Feast of Epiphany

This weekend, January 6th was the Feast of Epiphany, the twelfth night of Christmas. Christmas actually starts on 12/25 and goes through 1/6. The four weeks before Christmas is the season of Advent which is a time of fasting and reflection. Epiphany is the feast of the Three Kings and the baptism of Jesus.

The church celebrates the recognition of Christ the King. In Eastern Europe Epiphany is celebrated with blessing holy water and then using the holy water to bless people, livestock and crops.

 

In Ireland Epiphany is ‘Nollaig na mBean‘ or ‘Little Christmas’. It was the day that the Christmas decorations would come down and a day for women to rest. Traditionally women would visit each other for a little cake and tea. In some areas men would do the women’s work for the day. After the insanity of Christmas I’m sure it was a nice break.

When I was a kid we put our Christmas tree up very close to Christmas Eve. We would leave it up until Epiphany when we would take the tree down and burn it. It was a very nice way to end out the holiday season. I don’t miss being Catholic, but I do miss the way the year was divided up into seasons of reflection and celebration.