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The Baptism of Jesus is an event that, in many Churches, is passed over in relative silence. At most, they treat it as an act of obedience or humility. Christ is clearly not in need of repentance (He has no sin), and yet He insists that John should baptize Him. The Holy Spirit is seen to descend and rest upon Him at the completion of this act. That, in sum, is almost everything said about His Baptism throughout much of the Christian world. Not so, in Orthodoxy. The feast of Christ’s Baptism (known as Theophany), is one of the three...

Tens of thousands across Russia bathed in ice-cold rivers and ponds over the night of January 18-19, braving freezing winter temperatures to celebrate the Orthodox Christian holiday of Epiphany (Theophany), the baptism of Jesus. RT's Margaret Howell tried it for herself.

"And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it." ( Jn 1:5) In this icon of the Baptism, Christ receives baptism at the hands of John the Baptist, the last of the prophets of the old Covenant. Here, the Old and New Covenants meet in the water of the Jordan- the old baptism for repentance of sins, and the lasting baptismal rebirth of water and the spirit, as brought by Jesus in the New Covenant (Lk 3:16). For this reason, the bottom of this icon depicts symbols of the initiation Sacraments of the Christian...

Today is January 6. Which means that it has been twelve days since Christmas. Simple math, really. Why does that matter. Well, today is the “Twelfth Day of Christmas” (you know the song – partridge in a pear tree and all). But beyond an 18th century Christmas carol, there are important historical links between today (January 6) and Christmas. Epiphany and Christmas – what’s the connection? Let’s go back to square one. First of all, nobody (that we know of) thought to write down Jesus’ birthday. Believe it or not, things like exact birthdays just weren’t that important in the...

Today the Maronite Catholic Church celebrates the feast of the Epiphany of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the Eastern Churches this feast is known by two names: Epiphany and Theophany. The Greek word Epiphany means manifestation or an apparition and the word Theophany refers to an appearance of God. On this day we celebrate the appearance or manifestation of Christ among us as God's Son. The feast of the Epiphany was first celebrated in the East around the third century and eventually was dropped by the Western Church. In the Eastern Churches the celebration of the Epiphany originally centered...