👑Epiphany, as the Greeks say, or appearance, is the second solemnity in the Christmas cycle. Joyfully we celebrate with the holy Church the solemn entry of Christ the King into the world, into humanity, into the soul of each one of us. He who was born in the silence of the holy Christmas night now manifests Himself to the eyes of the world. The King of eternal glory enters His city, the new Jerusalem, the holy Church. The liturgical Offices, especially that of dawn, Lauds, speak of a threefold manifestation of Jesus. The Antiphon says: “Today the celestial Bridegroom has united Himself to the Church, because Christ washed the crimes of His Bride in the Jordan.” At the baptism of Jesus, the Eternal Father bore witness to His Son: “This is my Son, listen to Him.” - “The Magi hasten to the royal wedding with their gifts” (Gospel). With the Magi, we are also invited to present at the Offertory our gift: the gift of ourselves. And finally, the Antiphon concludes: “And the water is turned into wine and the guests rejoice. Alleluia.” At the wedding of Cana, the divine-royal power of Jesus Christ was manifested for the first time. Just as the guests rejoice, we rejoice in the transubstantiation of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of the Savior which is proposed to us in the nuptial banquet of the Eucharist. St. Peter's Basilica was chosen for the celebration of the Mass on this day because the Epiphany, since the most remote times, is one of the greatest solemnities. We offer ourselves with Christ (Secret) and receive Christ (Post-Communion). The interior life of the Christian is a reproduction of the life of Christ. The end of the Church, celebrating the ecclesiastical Year, is this: just as Jesus manifested Himself to the Magi, we ask that He manifest Himself to every Christian by the light of faith.
🎵 Introit (Mal 3:1; 1 Chron 29:12 | Ps 71:1)
Ecce, advénit dominátor Dóminus: et regnum in manu ejus et potéstas et impérium. Ps. Deus, judícium tuum Regi da: et justítiam tuam Fílio Regis.
Behold the Lord the Ruler is come: and the Kingdom is in His hand, and power, and dominion. Ps. Give to the King thy judgment, O God: and to the King's Son thy justice.
📜 Epistle (Is 60, 1-6)
Arise, be enlightened, O Jerusalem: for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For behold darkness shall cover the earth, and a mist the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall walk in thy light, and kings in the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thy eyes round about, and see: all these are gathered together, they are come to thee: thy sons shall come from afar, and thy daughters shall rise up at thy side. Then shalt thou see, and abound, and thy heart shall wonder and be enlarged, when the multitude of the sea shall be converted to thee, the strength of the Gentiles shall come to thee. The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Madian and Epha: all they from Saba shall come, bringing gold and frankincense: and shewing forth praise to the Lord.
📖 Gospel (Mt 2, 1-12)
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Juda, in the days of King Herod, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem. Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to adore him. And king Herod hearing this, was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And assembling together all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where Christ should be born. But they said to him: In Bethlehem of Juda. For so it is written by the prophet: And thou Bethlehem the land of Juda art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come the captain that shall rule my people Israel. Then Herod, privately calling the wise men, learned diligently of them the time of the star which appeared to them; And sending them into Bethlehem, said: Go and diligently inquire after the child, and when you have found him, bring me word again, that I also may come to adore him. Who having heard the king, went their way; and behold the star which they had seen in the east, went before them, until it came and stood over where the child was. And seeing the star they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And entering into the house, they found the child with Mary his mother (here all kneel), and falling down they adored him; and opening their treasures, they offered him gifts; gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having received an answer in sleep that they should not return to Herod, they went back another way into their country.
🕯️ The Light of Faith and the Vocation of Nations
The manifestation of the Lord to the Magi is the mystery of the vocation of the Gentiles, where the Church, the new Jerusalem, sees her children arriving from afar, guided not only by a visible star but by the invisible light of divine grace that touches the intellect and moves the will. St. Augustine, in his sermons on the Epiphany, reminds us that the Magi were the firstfruits of the Gentiles, and we are the people of the Gentiles; what was announced in them has been fulfilled in us. The star they saw is the symbol of the faith that guides us through the darkness of this world to the house of Bread, Bethlehem, which is the Holy Church where we find Christ. Unlike Herod, who is troubled by the birth of the Eternal King for fear of losing his temporal kingdom - an error that St. Thomas Aquinas points out as the blindness of ambition - the Magi rejoice, for they seek a kingdom that is not of this world. The liturgy teaches us that true adoration requires an offering: the gold of divine wisdom and Christ's kingship, the incense of devout prayer to His divinity, and the myrrh of the mortification of the flesh, recognizing His humanity subject to death. Thus, in the Eucharist, we renew this Epiphany: we approach the altar no longer guided by distant celestial signs, but by the certainty of the Real Presence, prostrating ourselves before Him who, though hidden under the species of bread and wine, reigns sovereign over the universe and over our souls. Our "other way" of return, mentioned in the Gospel, symbolizes conversion: after finding Christ, we cannot return by the old paths of sin, but must tread the path of justice and holiness.
🇺🇸 See English version of the critical articles here.
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