Theophany

The feast of Theophany originated in the Eastern Church. Its earliest certain reference appears in the Stromata of Clement of Alexandria, around the year 200, where Clement mentions followers of Basilides celebrating the day of Christ's baptism and keeping the previous night in readings, a date given as either January 6 or 10. In these earliest witnesses the Baptism appears to have been the primary event commemorated, though the vague term Epiphany — meaning manifestation — eventually came to encompass several events. Second-century testimony from Clement documents its celebration with vigils, and the feast's origins were traced by the Church to Apostolic times, being mentioned in the Apostolic Constitutions (Book V:13), which name the Baptism specifically.

Originally Christians kept a single unified feast that gathered together Christ's birth, the visit of the Magi, His circumcision, His presentation in the temple, and His baptism — all understood as manifestations of God becoming man. In the fourth century Gregory of Nazianzus preached on January 6 and 7 in a way that confirms the Birth of Christ and the leading of the Magi by a star had already been celebrated, with the commemoration of the Baptism taking place at that time. At Jerusalem, pilgrimage accounts show the feast carried a strong Nativity emphasis because of Bethlehem's nearness, with elaborate octave celebrations of processions and services at multiple holy sites. In time Western Christianity separated these events, while the Armenian Apostolic Church has kept the ancient practice of observing January 6 as both nativity and baptism.

From the fourth through the ninth centuries the great Church Fathers — among them Gregory the Theologian, John Chrysostom, and John of Damascus — commented extensively on the meaning of Theophany, and the ancient Church baptized its catechumens at the Vespers of the feast, which is one reason the day came to be called the Feast of Lights. The feast is celebrated on January 6 according to the calendar used by each Orthodox church; those following the Julian calendar observe it on the Gregorian January 19.

The central meaning of the feast is the revelation of the Holy Trinity. Christ's baptism was one of the occasions on which all three Persons of the Trinity were manifested at once: the Father speaking from heaven concerning the Son, the Son being baptized in the river, and the Holy Spirit descending in the form of a dove. In this the feast proclaims the Church's faith in the most sublime mystery, incomprehensible to human intellect, of one God in three Persons.

According to the Church's understanding, Christ was baptized not for any personal cleansing, since He was without sin, but to bury human sin in the waters, to fulfill the Law, to manifest the mystery of the Trinity, to sanctify the nature of water, and to give humanity an example of baptism. Orthodox theology also sees Christ's baptism as the first step toward the Crucifixion, and the hymns of Theophany are drawn into parallel with those sung on Good Friday.

The feast's revelation of God gives it its names: the Day of Illumination and the Feast of Lights. The Church teaches that the water blessed at the feast is transformed by the blessing and acquires incorruptibility, so that the sanctified Theophany water becomes a bearer of grace carried into the homes and lives of the faithful through the year.

The services of the feast combine Vespers with the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great on the Eve, and the vigil is composed of Great Compline and Matins. During the Liturgy of the Eve fifteen Old Testament lections that foreshadow the Baptism of Christ are read. On the feast the Divine Liturgy substitutes a baptismal hymn drawn from Scripture for the customary Trisagion, and the standard antiphons are replaced with psalms of glorification and praise — reflecting the feast's character as a day of illumination and its ancient association with the baptism of catechumens.

The Eve of the feast, January 5 (the Paramony), is kept as a day of strict fasting, and on it the Royal Hours are served, followed by the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil combined with Vespers. The feast day itself, however, is fast-free: all foods are permitted, even when Theophany falls on a Wednesday or Friday. During the eight-day Afterfeast that follows, the normal fasting laws are suspended. Typikon practice varies by jurisdiction; the faithful should consult their priest.

The Great Blessing of Waters, served both on the Eve and on the feast day, traditionally at a river, lake, or sea, or other body of living water.

The plunging of the cross into the water: in Greek practice the priest casts the cross into the water and volunteers attempt to retrieve it, the recovered cross bringing a special blessing to the swimmer and their household.

In Russia's harsh winters a hole is cut through the ice and the priest dips the cross three times rather than casting it.

The faithful carry home the blessed Theophany water for use throughout the year.

Following the feast, priests visit parishioners' homes to bless them with the Theophany water, ideally before the start of Great Lent.

• Matthew 3:13-17 — The baptism of Christ in the Jordan by John the Forerunner.
• Mark 1:9-11 — The baptism of Christ and the descent of the Spirit.
• Luke 3:21-22 — The heavens opened and the Spirit descended in bodily form as a dove.