Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
We are nearing the conclusion of the “Dothekaeimeron” or Twelve Days of Christmas with the celebration of what is known in a few different ways: The Baptism of Christ, Epiphany (The Enlightening), and Theophany (The Revelation of God). Monday Morning, we will celebrate the Orthros and Royal Hours. Monday early evening we will celebrate the Vesperal Liturgy of the Eve of Theophany and the Lesser Blessing of the Waters. Tuesday morning, January 6th, we celebrate Orthros, the Divine Liturgy an the Great Blessing of the Waters.
Theophany is the Feast which reveals the Most Holy Trinity to the world through the Baptism of the Lord (Mt.3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22). God the Father spoke from Heaven about the Son, the Son was baptized by Saint John the Forerunner, and the Holy Spirit descended upon the Son in the form of a dove. From ancient times this Feast was called the Day of Illumination and the Feast of Lights, since God is Light and has appeared to illumine “those who sat in darkness,” and “in the region of the shadow of death” (Mt.4:16), and to save the fallen race of mankind by grace.
In the ancient Church it was the custom to baptize catechumens at the Vespers of Theophany, so that Baptism also is revealed as the spiritual illumination of mankind.
The origin of the Feast of Theophany goes back to Apostolic times, and it is mentioned in The Apostolic Constitutions (Book V:13). From the second century we have the testimony of Saint Clement of Alexandria concerning the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord, and the night vigil before this Feast.
There is a third century dialogue about the services for Theophany between the holy martyr Hippolytus and Saint Gregory the Wonderworker. In the following centuries, from the fourth to ninth century, all the great Fathers of the Church: Gregory the Theologian, John Chrysostom, Ambrose of Milan, John of Damascus, commented on the Feast of Theophany.
The monks Joseph the Studite, Theophanes and Byzantios composed much liturgical music for this Feast, which is sung at Orthodox services even today. Saint John of Damascus said that the Lord was baptized, not because He Himself had need for cleansing, but “to bury human sin by water,” to fulfill the Law, to reveal the mystery of the Holy Trinity, and finally, to sanctify “the nature of water” and to offer us the form and example of Baptism.
On the Feast of the Baptism of Christ, the Holy Church proclaims our faith in the most sublime mystery, incomprehensible to human intellect, of one God in three Persons. It teaches us to confess and glorify the Holy Trinity, one in Essence and Undivided. It exposes and overthrows the errors of ancient teachings which attempted to explain the Creator of the world by reason, and in human terms.
The Church shows the necessity of Baptism for believers in Christ, and it inspires us with a sense of deep gratitude for the illumination and purification of our sinful nature. The Church teaches that our salvation and cleansing from sin is possible only by the power of the grace of the Holy Spirit, therefore it is necessary to preserve worthily these gifts of the grace of holy Baptism, keeping clean this priceless garb, for “As many as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ” (Gal 3:27).
Please join us for this most significant commemoration of the Church: the humility of the Savior as demonstrated by His bowing down before the Baptist to receive Baptism in the Jordan. The revelation of the Triune God Whose entire presence was experienced at this sacred moment in time. The sanctification of creation, form, and the natural world as Christ enters the stream of living waters. The opening of our collective eye of God’s overwhelming love for His creation. The fulfilling of prophecy. The inauguration of Jesus’ earthly ministry. The blueprint for our path towards eternal life: to be born of water and the Spirit. I pray you a blessed Feast of Theophany. And abundant joy in the New Year. I remain,
With Much Love in Christ,
Fr. Anthony Savas
Protopresbyter