FEASTS OF LIGHT – EPIPHANY, BAPTISM & CANA

 

FEASTS OF LIGHT – EPIPHANY, BAPTISM & CANA

            The Gospel for Mass today presents the miracle of the changing of water into wine by Christ at a wedding banquet in Cana.  This event, in which Christ’s divine power is manifested for the first time to his disciples, and they begin to believe in him, was originally celebrated in the Church on the feast of the Epiphany, along with the baptism of the Lord, and the visit of the Magi in Bethlehem.  This feast originated among Christians in the Eastern part of the Roman Empire sometime in the second century if not earlier.  It was the original Christmas celebration and included a commemoration of the Nativity. 

            We have evidence that Christmas was celebrated on December 25 in Rome by the year 336.  Later in this century the Christians in Rome began celebrating January 6 as the feast of the Epiphany – the time between the Nativity and the Epiphany were then designated as the twelve days of Christmas.  The churches of the East eventually adopted the Roman custom of a separate feast day for the Nativity on December 25.  They continued to celebrate the Epiphany on January 6 and called it the Theophany, a Greek word meaning “manifestation of God.”  On this feast Byzantine Catholics and others emphasize the mystery of Christ’s baptism in the Jordan by John the Baptist.   

            The Latin Church celebrated a separate feast day for the Baptism of the Lord in the Octave of Christmas, and with the liturgical reform following the Second Vatican Council moved it to the Sunday following Epiphany, suppressing what was the season of Epiphany.  The feast now brings the Christmas season to a close, with Ordinary Time beginning on the following Monday.  In the United States the Epiphany no longer has a fixed date but is celebrated on whatever date Sunday falls on between January 2 and January 8.  In some countries the bishops decided to keep the feast on January 6 as a holy day of obligation. 

            The original union of the three mysteries of manifestation is beautifully reflected in the Liturgy of the Hours, the official daily prayer of the Church.  Before the Canticle of Zechariah in Morning Prayer the antiphon is said or chanted: “Today the Bridegroom claims his bride, the Church, since Christ has washed her sins away in Jordan’s waters; the Magi hasten with their gifts to the royal wedding; and the wedding guests rejoice, for Christ has changed water into wine, alleluia.”  (Notice the nuptial references.  That’s work another article!)  In Evening Prayer the antiphon for the Canticle of Mary links the three key illuminations of Christ: “Three mysteries mark this holy day: today the star leads the Magi to the infant Christ; today water is changed into wine for the wedding feast; today Christ wills to be baptized by John in the river Jordan to bring us salvation.”

            In our day the Nativity, the Epiphany, and the Baptism of the Lord each have a separate feast in the Roman Catholic liturgy.  The mystery of the changing of water into wine does not have its own feast day, but it is not coincidental that this selection from the Gospel is read today, the Sunday following the Baptism of the Lord, which is officially the Second Sunday of Ordinary Time.  Jesus at first is reluctant to intervene in the situation of the wedding couple, who have run out of wine.  They will suffer a terrible embarrassment if something is not done.  In response to Jesus, Mary simply says to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”  As a result of the miracle, the disciples of Jesus began to believe in him.  Thus, this mystery not only manifests Christ’s divine power to change water into wine, but also the efficacy of Mary’s advocacy before her Son.