Feast of the Epiphany at Saint Stephen’s in Sacramento

The Feast of the Epiphany has its origin amongst the Eastern churches, as their principle observance of the birth of Our Lord. In contrast, the West first came to celebrate the Feast of the Nativity (Christmas) on December 25, and later added the Feast of the Epiphany, on January 6. At first this was just the commemoration of the apparition to the Magi. Pious belief holds that the manifestation of Our Lord to the Magi occurred twelve days after His Birth, giving us the twelve days between Christmas and the Epiphany.

For the West, “Epiphany,” which means “manifestation,” eventually came to commemorate three events:

1. The apparition to the Magi, that is, to the Gentiles
2. His Baptism, when the Voice from Heaven declared: “This is My Beloved Son”
3. The miracle of His changing water into wine at the wedding feast at Cana, at the behest of Our Lady

Enjoy images of the Feast of the Epiphany at St. Stephen the First Martyr, our parish apostolate in Sacramento. Fr. John Lyons, FSSP, pastor of St. Stephen, was assisted by Fr. Lee Perry as Deacon. Many thanks to Jay Balza and the Traditional Latin Mass Society of San Francisco for the images of the day.