Arise, shine; for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
The week we have been celebrating the Feast of Epiphany, the commemoration of the arrival of the Magi and beginning of the Epiphany season. On Sunday, we celebrated Epiphany Sunday by completing the Nativity Scene with the arrival of the Magi and singing “We three kings of Orient are.”
The feast day itself, January 6, there are a number of traditional ways to celebrate. Since the Christmas season lasts until Epiphany, many people leave their Christmas decorations up until then. On the evening before Epiphany, Twelfth Night, people sometimes exchange gifts just like they do on Christmas, the first day of the Christmas season. Sometimes people eat king cake, a round green, purple, and gold cake that is also associated with Shrove Tuesday, the last day of the Epiphany season. It is also traditional to bless one’s home for the new year by writing a chalk inscription above the door.
Epiphany is a theologically rich season several instances of Jesus’ divine nature being revealed like the Adoration of the Magi, Jesus’ Baptism, his Presentation in the Temple, the miracle at the wedding at Cana, and the Transfiguration.
