The word Epiphany means “manifestation,” and it has passed into general
acceptance throughout the universal Church, from the fact that Jesus Christ
manifested to the eyes of men His divine mission on this day first of all,
when a miraculous star revealed His birth to the kings of the East. Thus was
fulfilled the prophecy that “a star would arise from Jacob”. (Numbers
24:17) It was understood by these Wise Men that this star was announcing
the Saviour-King, destined to be born of the Jews. And they, in spite of the
difficulties and dangers of a long and tedious journey through deserts and
mountains almost impassable, hastened at once to Bethlehem to adore Him.
And there they offered Him mystical presents, as to the King of kings, to the
God of heaven and earth, and to a Man whose human nature made Him
mortal and subject to sufferings.
The second manifestation commemorated by this feast day occurred when
He came forth from the waters of the Jordan after having received Baptism
from the hands of Saint John, and the Holy Ghost descended on Him in the
visible form of a dove. A voice from heaven was heard, saying, “This is My
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
The third manifestation which the Church’s liturgy recalls to us is that of the
divine power of Jesus when, at the marriage-feast of Cana, by the first of
His miracles He changed water into wine. And at the sight of this prodigy His
disciples believed in His Divinity. These three great events, concurring to the
same end, the Church has wished to celebrate in one and the same festival.
