Category : Church Year / Liturgical Seasons

A Prayer for the day from William Knight

O Thou, in whom we live and move and have our being: We offer and present unto thee ourselves, all that we are and have, our thoughts and our desires, our words and our deeds, to be a living and continual sacrifice.  We are not our own; therefore we would glorify thee in our bodies and our spirits, which are thine; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Posted in Epiphany, Spirituality/Prayer

A Prayer for the Confession of St. Peter

Almighty Father, who didst inspire Simon Peter, first among the apostles, to confess Jesus as Messiah and Son of the Living God: Keep thy Church steadfast upon the rock of this faith, that in unity and peace we may proclaim the one truth and follow the one Lord, our Savior Jesus Christ; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Posted in Church Year / Liturgical Seasons, Ecumenical Relations, Spirituality/Prayer

A Prayer for the day from Frederick B. Macnutt

Almighty God, who to wise men who sought him didst manifest the Incarnation of thy Son by the bright shining of a star: Grant that, as they presented unto him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh, so we also out of our treasures may offer to him ourselves, a living sacrifice acceptable in thy sight; through him who for our sakes was born on earth as a little child, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Posted in Epiphany, Prayer List

A Prayer for the day from Harold Riley

Almighty and everlasting God, whose blessed Son took upon him our manhood and increased in wisdom and stature: Grant that all Christian children may learn that fear of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom, and as they grow in stature may also grow in love to thee; through the same Christ our Lord.

Posted in Epiphany, Spirituality/Prayer

Leo I for Epiphany–‘When the brightness of a new star had led three wise men to worship Jesus…They saw him…as a Child – silent, at rest, placed in the care of his Mother – in a situation where there appeared no indication of power’

When the brightness of a new star had led three wise men to worship Jesus, they did not see him ruling over demons, not raising the dead, not restoring sight to the blind or mobility to the lame or speech to the dumb, nor in any action of divine power. They saw him, rather, as a Child – silent, at rest, placed in the care of his Mother – in a situation where there appeared no indication of power.

From this lowliness, however, a great miracle was presented. Consequently, the mere sight of that Sacred Infancy to which God the Son of God had adapted himself was bringing to their eyes a preaching that would be imparted to their ears. What the sound of his voice was not yet presenting, the activity of sight was teaching them. For the entire victory of the Savior, the one that overcame the devil and the world, began in humility and ended in humility. Its appointed time began under persecution and ended under persecution. Neither the endurance of suffering was lacking to the child, nor the gentleness of a child to the one who would suffer. For, the Only-Begotten Son of God undertook by a single inclination of his majesty both the will to be born as a human being and the ability to be killed by human beings.

Almighty God, therefore, made our extremely bad situation good” through his unique lowliness and “destroyed death” along with the author “of death.” He did not refuse anything that his persecutors brought down on him. In obedience to the Father, he bore the cruelties of violent men with the meekest docility. How humble we ought to be, then, how patient, we who, when we meet with any distress, never undergo anything we do not deserve! “Who will boast that they have a pure heart or that they are clean from sin?” (Prov. 20,9). Blessed John says, “If we say we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.” (1Jn. 1, 8)

Who will be found so free from guilt that they have not in themselves anything for justice to condemn or mercy to forgive? Consequently, dearly beloved, the whole learning of Christian wisdom consists not in abundance of words, not in cleverness at disputing, not in desire for praise and glory, but in a true and willing humility.

Read it all.

Posted in Church History, Epiphany, Preaching / Homiletics, Theology

More Music for Epiphany–John Rutter’s I will Sing with the Spirit

Lyrics: I will sing with the spirit, alleluia. And I will sing with the understanding also, alleluia. (1 Corinthians 14, v.15)

Posted in Epiphany, Liturgy, Music, Worship

An Alicia Stallings Poem for Epiphany 2025

Posted in Epiphany, Poetry & Literature

A Prayer for the day from E M Goulburn

O Almighty God, who by thy holy Apostle hast taught us to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto thee, as our reasonable service: Hear us, we beseech thee, as we now come to thee in the name of Jesus Christ; and give us grace that we may dedicate ourselves wholly to thy service, and henceforth live only to thy glory; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

Posted in Epiphany, Spirituality/Prayer

(NC Register) Theology of Geography: Jesus’ Baptism Site Brims With Significance

“This place, which is the holy place of the baptism of Jesus, which also marks the beginning of the ministry of Jesus, marks a new beginning for the life of our Church,” said Cardinal Parolin.

And that “holy place” has a special geographical significance. The baptism of Jesus took place in the Jordan River, in the valley east of Jerusalem, just north of the Dead Sea and not far from the ancient city of Jericho. Far from accidental, all of this is significant.

Noting that the nearby Dead Sea is the lowest place on earth, Cardinal Parolin said that “it is precisely here that God came to meet us, as if to gather into his embrace also those from afar.”

That embrace extends to the “lowest,” the “deadest” and “oldest.”

Read it all.

Posted in Epiphany, Theology: Scripture, Uncategorized

A Prayer for the day from the Church of South India

Lord Jesus Christ, who didst humble thyself to take the baptism of sinful men, and wast forthwith declared to be the Son of God: Grant that we who have been baptized into thee may rejoice to be the sons of God, and servants of all; for thy name’s sake, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit livest and reignest ever one God, world without end.

Posted in Epiphany, Spirituality/Prayer

Hippolytus on the Baptism of Jesus

That Jesus should come and be baptized by John is surely cause for amazement. To think of the infinite river that gladdens the city of God being bathed.in a poor little stream of the eternal; the unfathomable fountainhead that gives life to all men being immersed in the shallow waters of this transient world! He who fills all creation, leaving no place devoid of his presence, he who is incomprehensible to the angels. and hidden from the sight of man, came to be baptized because it was his will. And behold, the heavens opened and a voice said: “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”

The beloved Father begets love, and spiritual light generates light inaccessible. In his divine nature he is my only Son, though he was known as the son of Joseph. This is my beloved Son. Though hungry himself, he feeds thousands; though weary, he refreshes those who labor. He has no place to lay his head yet holds all creation in his hand. By his passion [inflicted on him by others], he frees us from the passions [unleashed by our disobedience]; by receiving a blow on the cheek he gives the world its liberty; by being pierced in the side he heals the wound of Adam.

I ask you now to pay close attention, for I want to return to that fountain of life and contemplate its healing waters at their source.

The Father of immortality sent his immortal Son and Word into the world; he came to us men to cleanse us with water and the Spirit. To give us a new birth that would make our bodies and souls immortal, he breathed into us the spirit of life and armed us with incorruptibility. Now if we become immortal, we shall also be divine; and if we become divine after rebirth in baptism through water and the Holy Spirit, we shall also be coheirs with Christ after the resurrection of the dead.

Therefore, in a herald’s voice I cry: Let peoples of every nation come and receive the immortality that flows from baptism. This is the water that is linked to the Spirit, the water that irrigates Paradise, makes the earth fertile, gives growth to plants, and brings forth living creatures. In short, this is the water by which a man receives new birth and life, the water in which even Christ was baptized, the water into which the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove.

Whoever goes down into these waters of rebirth with faith renounces the devil and pledges himself to Christ. He repudiates the enemy and confesses that Christ is God, throws off his servitude, and is raised to filial status. He comes up from baptism resplendent as the sun, radiant in his purity, but above all, he comes as a son of God and a coheir with Christ. To him and to his most holy and life-giving Spirit be glory and power now and forever. Amen.

Hippolytus  of Rome (c.170-235) from a sermon c. 215 which may be found there.

Posted in Church History, Epiphany, Preaching / Homiletics

More Music for Epiphany–O Morning Star, How Fair and Bright

Listen to it all at the link there.

Lyrics:

1 O Morning Star, how clear and bright,
your beam shines forth in truth and light!
My Sovereign meek and lowly!
O Root of Jesse, Promised One,
my God and Ruler, you have won
my heart to serve you solely!
You are holy,
great and glorious, all-victorious,
Rich in blessing,
rule and might o’er all possessing.
2 Come heavenly Brightness, Light divine,
and deep within my heart now shine,
there make yourself an altar!
Fill me with joy and strength to be
your member, joined eternally
in love that cannot falter;
Longing for you
does possess me; turn and bless me;
Here in sadness
eye and heart long for your gladness.

Posted in Epiphany, Liturgy, Music, Worship

A Prayer for the day from the Scottish Prayerbook

Almighty God, who at the baptism of thy blessed Son Jesus Christ in the river Jordan didst manifest his glorious Godhead: Grant, we beseech thee, that the brightness of his presence may shine in our hearts, and his glory be set forth in our lives; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

Posted in Epiphany, Spirituality/Prayer

A Prayer from the Church of England 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.

Posted in Epiphany, Spirituality/Prayer

A Prayer for Epiphany to begin the day from Let us Pray (Church of Scotland)

We thank thee, O God, that thou didst give thy Son Jesus Christ to be the light of the world, and that in him thou hast revealed thy glory and the wonder of thy saving love. Help us to love thee who hast so loved us; strengthen us for the service of thy kingdom; and grant that the light of Christ may so shine throughout the world that men everywhere may be drawn to him who is the Saviour and Lord of all, and the whole earth be filled with thy glory; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

Let Us Pray: A Book of Prayers for Use in Family Worship, Church Schools and Fellowships, prepared by the Committee on Public Worship and Aids to Devotion of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland (London:Oxford University Press, 1959)

Posted in Epiphany, Spirituality/Prayer

More Poetry for Epiphany–W H Auden–The Summons, in For the Time Being: A Christmas Oratorio

The First Wise Man

 To break down her defenses
And profit from the vision
That plain men can predict through an
Ascesis of their senses,
With rack and screw I put Nature through
A thorough inquisition;
But she was so afraid that if I were disappointed
I should hurt Her more that Her answers were disjointed –
I did. I didn’t. I will. I won’t.
She is just as big a liar, in fact, as we are.
To discover how to be truthful now
Is the reason I follow this star.

The Second Wise Man

My faith that in Time’s constant
Flow lay real assurance
Broke down on this analysis –
At any given moment
All solids dissolve, no wheels revolve,
And facts have no endurance –
And who knows if this is by design pure inadvertence
That the Present destroys its inherited self-importance?
With envy, terror, rage, regret,
We anticipate or remember but never are.
To discover how to be living now
Is the reason I follow this star.

You may read the rest there (pp. 27-28).

Posted in Epiphany, History, Poetry & Literature

More Music for Epiphany–The Three Kings – Peter Cornelius

Lyrics: Three Kings from Persian lands afar
To Jordan follow the pointing star
And this the quest of the travelers three
Where the newborn King of the Jews may be
Full royal gifts they bear for the King
Gold, incense, myrrh are their offering

The star shines out with a steadfast ray
The kings to Bethlehem make their way
And then in worship they bend the knee
As Mary’s child in her lap they see
Their royal gifts they show to the King
Gold, incense, myrrh are their offering

Thou child of man, lo, to Bethlehem
The Kings are traveling, travel with them
The star of mercy, the star of grace
Shall lead thy heart to its resting place
Gold, incense, myrrh, thou canst not bring
Offer thy heart to the infant King
Offer thy heart.

Listen to it all.

Posted in Epiphany, Liturgy, Music, Worship

A Prayer for Epiphany to begin the day from Prayers for the Christian Year

O God, who by the shining of a star didst guide the wise men to behold thy Son, our Lord: Show us thy heavenly light, and give us grace to follow until we find him, and, finding him, rejoice.  And grant that as they presented gold, frankincense, and myrrh, we now may bring him the offering of a loving heart, an adoring spirit, and an obedient will; for his honour, and for thy glory, O God most high.

Posted in Epiphany, Spirituality/Prayer

(Tovima) Believers Celebrate the Epiphany Around the World- Photos

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Athens Mayor Haris Doukas, several ministers, MPs, and representatives of the political and military leadership attended the Divine Liturgy at the Church of Dionysios Areopagite and the Blessing of the Waters at the Athens Reservoir.

“The sunlit Greece celebrates Epiphany with grandeur, drawing strength and hope from its message,” Prime Minister Mitsotakis remarked after the ceremony.

Read it all.

Posted in Epiphany, Globalization, Photos/Photography, Religion & Culture

(CC) Stephanie Paulsell–Making a habit out of Epiphany

Epiphanies open the possibility that we might change and the world might change, for they offer an opportunity to create new ways of living from our fragments of revelation. In the moment of illumination, our experience is enlarged, the boundaries of our lives made more permeable. Existence itself seems to hold more possibilities than we had imagined. But epiphanies are evanescent—they shine out, and then they recede. How can we hold onto the possibilities of change we glimpsed, in ourselves, in the world?

We need practices that keep us grounded in our epiphanies, even when the Magi have returned to their country and we to our daily lives. We need ways to extend our vision even when we are too busy to remember we’ve had one.

One way to do this is to make living in the afterglow of that vision a habit, a commitment. Benedictines do this when they choose to welcome every guest as Christ among them—a choice grounded, surely, in an epiphany, but a choice that can be made even when the light of illumination has dimmed. The story of La Befana illustrates this way of making an epiphany last. If she cannot go with the Magi to see the Christ Child, she will choose to find Christ in every child.

How will we choose to respond to the illumination of Epiphany, which passes so swiftly into memory? What commitments can we make to keep the Magi’s epiphany in view? Will we choose to see the Christ Child lying on the floor of a detention center, covered in a foil blanket? Will we choose to see the Holy Family separated and caged? And if we choose to see, what will we choose to do?

Read it all.

Posted in Epiphany, Theology

More Poetry for Epiphany–Malcolm Guite: The Magi

It might have been just someone else’s story,
Some chosen people get a special king.
We leave them to their own peculiar glory,
We don’t belong, it doesn’t mean a thing.
But when these three arrive they bring us with them….

Read it all.

Posted in Epiphany, Poetry & Literature

Music for Epiphany–Jacob Handl (1550–1591): Omnes de Saba venient

Lyrics:

All they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense;
and they shall show forth the praises of the Lord. Alleluia.
The Kings of Tharsis and of the isles shall give Him presents;
the Kings of Arabia and Sheba shall bring gifts. Alleluia.

Posted in Epiphany, Liturgy, Music, Worship

A Prayer for Epiphany to begin the day from James Todd

Almighty Lord God, who didst give thy Son Jesus Christ to be the light of the world: We praise and magnify thy holy name that in him thou hast revealed the wonder of thy saving love to men. With those of old who brought their tribute to his feet, confessing him as King of heaven and earth, we now present the worship of our grateful hearts, beseeching thee to give us grace to give ourselves to thee; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

Posted in Epiphany, Spirituality/Prayer

(CC) Miroslav Volf–Joy is for Epiphany, too

Everybody knows that Christmas is a season of joy. For one, it has at its heart a birth story. A new and healthy child came into the world, and his family rejoiced. Every birth is a new beginning, a fresh hope. Christmas joy overlaps with the most common of humanity’s great joys.

We tend not to associate joy with Epi­phany. In Epiphany, Christians re­member the visit that the sages from the East made to Bethlehem to honor the newborn Jesus, an act of gentile recognition of Christ’s divinity and mission (Matt. 2:1–12). In this season we also commemorate the first miracle Jesus performed—at the wedding in Cana of Galilee, when Jesus revealed his glory and his disciples believed in him (John 2:1–11). Each of these seemingly unrelated events highlights a crucial aspect of joy.

Read it all.

Posted in Epiphany, Theology

Lancelot Andrews for Epiphany–‘And we, what excuse shall we have if we come not?’

And we, what excuse shall we have if we come not? If so short and so easy a way we come not, as from our chambers hither, not to be called away indeed? Shall not our non venerunt have an ecce, Behold, it was stepping but over the threshold, and yet they came not?

And these were wise men, and never a whit the less wise for so coming; no never so truly wise in any thing they did, as in so coming. The Holy Spirit records them for wise, in capite libri, even in the beginning of the New Testament. Of Christ, when He came into the world, that is, when He was born, the Psalm saith, In the beginning of the Book it was writ of Him, He said, Ecce venio, Lo I come; of these in the same words, when they came to meet Him so born, it is said here in the beginning of the Gospel, Ecce venerunt, Behold they came.

And we, if we believe this, that this was their wisdom, if they and we be wise by one Spirit, by the same principles, we shall follow the same star, tread the same way, and so come at last whither they are happily gone before us.

Nay, not only that come, but this withal; to think and set down with ourselves, that to come to Christ is one of the wisest parts that ever these wise men did, or we or any else can do in all our lives.

And how shall we that do? I know not any more proper way left us, than to come to that which Himself by express order has left us, as the most special remembrance of Himself to be come to. When He came into the world, saith the Psalm, that is at His birth now, He said, Ecce venio. What then? Sacrifice and burnt-offering Thou wouldst not have, but a body hast Thou ordained Me. Mark, saith the Apostle, He takes away the first to establish the second, that is, to establish His body, and the coming to it. By the offering, breaking, and partaking of which body, we are all sanctified, so many as will come to it. For given it is, for the taking away of our sins. Nothing is more fit than at the time His body was ordained Him, and that is to-day, to come to the body so ordained.

And in the old Ritual of the Church we find that on the cover of the canister, wherein was the Sacrament of His Body, there was a star engraven, to shew us that now the star leads us thither, to His body there.

And what shall I say now, but according as St. John saith, and the star, and the wise men say, Come. And He, Whose the star is, and to Whom the wise men came, saith, Come. And let them who are disposed, Come. And…let whosoever will, take of the Bread of Life, which came down from Heaven this day into Bethlehem, the house of bread. Of which Bread the Church is this day the house, the true Bethlehem, and all the Bethlehem we have now left to come to for the Bread of life,of that His life which we hope for in Heaven. And this our nearest coming that here we can come, till we shall by another venite come, unto Him in His Heavenly Kingdom, to which He grant we may come, That this day came to us in earth that we thereby might come to Him and remain with Him for ever, Jesus Christ the Righteous.

Read it all.

Posted in Church History, Epiphany, Theology

More Poetry for Epiphany–Joseph Brodsky: Nativity Poem

Imagine the kings, the caravans’ stilted procession
As they make for the cave, or, rather, three beams closing in
And in on the star, the creaking of loads, the clink of a cowbell;
(No thronging of Heaven as yet, no peal of the bell

That will ring in the end for the infant once he has earned it).
Imagine the Lord, for the first time, from darkness, and stranded
Immensely in distance, recognizing Himself in the Son
Of Man: His homelessness plain to him now in a homeless one.

Read it all.

Posted in Epiphany, Poetry & Literature

A Prayer for Epiphany from James Ferguson

O God, who by the leadings of thy providence didst bring wise men from far to give homage to Jesus, born to be King of all: Help us, who by various ways are led to Christ, humbly and thankfully to adore him with our gifts, and as our costliest treasure to present before him ourselves for his honour and service, now and always.

Posted in Epiphany

Epiphany awakens the question in the hearts of all people–who is this Jesus?

Dear friends, this is the question that the Church wishes to awaken in the hearts of all men: who is Jesus? This is the spiritual longing that drives the mission of the Church: to make Jesus known, his Gospel, so that every man can discover in his human face the face of God, and be illumined by his mystery of love. Epiphany pre-announces the universal opening of the Church, her call to evangelize all peoples. But Epiphany also tells us in what way the Church carries out this mission: reflecting the light of Christ and proclaiming his Word. Christians are called to imitate the service that the star gave the Magi. We must shine as children of the light, to attract all to the beauty of the Kingdom of god. And to all those who seek truth, we must offer the Word of God, which leads to recognizing in Jesus “the true God and eternal life” (1 John 5:20).

Benedict XVI.

Posted in Epiphany, Pope Benedict XVI

(Reuters) In pictures: Celebrating the Epiphany around the world

There are 26 in total,

take a look at them all.

Posted in Epiphany, Globalization, Religion & Culture

A Prayer for Epiphany from the Book of Common Order

O God, who by the guidance of a star didst manifest to the Gentiles the glory of thine only begotten Son: Grant us grace that, being led by the light of thy Holy Spirit, we may, in adoring love and lowliest reverence, yield ourselves to thy service; that thy kingdom of righteousness and peace may be advanced among all nations, to the glory of thy name; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Posted in Epiphany, Spirituality/Prayer