Epiphany represents the conclusion of the Christmas season. Always falling on Jan. 6, it is sometimes called the Twelfth Day. Known to have been observed earlier than A.D. 194, it has been celebrated on a fixed day longer than Christmas and has always been a feast of the highest rank.

There are two schools of thought on the meaning of Epiphany. One holds it is the day the Magi visited the baby Jesus with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. The other celebrates Epiphany as the day of Christ's baptism.

Members of Holy Trinity Catholic Church will celebrate the arrival of the wise men to bestow gifts upon the Christ child.

"The word Epiphany comes from the Greek, meaning 'to make manifest, or to broadcast or show about,' " the Rev. Michael J. Polewczak of Holy Trinity Catholic Church said. "From the time of his birth, Jesus was made manifest to the shepherds, but the Magi, coming from distant and diverse places, represent the world at large. They represent that Jesus was made manifest to the world."

Holy Trinity will hold an Epiphany service at 11 a.m. on Sunday, January 5.

It is in the Gospel of St. Matthew that the Magi, or wise men from the east, are said to have followed a star and visited Jesus bearing kingly, priestly and prophetic gifts. Their number is not mentioned in the gospel, but because there were three gifts, it has become widely accepted there were also three Magi.

As the number of Magi is omitted by St. Matthew, so are their names. But the Catholic Encyclopedia says that since the seventh century the Magi were called Gaspar, Balthasar and Melchior. It is also supposed that the Magi came from Persia -- modern Iran -- since that country had a Magian priesthood during the time of the birth of Christ.

The congregations of the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer and St. Paul's Episcopal Church will celebrate the Baptism of Christ at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, January 5. In keeping with the Gospels of St. Mark, which begin with the Baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist, and St. John, those congregations celebrate Epiphany as the time that Christ moved into his awareness and acceptance of his role in God's plan.

"Epiphany is the actual Christmas to me," Fr. Georg Retzlaff of the Church of the Redeemer said. "It is much less sentimental and commercial. It's all about Christ's baptism; not about the baby but the man who struggled for 30 years and came out to give himself to the will of God.

"Epiphany is what I call the personal Christmas," Retzlaff said. "It represents the birth of Christ's God awareness."

As do the Church of the Redeemer and St. Paul's, Eastern Orthodox churches also celebrate Epiphany as the baptism of Christ, which they have done since the third century of the Christian era.

It was one of the three principle feasts of the early Church, along with Easter and Pentecost. From the fifth century, Western churches began to transform the feast day into a celebration of Christ's manifestation to the Gentiles, and the Magi became the central figures in the day's festivities.

But no matter the school of thought followed, Epiphany for both represents a time of focusing on the mission of the church to reach others by showing Jesus as the Savior of all people.

It is also a time of focusing on Christian brotherhood and fellowship, healing the chasms of prejudice and bigotry that too often create divisions among the followers of Christ.

T&D Staff Writer Thomas Brown can be reached by e-mail at tbrown@timesanddemocrat.com and by phone at 803-533-5532.

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