A repost from last year,

A couple of days ago, in my inbox, I got the Troparion of the Forefeast of Theophany (or Epiphany) (which in the Eastern Church commemorates Christ’s Baptism, not the Adoration of the Magi):

Make ready, O Zebulon, and prepare thyself, Nephthali./ River Jordan, stop flowing and leap for joy at the Lord's coming for Baptism./ Rejoice, O Adam, with our first mother;/ hide not yourself as in Paradise of old./ For seeing us naked He has appeared,/ to clothe us with our first garment./ Christ has appeared, to renew the whole of creation.

I was struck how much it reminded me of the Troparion of the Forefeast of the Nativty:

Prepare, O Bethlehem, for Eden has been opened to all. Adorn yourself, O Ephratha, for the Tree of Life blossoms forth from the Virgin in the cave. Her womb is a spiritual paradise planted with the fruit divine; if we eat of it we shall live forever and not die like Adam. Christ is coming to restore the image which He made in the beginning.

It’s not surprising that these two feasts that bookend the 12 Days of Christmas – The Nativity and Theophany - have similar liturgical hymns, for as Father Thomas (who sent the above email as well) writes:

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…
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 [who is]:

The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his path straight. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God (Is 40:3-5; Lk 3:4-6).

As we get ready to celebrate the Feast tomorrow, and begin our annual season of house blessings, my best wishes to you and yours.
Christ is Baptized! In the Jordan!

On the 9th Day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…a blog post, apparently! Wow, I did not mean to go silent on everyone, thank you so much for your kind Christmas and New Year’s wishes! We had a wonderful feast and are so far enjoying the New Year! It is my brother’s birthday today and my boss’ too, Happy Birthday to Both!

Nine things about the past nine days:

Eddie got me a cute pair of boots (did I predict that or what, Molly?) at my new favorite online store.

Cedric bought gifts for all of us with his own money – pretty cool, huh. So, Bath and Body Works lovers – what do I use my gift card on?

I heard an interesting piece on BirdNote about the first seven Days of Christmas being about birds. While it was fascinating, I certainly hope my true love doesn’t buy me a bird (or seven), I love to see them outside, but inside birds kind of creep me out.

We went to a lovely New Year’s Party yesterday at the Mousethief residence. I love that Mrs. Mousethief makes vegetarian Black Eyed Peas so I can have good luck, and we played Boggle with Lizzie and Mousethief and had a great time (although my score was like six)

While standing at Midnight Liturgy on Christmas, I was contemplating binding my Festal service books with my new Bind-It-All (thanks, Mom!)

Xavier didn’t see the bike we got him for the Nativity, even though it was sitting under the tree. And, since it stayed in my office for a couple of weeks prior – did you know that bikes have a smell like a new car smell?

The DQ Blizzard of the month for December is lovely. Yum.

I read 90 books in 2007. I suspect my 2008 total will be less, though, because I’m planning on reading War and Peace which I think will take me awhile.

I put my elbow in peanut butter at the Co-op the other day, and told Eddie that it was ok that my coat was at the cleaners because it should be warm. It has snowed two days since then. I pick it up tonight – on a warm, rainy day!

May 2008 be full of love, peace and blessings!