A voice crying in the wilderness.

Today is the Prefeast of Theophany. There is a Vesperal Liturgy tonight, just like as at Christmas, and then tomorrow is the Festal Divine Liturgy (just like as at Christmas) for as Father Thomas Hopko points out on the OCA Website:

The services of Epiphany are set up exactly as those of Christmas, although historically it was most certainly Christmas which was made to imitate Epiphany since it was established later. Once again the Royal Hours and the Liturgy of Saint Basil are celebrated together with Vespers on the eve of the feast; and the Vigil is made up of Great Compline and Matins. The prophecies of Epiphany repeat the God is with Us from Isaiah and stress the foretelling of the Messiah as well as the coming of his forerunner, John the Baptist:

For as St. Matthew reminds us, John the Baptist, is of course, the voice crying in the wilderness.

1In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea 2and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." 3This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:
"A voice of one calling in the desert,
'Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.' "
Matthew 3:1-3

Our Christmas season comes to an end today, and we look forward to tomorrow’s feast. I love the history of this feast, which is truly one of the great feasts of the year. Again, Father Thomas:

The sixth of January is the feast of the Epiphany. Originally it was the one Christian feast of the "shining forth" of God to the world in the human form of Jesus of Nazareth. It included the celebration of Christ's birth, the adoration of the Wisemen, and all of the childhood events of Christ such as his circumcision and presentation to the temple as well as his baptism by John in the Jordan. There seems to be little doubt that this feast, like Easter and Pentecost, was understood as the fulfillment of a previous Jewish festival, in this case the Feast of Lights

One of the most wondrous parts of the Feast of Theophany for the Orthodox is the blessing of the waters. At tonight’s Vesperal Liturgy, the indoor blessing of the waters will occur, blessing a font of water from which our Holy Water for the year will be drawn – in both our personal and parish life. And then, tomorrow, after the Liturgy, there will be processions all over the world from parishes to waterways for the outdoor Blessing of the Waters.

Ours is humble, beautiful and often very cold. In contrast, in Florida, there will be the 100th Tarpon Springs Epiphany Celebration in the Greek Orthodox Community. You can even hear it online.

And, as Father Thomas Moore in his Wisdom emails (where I first saw the article above) said, you can come and visit our celebration too, but “ours won’t be that big”.

Happy Forefeast and Feast Day tomorrow to you!