The Epiphany
January 6, 2023
THE FEAST OF THE Epiphany on January 6 marks the day when three cultured philosopher-kings came from the East to Bethlehem. Their systems of thought and pagan divination now exhausted, these seekers were drawn by a mysterious revelation to search for a child. They were kings looking for a king. They found a baby in a cave, surrounded by none of the prerogatives of power. Here was no symbol or sign. Here was the very Wisdom they craved incarnated. Here was no illumination of the mind alone. Their hearts were enlightened too. Their search ended; they fell to their knees and adored. “We have seen His star, and are come to adore Him” – Matt, ii, 2.
As Eastern mysticism and “mindfulness” continue to spread in the West, let’s remember today that these ideas are not new, but as old as time. This road was traveled by the Magi.
Some relevant words by G. K. Chesterton:
“It is still a strange story, though an old one, how they came out of orient lands, crowned with the majesty of kings and clothed with something of the mystery of magicians. That truth that is tradition has wisely remembered them almost as unknown quantities, as mysterious as their mysterious and melodious names; Melchior, Caspar, Balthazar. But there came with them all that world of wisdom that had watched the stars in Chaldea and the sun in Persia; and we shall not be wrong if we see in them the same curiosity that moves all the sages.They would stand for the same human ideal if their names had really been Confucius or Pythagoras or Plato. They were those who sought not tales, but the truth of things; and since their truth was itself a thirst for God, they also have had their reward.” (The Everlasting Man, Ignatius Press; p. 176)
“O God, who by the direction of a star didst this day manifest thy only Son to the Gentiles; mercifully grant, that we, who now know thee by faith, may come at length to see the glory of thy Majesty.”
I usually post British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams’s The March of the Kings, part of his Christmas Cantata Hodie (“This Day”), on this day because it movingly conveys the atmosphere of those royal seekers long ago:
From kingdoms of wisdom secret and far
come Caspar, Melchior, Balthasar;
they ride through time, they ride through night
led by the star’s foretelling light.
Crowning the skies the star of morning, star of dayspring, calls:
clear on the hilltop its sharp radiance falls
lighting the stable and the broken walls
where the prince lies.
Gold from the veins of earth he brings,
red gold to crown the King of Kings.
Power and glory here behold
shut in a talisman of gold.
Frankincense from those dark hands
was gathered in eastern, sunrise lands,
incense to burn both night and day
to bear the prayers a priest will say.
Myrrh is a bitter gift for the dead.
Birth but begins the path you tread;
your way is short, your days foretold
by myrrh, and frankincense and gold.
Return to kingdoms secret and far,
Caspar, Melchior, Balthasar,
ride through the desert, retrace the night,
leaving the star’s imperial light.
Crowning the skies the star of morning, star of dayspring, calls:
clear on the hilltop its sharp radiance falls
lighting the stable and the broken walls
where the prince lies.
