The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, or Theophany, is the

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...

commemorating the

baptism of Jesus The baptism of Jesus, the ritual purification of Jesus with water by John the Baptist, was a major event described in the three synoptic Gospels of the New Testament ( Matthew, Mark and Luke). It is considered to have taken place at Al-Maghta ...

in the

Jordan River The Jordan River or River Jordan (, ''Nahr al-ʾUrdunn''; , ''Nəhar hayYardēn''), also known as ''Nahr Al-Sharieat'' (), is a endorheic river in the Levant that flows roughly north to south through the Sea of Galilee and drains to the Dead ...

John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...

. Originally the baptism of Christ was celebrated on

Epiphany Epiphany may refer to: Psychology * Epiphany (feeling), an experience of sudden and striking insight Religion * Epiphany (holiday), a Christian holiday celebrating the revelation of God the Son as a human being in Jesus Christ ** Epiphany seaso ...

, which commemorates the coming of the

Magi Magi (), or magus (), is the term for priests in Zoroastrianism and earlier Iranian religions. The earliest known use of the word ''magi'' is in the trilingual inscription written by Darius the Great, known as the Behistun Inscription. Old Per ...

, the baptism of Christ, and the

wedding at Cana The wedding at Cana (also called the marriage at Cana, wedding feast at Cana or marriage feast at Cana) is a story in the Gospel of John at which the first miracle attributed to Jesus takes place. In the Gospel account, Jesus, his mother and ...

. Over time in the West, however, the celebration of the baptism of the Lord came to be commemorated as a distinct feast from Epiphany. It is celebrated in the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

as well as the

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

and

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

Churches on the first Sunday following The Epiphany of Our Lord (January 6). Some

churches celebrate it on the Sunday before

Lent Lent (, 'Fortieth') is the solemn Christianity, Christian religious moveable feast#Lent, observance in the liturgical year in preparation for Easter. It echoes the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring Temptation of Christ, t ...

, or

Quinquagesima Quinquagesima (), in the Western Christian Churches, is the last pre-Lenten Sunday, being the Sunday before Ash Wednesday, and the first day of Carnival (also known as Shrovetide). It is also called Quinquagesima Sunday, Quinquagesimae, Esto ...

Celebration in the Eastern Christian Churches

In the

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

and the

Eastern Catholic The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also known as the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous ('' sui iuris'') particular churches of ...

Churches, the Baptism of the Lord is celebrated as an integral part of the celebration on January 6, the

Great Feast In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the feast of the death and Resurrection of Jesus, called Pascha (Easter), is the greatest of all holy days and as such it is called the "feast of feasts". Immediately below it in importance, there is a group of T ...

of the

Theophany Theophany () is an encounter with a deity that manifests in an observable and tangible form.. It is often confused with other types of encounters with a deity, but these interactions are not considered theophanies unless the deity reveals itse ...

. For those churches which follow the traditional

Julian calendar The Julian calendar is a solar calendar of 365 days in every year with an additional leap day every fourth year (without exception). The Julian calendar is still used as a religious calendar in parts of the Eastern Orthodox Church and in parts ...

, January 6 falls on January 19 of the modern

Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It went into effect in October 1582 following the papal bull issued by Pope Gregory XIII, which introduced it as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian cale ...

(see

Epiphany (holiday) Epiphany ( ), also known as "Theophany" in Eastern Christian tradition, is a Christian feast day commemorating the visit of the Magi, the baptism of Jesus, and the wedding at Cana. In Western Christianity, the feast commemorates principally ...

and

for details).

Celebration in the Western Christian Churches

Catholic Church

The Baptism of the Lord is observed as a distinct feast in the

Roman rite The Roman Rite () is the most common ritual family for performing the ecclesiastical services of the Latin Church, the largest of the ''sui iuris'' particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. The Roman Rite governs Rite (Christianity) ...

, although it was originally one of three Gospel events marked by the feast of the

. Long after the visit of the Magi had in the West overshadowed the other elements commemorated in the

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

instituted in 1955 a separate liturgical commemoration of the Baptism. Currently, the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord is usually celebrated the Sunday after Epiphany. The exception is when Epiphany is observed on January 7th of 8th; this causes the Baptism to be celebrated on the Monday immediately following Epiphany. When celebrated on Sunday, the Baptism is part of Christmas Time, but when displaced to Monday it falls in Ordinary Time.

History

The

Tridentine calendar The Tridentine calendar is the calendar of saints to be honoured in the course of the liturgical year in the official liturgy of the Roman Rite as reformed by Pope Pius V and first issued in 1568, implementing a decision of the Council of Trent, ...

had no feast of the Baptism of the Lord for almost four centuries. Then the feast was instituted, under the denomination "Commemoration of the Baptism of our Lord", for celebration on 13 January as a major double, using for the Office and the Mass those previously said on the Octave of the Epiphany, which Pius XII abolished; however, if the Commemoration of the Baptism of Our Lord occurred on Sunday, the Office and Mass were to be those of the Feast of the Holy Family without any commemoration. In his revision of the calendar five years later,

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII (born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death on 3 June 1963. He is the most recent pope to take ...

kept on 13 January the "Commemoration of the Baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ", with the rank of a second-class feast. A mere 14 years after the institution of the feast,

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

set its date as the first Sunday after January 6 (as early as January 7 or as late as January 13) or, if in a particular country the Epiphany is celebrated on Sunday, January 7 or Sunday, January 8, on Monday, January 8 or Monday, January 9, respectively.

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

initiated a custom whereby on this feast the Pope baptizes babies in the

Sistine Chapel The Sistine Chapel ( ; ; ) is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the pope's official residence in Vatican City. Originally known as the ''Cappella Magna'' ('Great Chapel'), it takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV, who had it built between 1473 and ...

Lutheran Churches

In the past, the Lutheran Churches as with other Western Christian Churches, commemorated the Baptism of the Lord on the octave of the Feast of the Epiphany. The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord is celebrated today in many Lutheran parishes as a separate feast, on the first Sunday after the feast of the Epiphany. Lutheran Churches with Scandinavian history, such as the

Evangelical Lutheran Synod The Evangelical Lutheran Synod (ELS) is a US-based Protestant Christian denomination based in Mankato, Minnesota. It describes itself as a conservative, Confessional Lutheran body. The ELS has 130 congregations and has missions in Peru, Chile, ...

celebrate the Baptism of Christ on the final Sunday before

Sunday. Chronologically, the Temptation of Jesus, heard on the 1st Sunday in Lent, immediately follows the Baptism of Jesus. This order follows the lectionary which

Johannes Bugenhagen Johannes Bugenhagen (24 June 1485 – 20 April 1558), also called ''Doctor Pomeranus'' by Martin Luther, was a German theologian and Lutheran priest who introduced the Protestant Reformation in the Duchy of Pomerania and Denmark in the 16th ...

included in his church order he brought to Denmark.

Anglican Communion

In the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

, Epiphany may be observed on January 6, or on the Sunday between January 2 and 8. If Epiphany is observed on a Sunday on January 6 or before, the Baptism of Christ is observed on the following Sunday. If the Epiphany is observed on January 7 or 8, the Baptism of Christ is observed on the following Monday, on January 8 or 9. In the Church of England,

Ordinary Time Ordinary Time () is the part of the liturgical year in the liturgy of the Roman Rite, which falls outside the two great seasons of Christmastide and Eastertide, or their respective preparatory seasons of Advent and Lent. Ordinary Time thus inc ...

does not begin until the day after the

Presentation of Christ in the Temple The Presentation of Jesus is an early episode in the life of Jesus Christ, describing his presentation at the Temple in Jerusalem. It is celebrated by many churches 40 days after Christmas on Candlemas, or the "Feast of the Presentation of Jes ...

. In the Episcopal Church SA Epiphany is always celebrated on January 6, and the Baptism of the Lord is always celebrated on the following Sunday. It is not clear as to whether or not the Feast of the Baptism of our Lord is the end of Christmastide for the Episcopal Church. On one hand, the Prayer Book refers to the "Twelve Days of Christmas," and clearly distinguishes the Christmas and Epiphany seasons, the latter extending until Ash Wednesday. On the other hand, the Prayer Book allows for the continued use of Christmas prayers and readings on the weekdays following the Epiphany and leading up to the Baptism of our Lord. Further, the Epiphany and the Baptism of Christ are viewed as specially connected,The Book of Common Prayer, 43, 81 allowing the interpretation that Christmastide does extend through and end with the Feast of our Lord's Baptism on the Sunday following the Epiphany.

Methodist Churches

The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord is celebrated in many Methodist parishes on the second Sunday in January, after the feast of the Epiphany has already occurred.

References

{{Liturgical year of the Catholic Church Christmastide Baptism January observances Christian Sunday observances Monday observances Feasts of Jesus Christ Christian feast days