the final holiday in the liturgical calendar tied to the narrative arc of the Christmas story. Because of this, it is the final traditional date to display Christmas decorations. Though most have their decorations boxed up by the feast of the Epiphany on January 6th, hardcore Christmas enthusiasts choose to finally take down their manger scenes and Christmas trees on Candlemas.

Hymn for The Week of Christian Unity
Lift up your heads, ye mighty gates;
Behold, the King of glory waits!
The King of kings is drawing near;
The Savior of the World is here.

Prayer for The Week of Christian Unity
Almighty and everliving God, we humbly pray that, as your only-begotten Son was this day presented in the temple in the substance of our flesh, so we may be presented to you with pure and clean hearts by Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

 

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