The Theophany:  Seeing the Light

The twelve days of Christmas are celebrated in a markedly different manner in the West than in the East.

Following New Year, Western Christians begin "winding down" by removing their trees and the like.

For Orthodox Christians, however, the Nativity Season is now just beginning to really pick up in momentum.  

We are now preparing for the great Feast of the Theophany or the Baptism of Christ in the River Jordan on January 19^th.

Originally, the Nativity, the Feast of the 3 Kings and the Theophany were all celebrated on one and the same day.  It was only later that Christmas was established on the 25^th of December.

The celebrations surrounding the Theophany resemble those for the Feast of the Nativity.  It is preceded by another Holy Supper and special carols are sung.  One wouldn't think of taking down one's Christmas tree yet!

The Armenian Church, which celebrates 1,700 years of Armenian Christianity this year, still observes Christmas and Theophany as one Feast on January 6^th.  

In the Holy Land, where the Armenian community adheres to the Old Calendar, Armenian Christmas is celebrated on January 18^th.  Since they did not make the necessary adjustment to the Calendar at the beginning of the last century, they are one day behind us in observing the Theophany.  The same is true for those several Anglican and Scots Presbyterian parishes in the United Kingdom which still celebrate Yule or Old Calendar Christmas on January 6^th (not 7^th).

The Calendar, like the Liturgy, does not respect time.  For the last little while, our thoughts have been focused on the Child in the Manger.  Now our eyes of faith see a fully- grown Man of thirty years as He approaches St John the Baptist in the river Jordan.

But the liturgical theme is consistent throughout.  As on the Feasts of the Nativity and the Naming-Circumcision, so too now Christ is revealed to the world as the Incarnate Son of God. 

The reality of His becoming Man is this time underlined by His submission to the Baptism of John and His fulfillment of the prophecies concerning the Messiah.  John the Baptist is more than a Prophet, as our Liturgy sings, since he placed his hand on Him Who was foretold by the Prophets as the Forerunner of the Lord.

There were those who thought that John was himself the Messiah.  This is why John goes to the lengths he does to affirm his true role, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, the voice of repentance to all of us to make straight the way of the Lord Who is coming to save us.

John was himself in the tradition of the great prophets of Israel.  We know from the Scriptures that he wore animal's hair on his body and ate locusts and wild honey.  All those who follow the monastic way of life follow John in his mortification of bodily senses.  Monks and Nuns wear a leather scapular made from the hide of a dead animal that symbolizes mortification.  They also imitate John in his fasting and deprivations in the desert.  

The Theophany is a Feast of Enlightenment and this is why prayer and fasting as exemplified in the life of John the Baptist occupies so prominent a role as a means of preparation to receive the Light Who is Christ.

Icons of St John the Baptist also often depict an axe at the base of a tree.  This symbolizes the cutting down of all that is rotten and bad within ourselves through repentance.

John is himself often portrayed with wings, given his angelic way of life.  The Ethiopian Saint, Takla Haymonot, is likewise depicted.

St John Chrysostom wrote that many Angels come down from Heaven and surround the Altar during the Divine Liturgy.  It is only that most of us can't see them with our sullied spiritual eyes.

And so, John the Baptist, the angel of the Lord, knew, right away, Who it was that was coming to receive Baptism from him.  He knew that he was not worthy to untie the sandal of Christ, let alone baptize him.  He needed to be baptized by Christ, not the other way around!

But Christ stood in the river Jordan to sanctify the water and make it a vehicle to carry Divine blessings to all of humankind.  Christ crushed the heads of the serpents, the demons that inhabited the waters, transforming the element of water in the process.  

The element of water now becomes a true Source of Life.  Our immersion into its depths at Baptism signifies our dying with Christ.  Our being raised up above its waves signifies our resurrection with Christ to new and everlasting life. 

That same water that cradled Christ is now a mighty weapon for us.  We may use it to bless ourselves and all creation.  We may also baptize, when a Priest is not available, and impart Christ's Life to others.  We drink the waters of the Theophany because we have taken on Christ who blesses, saves and enlightens us.

The icon of the Theophany is one of only four "official" icons of the Holy Trinity that the Orthodox Church especially blesses as such (the others are the Old Testament Trinity, the Icon of Pentecost and that of the Transfiguration).

On this day, the entire Trinity manifests Herself: Christ in the river Jordan, the Voice of the Father and the appearance of the Spirit in the form of a Dove.  Through Christ, the entire Trinity becomes accessible to us, manifests Herself to us.

This is also why the Feast of the Theophany has always been one during which new catechumens were baptized.  The catechumen's "Trisagion" is intoned:  "You who have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ!"

The Church has often seen in this Feast a memorial and celebration of our own baptism.  In some Churches, depending on the weather, people go into local rivers and lakes to "replay" so to speak their own baptism. 

There is still a tradition to have a white robe prepared with a red Cross on the back and to wear this into the River Jordan whenever one should happen to be there.  The robe is then kept as a sacred object.

Ukrainians wear their embroidered shirts to Church as this was probably made from the white robe given to them at their Baptism.  The first garment a Priest wears is probably that which all Christians at one time wore during Church services, which was the Baptismal Robe. 

New converts are encouraged to wear their robe during the entire week following their Baptism. This is why Easter Week is called "Bright Week."  Would that the tradition of wearing the white Robe by all Christians in Church be brought back!  We could wear it at home during our prayers and other family ceremonies.  A truly great tradition!

In the Ukrainian Church, Crosses are cut from the ice on frozen lakes and rivers and the services of blessing are conducted outdoors.

Anyone who has ever participated in the Ukrainian feast of Yordan in the fullest possible measure will never forget it!

Processions through the snow begin the services as everyone winds down toward the frozen water.  The Priests thrusts the candles into the water and blows with his mouth over it, in remembrance of the Spirit moving over the waters at the beginning of time.

I remember a Portuguese Priest, a convert to the Ukrainian Church, who was so in love with this tradition that he insisted on performing it all outdoors, regardless of how cold it was.  He thrust his cup into the cold river as he drank the blessed water three times.  His excitement over this great feast was truly inspiring.  He has gone to the Lord since.

There is also the memorial of St Isidore and 72 Orthodox Martyrs of the Kyivan Church who were thrown into the frozen waters for refusing to betray their faith and traditions.  Their incorrupt bodies were found floating downstream two days later.

Holy water is then taken by one and all to drink and bless one's homes with.  The Holy Supper is preceded with the drinking of the Holy Water.  Priests take this opportunity to visit the homes of their faithful to bless them and to spend some time with them on a personal level.

The Holy Water is kept in a container all year with one's Icons and other holy things.  It is a kind of Communion to drink it three times (always on an empty stomach).  It can also be used during times of temptation, stress and when one feels that evil is near.

On the Feast of the Theophany, the culmination of the Nativity Season, let us go with Christ into the waters of Jordan and receive His Enlightenment and Joy.  We have truly been baptized into Christ.  Let us now put on Christ!

Christ is being baptized!  In the Jordan!

Dr. Alexander Roman  alex@unicorne.org