Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Epiphany?

Looking at the website for the bishops` conference of England and Wales, the main article is a piece about the Epiphany. I found this article to be at best confusing. It reads:

The 12 days of Christmas end in the Catholic Church on January 6th with the feast of the Epiphany.
This feast, a Holy day of Obligation, is originally a third century tradition from the Eastern Church. There, it marks the birth of Jesus and his adult baptism by John the Baptist in the River Jordan. In the West, the Epiphany is associated with the Magi, the three Kings who, according to Scripture, brought to the child Jesus gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrhh

No mention of the feast this year being celebrated thirteen days after Christmas with its transfer to the nearest Sunday.

UPDATE 5.01.07. The entry has changed and now reads:

On January 6th the Catholic Church celebrates the feast of the Epiphany.
The feast is a third century Eastern tradition. There, it marks the birth of Jesus and his adult baptism by John the Baptist in the River Jordan. In the West, the Epiphany is associated with the Magi, the three Kings who, according to Scripture, brought to the child Jesus gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrhh.

No mention of the Epiphany being a holyday of obligation any more but still the insistence that the feast is celebrated on January 6th!

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