What Can You Tell Your Children About Theophany?

The Blessing of the Waters is a beautiful service that takes place in the Orthodox Church for Epiphany (also called Theophany).  Today our priest sent around a beautiful sermon by Father Mark Sietsema that began with the question,

“What do you mean by this service?”

Fr. Mark's expounds:
This was the question that little Israelite children were taught to ask at the Passover seder ritual (Exodus 12:26). This same question we too should ask in the month of January as we celebrate the Baptism of Christ. Through the liturgies of Epiphany and the blessings of homes, we also re-celebrate our own Baptisms, which are simply reenactments of His Baptism. 
(You can read the sermon in its entirety here.)

Archbishop Anastasios, Blessing the Waters [source orthodoxalbania.org]

Father Mark says that to comprehend the deeper meaning of the feast of Epiphany, we must look to the book of Genesis - and particularly the story of Creation, Adam and Eve, and The Flood in the time of Noah.

As Father goes on to explain, these Genesis stories will help us better understand Christ's own baptism because...

source

What we see on Epiphany, then, is a re-staging of the Creation: the Spirit hovering like a mother bird, in the form of a dove; the approval of the Father thundering from the open heavens; and out of the dark waters emerges the new creation—but this time God starts from the end and works backward! The first creature to emerge from the waters is a man—Jesus Christ. And so it begins—the healing of our nature, the re-harmonization of all creatures, the reconciliation of all living things to God. In time the New Creation will embrace the whole Universe...“For in [Christ] all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His Cross” (Colossians 1:19-20).

Genesis Stories for Children
So, on to my book recommendations for today - gorgeous offerings from gifted artist, Jane Ray.

All her biblical stories are descriptive, adapted from Scripture (King James version), with vivid folk-art-inspired illustrations. I'm happy to say that all are available used, from Amazon!

This stunning volume, Let There Be Light, newer edition is The Orchard Book of Bible Stories) might be your best choice! It is a collection of the re-tellings of The Story of Christmas, The Story of Creation, and Noah's Ark.

To see all my posts and book recommendations for Theophany and Epiphany, go here.

Eleventh Day and Twelfth Night

Tomorrow - January 6th - in my Church, we will celebrate the Baptism of Christ, or "Theophany", as well as the "Great Blessing of the Waters". The celebration of this Feast of our Lord begins on January 5, a day known as the "Forefeast of Theophany". Depending on the day of the week, this could be an evening service with Vespers followed by the Liturgy of Saint Basil or a morning service with Matins and the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom (as it will be tomorrow, since Epiphany falls on a Sunday this year).

The Blessing of the Waters is conducted in the church; however in many places throughout the world services are conducted near open bodies of water. As a sign of blessing as Christ blessed the Jordan, holy water is poured into the body of water. An associated tradition has been the tossing of a cross into the water to be retrieved by divers.

source

During the Orthodox service for the feastday of Theophany (or Epiphany), the priest makes the Sign of the Cross over the water with his hand and prays specifically for God's blessing to be invoked upon it. At the climax of the service, he immerses the hand cross into the water three times in imitation of Christ's baptism to the singing of the festal troparion:

source

When Thou wast baptized in the Jordan, O Lord,
The worship of the Trinity was made manifest.
For the voice of the Father bore witness to Thee,
And called Thee His beloved Son.
And the Spirit, in the form of a dove,
Confirmed the truthfulness of His word.
O Christ God, Who hast revealed Thyself,
And hast enlightened the world, glory be to Thee!


The holy water from the church is given to the faithful to consume and to use in blessing their homes. In the weeks following the Feast, clergy visit the homes of parishioners and conduct a service of blessing using the holy water that was blessed on the Feast of Theophany.

Two beautiful books for Theophany:

A House Blessing by Welleran Poltarnees. This is a beautiful book, with each page highlighing, in famous artwork, a phrase of a blessing prayer. Welleran Poltarnees is the pen name of Harold Darling, an author who has written numerous "blessing books" that employ turn of the 19th to 20th century artwork. This pen name is based on two of Lord Dunsany's most famous stories: "The Sword of Welleran" and "Poltarnees, Beholder of Ocean".

...All who live and visit here shall be friends. 

Kindliness and harmony shall be the watchwords.

Let the mealtimes be far more than the fulfillment of a necessity.

In this home food shall be prepared with grace, and eaten with gratitude.

May this be a place where the laughter of babies is heard,

and the gravity of children is answered with loving respect.

Make this house warm in the winter, and by the fires of an open hearth let comradeship and imagination flower. 

Let this be the place of peace, offering refuge from chaos and doubt, and manifesting in its orderliness, a model for the larger world...

THE THEOPHANY OF OUR LORD by Sister Elayne (now Mother Melania), with illustrations by Bonnie Gillis.  Beautiful watercolor illustrations accompany the beautiful poetic text about the Orthodox Church's celebration of Christ's baptism.

For more about Theophany, go here, to the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America Website, my source for this post.

ONE MORE GIFT...for the 12th Day of Christmas

January 6th is the Feast of Epiphany, also known as Theophany. It was one of the first "feast days" of the early church, and originally included the celebration of the Birth of Christ, the Adoration of the Magi, and Christ's Presentation into the Temple. Separate feast days for each of these events were not adopted until the fourth century. [source]

Have you ever wondered about the significance of the gifts the Magi brought to the child Jesus, in honor of His birth?
"And when they [the Magi] had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh." (Matthew 2:11 NKJV)

Linda Sue Park wondered about it - especially the last gift,  myrrh - and it led her to write the tender story, THE THIRD GIFT, with captivating illustrations by Bagram Ibatoulline. A boy helps his father harvest the resin ("tears") of shrub trees native to the Arabian Peninsula...

"The tears are used for many things. They can be ground up as medicine for headaches...used to flavor wine.  The best tears, the most expensive ones, are used for funerals...when you smell the tears at a funeral, you know that someone truly beloved has died."

One day the boy finds "the biggest tear yet."  When he and his father go to the marketplace, the merchant tells them he has some important customers waiting for them.  These three brightly robed strangers are looking for a gift to bring to a special baby. They already have gold and frankincense, but are looking for a third gift.

In the Author's Notes at the end of the book, Linda Sue Park wonders about the connotations of Christ's death in connection with the Wise Men's gift of myrrh, brought to Him as a baby.  She cites a reference to this foreshadowing as noted on a curator's label of the 16th century Brueghel painting, The Adoration of the Kings, hanging in the National Gallery in London.

What the author may not be aware of is that St. Irenaeus (a 2nd century Bishop from Lyon, France) also wrote about the gifts of the Kings to the Christ Child:
Matthew says that the Magi, coming from the east, exclaimed "For we have seen His star in the east, and are come to worship Him;” and that, having been led by the star into the house of Jacob to Emmanuel, they showed, by these gifts which they offered, Who it was that was worshipped: myrrh, because it was He who should die and be buried for the mortal human race; gold, because He was a King, “of whose kingdom is no end;” and frankincense, because He was God, who also “was made known in Judea,” and was “declared to those who sought Him not". [source]

image source

To this day, in every Orthodox Church at Christmas, the significance of the Magi’s gifts is revealed in a hymn sung at the Compline of the Nativity:

When the Lord Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, the Magi came from the east and worshipped Him as incarnate God. Eagerly they opened their treasures and offered Him precious gifts—pure gold for that He is King of the ages; frankincense in that He is God of all; and as dead for three days they offered myrrh to the deathless One. Wherefore, come, all ye nations, let us worship Him Who was born to save our souls.

Why is this hymn not sung in Orthodox churches on the feast of Epiphany? In Eastern Orthodox tradition, the visit of the Magi to the Christ Child is commemorated on Christmas Day.  Epiphany commemorates Jesus' baptism.  The word Epiphany in Greek means "to show forth" and is used interchangably with the word Theophany, which translates from Greek as "appearance of God".

The feast day is called Theophany because at the baptism of Christ the Holy Trinity appeared clearly to mankind for the first time -- the Father's voice is heard from Heaven, the Son of God is incarnate and standing physically in the Jordan, and the Holy Spirit descends on Him in the form of a dove. (You can see last year's post and book recommendation for Theophany HERE.)

image source

THE GREAT BLESSING OF THE WATERS

Great Blessing of the Waters by Boris Kustodiev

During the Orthodox service for the feast day of Theophany (or Epiphany), the priest makes the Sign of the Cross over the water with his hand and prays specifically for God's blessing to be invoked upon it. At the climax of the service, he immerses the hand cross into the water three times in imitation of Christ's baptism to the singing of the festal troparion:

When Thou wast baptized in the Jordan, O Lord,
The worship of the Trinity was made manifest.
For the voice of the Father bore witness to Thee,
And called Thee His beloved Son.
And the Spirit, in the form of a dove,
Confirmed the truthfulness of His word.
O Christ God, Who hast revealed Thyself,
And hast enlightened the world, glory be to Thee!


THE THEOPHANY OF OUR LORD by Sister Elayne (now Mother Melania), with illustrations by Bonnie Gillis.  Beautiful watercolor illustrations accompany the beautiful poetic text about the Orthodox Church's celebration of Christ's baptism.

ON THE FIRST DAY OF CHRISTMAS...

Most of us remember from childhood singing a song about the gifts "My True Love Gave to Me" for the TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS... including a partridge in a pear tree

turtle doves

french hens

calling birds

and
FIVE GO-OLD RINGS!

...but have you ever wondered WHAT the 12 Days of Christmas are?

Advent (or the "Nativity Fast"), ended Christmas Day and is followed traditionally in both the East and West by twelve days leading up to January 6th.   Epiphany, or Theophany as it is referred to in the East, falls on this day and is the climax of the Christmas season and the Twelve Days of Christmas.  Following the traditional custom of counting the days beginning at sundown, this liturgical service is typically celebrated on the night of January 5th - the "Twelfth Night".

The term Epiphany means "to show" or "to make known" or even "to reveal." In Western Catholic and Protestant churches, it remembers the coming of the Wisemen bringing gifts and visiting the Christ child, who by so doing "reveal" Jesus to the world as Lord and King.





In Eastern Orthodox churches (where the visit of the Magi to the Christ Child is commemorated on Christmas Day) Theophany, which means "appearance of God", commemorates Jesus’ baptism.  The feast is called Theophany because at the baptism of Christ the Holy Trinity appeared clearly to mankind for the first time -- the Father's voice is heard from Heaven, the Son of God is incarnate and standing physically in the Jordan, and the Holy Spirit descends on Him in the form of a dove.


Here are some beautifully illustrated offerings of the TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS SONG that I am sure you and your child will enjoy (click on the image of the book cover for information) :

Jan Brett

Gennady Spirin

Robert Sabuda

Don Daily