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.
The Baptism of Christ
— Marysia (@marysia_cc) January 11, 2025
by Joachim Patinir, c.1515 pic.twitter.com/PiGZ6VNpQN
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.
Today's the feast of the Baptism of Christ, shown here in typically colourful Swiss glass, probably early 17th Century, now part of the collection at Great Saxham, Suffolk. Christ kneels by the River Jordan, the Pharisees and Sadducees watch from the far bank. 1/3
— Simon Knott (@SimoninSuffolk) January 12, 2025
Great Saxham:… pic.twitter.com/DpLrvIz3a8
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)
Cosme Tura Adorazione dei Magi pic.twitter.com/jFnxRsRcPd
— Ugo Ramella (@RamellaUgo) January 5, 2024
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).
Adoration of the Magi by Garofalo #rijksmuseum #garofalo pic.twitter.com/OEtEH1IQx3
— Rijksmuseum Art (@rijksmuseum_art) September 1, 2018
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.
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.
Adorazione dei Magi, 1505
— Juan NAVARRO (@jnavarrosimon) January 5, 2025
Andrea Mantegna pic.twitter.com/OP3Q4S181t
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.
(Tovima) Believers Celebrate the #Epiphany Around the World- Photos https://t.co/o2b2sVuNLG 'President of the Republic, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, attended the celebrations in Kilkis, where she participated in the Divine Liturgy at the Holy Metropolitan Church of the…
— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) January 10, 2025
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?
#TiPortoInDono
— francesca (@francesca4967) January 6, 2023
I Magi nell’arte#VentagliDiParole
🖌 Niccolò Bambini pic.twitter.com/Xwi00KiSJp
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….
Fantastic in every way, especially if you love gold skies: Adoration of the Magi by Lorenzo Monaco, 1422. Today is his day. pic.twitter.com/XYHNWOA7Ux
— Dr. Peter Paul Rubens (@PP_Rubens) November 21, 2024
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.
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.
Early morning colour in Glastonbury. pic.twitter.com/7ZEPy0VgHb
— Michelle Cowbourne (@Glastomichelle) January 9, 2025
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.
Today is the Solemnity of the Epiphany of Our Lord, marking the arrival of the Magi—the three wise men from the East who came to Bethlehem—to worship the Baby Jesus and the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles as the Savior of the world.
— Erinn Broshko (@ebroshko) January 6, 2025
Botticelli “Adoration of the Magi”,… pic.twitter.com/wMjnloi9ev
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.
Fernando Gallego (15.8.1440 – 1507) was a Spanish painter,—Epiphany pic.twitter.com/jpXEkEgwCq
— Yiannis Einstein-Ιωάννης Αρβανιτάκης (@yianniseinstein) July 22, 2022
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 bellThat 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.
A sneaky second entry for #epiphany – made of abalaster, gilding, and paint. C. 1400 – 1500, now in the Ashmolean museum, Oxford #MedievalMonday pic.twitter.com/DySj7cX7JJ
— Dr Naomi (@BooksTeaFilms) January 6, 2025
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.
Leonardo da Vinci
— Piero Agnello (@piero_agnello) January 5, 2025
1452-1519
"Adorazione dei Magi" 1480. Oil and Tempera on Board.#GalleriedegliUffizi#Florence#ItalianArt#Renaissance pic.twitter.com/J94lSaesXY
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).
It is Epiphany. These are the three Magi from Ravenna, from the Adoration of the Magi from Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, dated to c. 504/560 and later. #MosaicMonday pic.twitter.com/XtpCtzaI13
— Ulla Rajala 💗 #Dig4Arch 🇺🇦 (@UllaMR) January 6, 2025
There are 26 in total,
A man takes a dip in icy waters during the #Epiphany celebration, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in #Kyiv, #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/6oG9kLwKt9
— Hans Solo (@thandojo) January 7, 2025
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.
¿Eran Reyes?¿Eran Magos?¿Eran sabios?…👑👑👑
— Biblioteca Nacional de España (@BNE_biblioteca) January 5, 2025
¡Eran astrólogos! 🌠
Te contamos el origen de la historia de los Reyes Magos.👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼
📸 Libro de Horas de Clintonhttps://t.co/DzYbalQEkY pic.twitter.com/AVCm7lsq5w
“Recently we celebrated the day on which the Lord was born of the Jews; today we are celebrating the one on which he was worshiped by the Gentiles; because salvation is from the Jews (Jn 4:22); but this salvation reaches to the ends of the earth (Is 49:6). On that day the shepherds worship him, on this one the Magi. To those the message was brought by angels, to these by a star. Both learned about him from heaven, when they saw the king of heaven on earth, so that there might be glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will (Lk 2:14).”For he is our peace, who made both into one (Eph 2:14). Already from this moment, by the way he was born and proclaimed, the infant is shown to be that cornerstone; already from the first moments of his birth he appeared as such. He began at once to tie together in himself two walls coming from different directions, bringing the shepherds from Judea, the Magi from the East; so that he might establish the two in himself as one new man, making peace; peace for
those who were far off, and peace for those who were near (Eph 2: 15. 17). Thus it is that those hurrying up from nearby on the very day, and these arriving today from far away, marked two days to be celebrated by posterity, and yet both saw the one light of the world.
–Sermon 199, On The Lords Epiphany
6th January is the feast of the Epiphany. Here is depicted the epiphany of the divine in the three gifts of the Magi, and the transformation of water into wine at Cana.
— Ennius (@red_loeb) January 4, 2025
Bamberg State Library Msc.Lit. 1; Sacramentary; early 11th century; Fulda; f.30r pic.twitter.com/mxULlj8Ufi
Listen to and ponder it all–more than once.
You may find the full text there (note that the audio is TS Eliot himself reading the poem).
O Blessed Jesus, who by the shining of a star didst manifest thyself to them that sought thee: Show thy heavenly light to us, and give us grace to follow until we find thee; finding, to rejoice in thee; and rejoicing, to present to thee ourselves, our souls and bodies, for thy service for evermore: for thine honour and glory.
'Wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, 'Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage''
— Westminster Abbey (@wabbey) January 6, 2025
Matthew 2: 1-3#Epiphany pic.twitter.com/8SLCelXN3b
Lyrics: Learned men come from the East seeking Jerusalem and saying, “ Where is he that was born king of the Jews, whose star we have seen? For we have come with gifts to worship the Lord.”
The wise men, seeing the star, said to one another, “This is the sign of a great king; let us go and search for him, and offer him gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh. Alleluia.”
Listen to it all from the Sistine Chapel Choir.Almighty and everlasting God, who hast made known the incarnation of thy Son by the bright shining of a star, which when the wise men beheld they adored thy majesty and presented costly gifts: Grant that the star of thy righteousness may always shine in our hearts, and that for our treasure we may give to thy service ourselves and all that we have; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.
The Adoration of the Magi is one of the most beautiful and beloved scenes in art, cherished by artists throughout history
— Mambo Italiano (@mamboitaliano__) January 6, 2025
A Thread 🧵 to honor today, January 6th, a wonderful religious celebration of Epiphany
✨Maarten de Vos, Adoration of the Magi 1599 pic.twitter.com/igyWSU83hH
How could they have known not to come
On what amounted to pretense? Everything
Their learning held, all their beliefs
Said regal gifts were needful for a king.
The things they brought were left behind,
Doubtless; or maybe traded for bread:
Impecunious Joseph with a family
To feed, a roof to put over his head.
Adoration of the Magi–Jan Gossaert pic.twitter.com/zPJWpnaSE2
— Sr. Helena Raphael Burns, fsp (@SrHelenaBurns) January 6, 2025
This day is called the Epiphany of the Lord, that is, ‘the day of God’s manifestation’. On this day Christ was manifested to the three kings, who from the eastern part of the world sought him with threefold offerings. Again, after the passage of years, he was manifested to the world on this day at his baptism, when the Holy Ghost, in the form of a dove, rested upon him, and the Father’s voice sounded loudly from heaven, saying, “This is my dear Son, who is well pleasing to me; listen to him.” On this day also he turned water into noble wine, and thereby manifested that he is the true Creator who could change created things. For these three reasons this feast is called God’s Manifestation.
On the first day of his birth he was revealed to three shepherds in the land of Judea, through the announcement of the angel. On the same day he was made known to the three astronomers in the east, through the bright star, but it was on this day they came with their offerings… The eastern astronomers saw a new bright star, not in heaven among other stars, but a lone wanderer between heaven and earth. Then they understood that the wondrous star indicated the birth of the true King in the country over which it glided; and they therefore came to the kingdom of Judea, and sorely frightened the wicked king Herod by their announcement; for without doubt earthly wickedness was confounded, when the heavenly greatness was disclosed.
'Ða easternan tungelwitegan gesawon niwne steorran beorhtne, angenga betwux heofenum and eorðan.'
— Eleanor Parker (@ClerkofOxford) January 6, 2025
'The eastern astronomers saw a new bright star, a lone wanderer between heaven and earth.'
An Anglo-Saxon sermon for the feast of the Epiphany: https://t.co/n6pFYATOvl pic.twitter.com/51Z74v0xkj
…that this star was not of the common sort, or rather not a star at all, as it seems at least to me, but some invisible power transformed into this appearance, is in the first place evident from its very course. For there is not, there is not any star that moves by this way, but whether it be the sun you mention, or the moon, or all the other stars, we see them going from east to west; but this was wafted from north to south; for so is Palestine situated with respect to Persia.
In the second place, one may see this from the time also. For it appears not in the night, but in mid-day, while the sun is shining; and this is not within the power of a star, nay not of the moon; for the moon that so much surpasses all, when the beams of the sun appear, straightway hides herself, and vanishes away. But this by the excess of its own splendor overcame even the beams of the sun, appearing brighter than they, and in so much light shining out more illustriously.
…[Later in the narrative] it did not, remaining on high, point out the place; it not being possible for them so to ascertain it, but it came down and performed this office. For ye know that a spot of so small dimensions, being only as much as a shed would occupy, or rather as much as the body of a little infant would take up, could not possibly be marked out by a star. For by reason of its immense height, it could not sufficiently distinguish so confined a spot, and discover it to them that were desiring to see it. And this any one may see by the moon, which being so far superior to the stars, seems to all that dwell in the world, and are scattered over so great an extent of earth,””seems, I say, near to them every one. How then, tell me, did the star point out a spot so confined, just the space of a manger and shed, unless it left that height and came down, and stood over the very head of the young child? And at this the evangelist was hinting when he said, “Lo, the star went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was.”
Happy Christmas! And a blessed solemnity of the Epiphany! pic.twitter.com/KKLPYGdtrS
— Fr John S. Hogan, ocds (@jshocds) January 6, 2025
O God,
who by the leading of a star
manifested your only Son to the peoples of the earth:
mercifully grant that we,
who know you now by faith,
may at last behold your glory face to face;
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.
Epiphany!
— Dr Helen Wilson (@NellytheWillow) January 6, 2025
The Magi visiting the infant Christ, represented here, rather unusually for #Devon, on the early C16 chancel screen at Buckland-in-the-Moor. The fabulous original colour was conserved by Eddie Sinclair. 📸: my own pic.twitter.com/mHUYCzS1SN
How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him who brings good tidings,
who publishes peace, who brings good tidings of good,
who publishes salvation,
who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
Hark, your watchmen lift up their voice,
together they sing for joy;
for eye to eye they see
the return of the Lord to Zion.
Break forth together into singing,
you waste places of Jerusalem;
for the Lord has comforted his people,
he has redeemed Jerusalem.
The Lord has bared his holy arm
before the eyes of all the nations;
and all the ends of the earth shall see
the salvation of our God.
–Isaiah 52:7-10
Today is the #Epiphany of Our Lord when we celebrate the visit of the Magi to the Christ Child.
— Westminster Abbey (@wabbey) January 6, 2025
Everyone is welcome to join us for Sung Eucharist at 5pm (GMT), either in the Abbey or from wherever you are via our livestream: https://t.co/Y0WPsR3Li2 pic.twitter.com/Gqap67gIPc
Almighty Father,
whose Son was revealed in majesty
before he suffered death upon the cross:
give us grace to perceive his glory,
that we may be strengthened to suffer with him
and be changed into his likeness, from glory to glory;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
Our worship service this Sunday at 11:00 a.m. will celebrate Transfiguration Sunday and includes the anthem, "Blessed Is the Spot, and the House," an original composition by the Los Angeles-based Filipino composer Saunder Choi.
Details: https://t.co/nUWVhtUAqX pic.twitter.com/LZe1udMMps
— Duke Chapel (@DukeChapel) February 8, 2024
Almighty God,
you have created the heavens and the earth
and made us in your own image:
teach us to discern your hand in all your works
and your likeness in all your children;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who with you and the Holy Spirit reigns supreme over all things,
now and for ever.