Still have your Christmas tree, lights, and decorations up? No problem. You’re just in time to celebrate Epiphany on January 6. Epiphany celebrates God incarnate (in the flesh) as Jesus Christ. In western Christianity, this day also commemorates the Wise Men’s visit to Jesus.
While many in the USA take down Christmas decorations by New Year’s Day, in other countries decorations are not removed until the eve of Epiphany. If they’re not removed then, they stay up until Candlemas (celebrating the presentation of the Christ child in the temple) on February 2.
January 6 is also known as “Old Christmas,” and the 12th day of Christmas (as in the song). The 12 days represent the time it took the Wise Men (Magi) to travel to Bethlehem to find the Christ Child.
“Epiphany” comes from a Greek word meaning “to make known.” The feast of Epiphany invites us to recognize the identity of the Christ child. Like the Wise Men “who anticipated, recognized, and welcomed the infant king, churches and families and recognize and proclaim the appearance of God’s chosen. . . Epiphany is the culmination of the Christmas season, not its ending.”
The Wise Men “recognized the blessing of peace that this king’s appearance signified. Their gifts and obeisance [homage] to the new king implied their acceptance of his peaceful reign.”
We can give a blessing that lets others know that Christ in the world can make our homes places of peace and hospitality.
We can light candles, reminding us not only of the star the Wise Men followed, but that Jesus is the light of the world. Churches or homes can light a path with luminaria (setting candles in sand inside small bags) leading to a church or home full of candlelight. The church or family can have a candlelight service that includes scripture, hymns, and prayers.
Our celebrations can conclude with the “Liturgy of the Magi’s Blessing:
“Peace be with this house and all who dwell in it, and peace to all who enter here. In keeping the feast of Epiphany, we celebrate the Magi’s search for the infant king, the Christ child’s appearing to the world, and the peace and hospitality shared between the Magi and the Holy Family.
“Let us hear again the Magi’s story [from Matthew 2:1-12]:
In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, 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.” . . .[King Herod called] together all the chief priests and scribes. . . [and] inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: ‘. . . from [Bethlehem] shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.’”
“Then Herod . . . sent [the wise men] to Bethlehem. . . and there, ahead of them, went the star . . . until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
“May this home in the coming year be a place where Christ is pleased to dwell. May all our homes share the peace and hospitality of Christ which is revealed in the fragile flesh of an infant. Amen.”
So if your house is still decorated, don’t fret. Just let people know you’re celebrating Epiphany—or even Candlemas. After all, every day is a good day to celebrate Christ’s coming to us.
(Quotations from Distinctive Traditions of Epiphany, by Amber and John Inscor Essick, 2011, Center for Christian Ethics at Baylor University, https://www.baylor.edu/content/services/document.php/159118.pdf.)
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