By St. Gregory Thaumaturgos O you who are the friends of Christ, and the friends of the stranger, and the friends of the brethren, receive in kindness my speech today, and open your ears like the doors of hearing, and admit within them my discourse, and accept from me this saving proclamation of the baptism of Christ, which took place …

Scott Cairns January 5, 2011 The Huffington Post Today, January 6, Orthodox Christians celebrate another of the Twelve Great Feasts of the Christian Church — the Theophany, or, as it is also called, the Epiphany. It is the day that Jesus is baptized in the River Jordan by the holy prophet and “forerunner” John, the day that Jesus of Nazareth, …

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich When our Lord reached thirty years from His physical birth, He began His teaching and salvific work. He Himself signified this “beginning of the beginning” by His baptism in the Jordan river. St. Cyril of Jerusalem says, “The beginning of the world – water; the beginning of the Good News – Jordan.” At the time of …

By Professor Ioannis Foundoulis On January 6th our Church celebrates the great despotic feast of “Theophany” or “Epiphany” or “Holy Lights”. The forefeast begins the day after New Years, January 2nd. In this preparatory period is found the “Sunday Before the Lights”. This fits into the functional forefeast preparation. In the Gospel reading from the Divine Liturgy on this Sunday …

By Sergei V. Bulgakov Theophany is understood as a feast in which the event of the baptism of Jesus by John in the Jordan[1] is commemorated and glorified (Mt. 3:13-17. Mk. 1:9-11. Lk. 3:21-22). This feast is called Theophany because during the baptism of the Lord the Divine All-Holy Trinity was revealed: God the Father spoke from heaven about the Son, the Son of …

DAY ONE – THE FOREFEAST OF HOLY THEOPHANY The first day of the Forefeast of Theophany falls on January 2. Like the hymns for the Nativity, many of the Church’s hymns of this period are slightly modified versions of the hymns of Holy Week. One of the hymns at Matins today says that the coming Feast of Theophany will be …

After the feast of the Circumcision (Jan. 1), the Church turns its gaze from our Lord’s infancy and childhood to his public ministry, which will begin with His baptism (Matthew 3:13-17). The feast of our Lord’s baptism is called the Theophany, meaning “the manifestation” or “appearance of God”, and is celebrated on January 6. During the days leading up to …

With Special Reference to the oration of Andrew, Archbishop of Crete, the Jerusalemite, On the Feast of the Circumcision of Christ (PG 97, 913-929) By Fr. George Dion Dragas, PhD, DD, DTh., Protopresbyter “And when the eight days were fulfilled for His circumcision, He was given the name JESUS, as He had been already named by the angels, before He …

By Bishop Theophilos of Campania[1] Translated and annotated from the original Greek[2] By Fr GEORGE DION DRAGAS PhD, DD Protopresbyter *1. The Mystery of the Incarnation. God who is All-Powerful could have liberated the human race from the hands of the Devil by a single command. Had he done that, however, we would have known only his All-Powerfulness, which we …