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| Epiphany; Blessed Epiphany Water | |
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| Topic Started: Tuesday, 8. January 2008, 15:08 (86 Views) | |
| Lilo | Tuesday, 8. January 2008, 15:08 Post #1 |
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Because we were travelling this weekend, I come to this topic a little late - or not, depending on how you want to look at it. Perhaps some of you are familiar with Blessed Epiphany Water; I was not, and from after Mass chats with other parishioners at the church I attended, neither were they. Father mentioned the subject in his announcements, said that he had blessed this water the evening before, and that as Holy Water went, it was the most powerful because of the way it is blessed. I took him up on his offer to take some home and then researched the topic. First, it seems the traditions associated with this feast have been preserved in the eastern Church to a much greater extent than in the west. Also, in the east, the Feast of the Epiphany is associated more with the Baptism of the Lord than with the visit of the Magi - not that the Magi aren't involved. The chief emphasis just isn't on them. We, of course, have split the feasts in two, celebrating the Baptism of the Lord on the Sunday after Epiphany. I'll be surprising our weekly Bible Study group this morning with tiny containers of Blessed Epiphany Water, along with the following handout by way of explanation: Christmas is the intimate family feast of the Catholic Church. Epiphany is the world-feast of the Catholic Church. At Christmas God appears as man. At Epiphany this man – Christ – appears to the world as God. Christmas is the feast of God's manifestation of Himself as man. Epiphany is the manifestation of His Divinity. Epiphany stresses two important ideas which have special meaning in our time. 1)The Manifestation of Christ as the Son of God. 2)The extension of Christ's Kingship over the whole world. In the Western Church, Epiphany is predominantly a feast of the Gentiles. The Three Kings, who represent the non-Jewish world, approach the newborn King as our advocates. Indeed, this feast is a symbol of the choosing of the Gentiles by Christ, and the rejection of Christ by His own people, the Jews, who declared, "We have no king but Caesar!" Epiphany is the anniversary of OUR call to the Faith, and our first advocates pay homage to the King with us. 20 + C + M + B + 08 – January 6, 2008 Today is the day for the Blessing of your home with the Epiphany Inscription Over the Doorway (above). The letters have two meanings. They are the initials of the traditional names of the Three Magi: Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar. They also abbreviate the Latin words “Christus mansionem benedicat” – “May Christ bless the house.” We invoke the names of the three Holy Kings, Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar, in this year of Our Lord, 2008, to protect this house against all evil spirits. The letters recall the day on which the inscription is made, as well as the purpose of the blessing. The crosses represent the protection of the Precious Blood of Christ, whom we invoke, and the holiness of the Three Magi, sanctified by their adoration of the Infant Christ. The inscription is made above the front door, so that all who enter and depart this year may enjoy God’s blessing. The month of January still bears the name of the Roman god Janus, the doorkeeper of heaven and protector of the beginning and end of things. This blessing “christens” the ancient Roman observance of the first month. The use of old rite holy water is more efficacious than new rite holy water, based upon the nature of the prayers of the blessing. This does not mean that the new rite holy water is inefficacious; it simply is not as efficacious. Epiphany water is even more efficacious because of the fact that it undergoes a two-fold exorcism. Holy water may be used to spread around everywhere in houses, on people and on things; it may also be consumed. To bless your home this Epiphany, read the Prologue of Saint John’s Gospel, followed by the Our Father, and the Collect of the Epiphany; then write the inscription for this year above your front door with blessed chalk. Sprinkle some Epiphany water (otherwise and afterwards used as regular Holy Water) in the rooms of your house to protect it and bring blessings. This Holy Water recalls the waters of the Jordan, and is a visible reminder of Christ's Divinity, of Jesus's revealing Himself as God at His Baptism, when were heard the words from the Father: "This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased." This rite of blessing the home is led by a priest, if possible, or the father of the house if no priest is available. Comments Grace M. Alvarez said: We have practiced this ancient Christian custom in our parish for the past 10+ years. Each year we print the cards with the current year as mentioned in the article. On the back of the strips we print this blessing: “Today Jesus is manifest to us; Today, this home is a holy place.” Lord, bless this household. May we be blessed with health, goodness of heart, gentleness, and the keeping of your laws. We give thanks to you, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen. This custom and inscription have become a tradition our home. Edmund said: This is a long practiced custom in Poland. I try not to miss an opportunity of doing absolutely everything I can, while being alive. Just think of the inevitability of one day departing, and in that last moment feeling sorry that something as simple as this blessing I denied myself because of laziness or worse yet abandoning the church, religion and God. Blessing of Water on the Vigil of Epiphany: The old Rituale Romanum features a special blessing for holy water that a priest can use only for this Feast. It includes several prayers of exorcism, and the priest does not need a mandate from a bishop for performing exorcisms in order to use it. It is a beautiful, but rather long ceremony. In some places the water is blessed on the Vigil of Epiphany and is then given to the faithful to use in their homes, and also for the sick. Blessing of the Home on the Feast of the Epiphany: The blessing of the home is often given by pastors, either individually or if the parish is so large that this is impossible, from the church steeple in the four directions. If there is no blessing of houses in your parish on Epiphany, the father may go through the various rooms of the home sprinkling the "water of the three kings," or with ordinary holy water if the other has not been blessed. As the various rooms are sprinkled, the father may read this prayer: Bless, O Lord, almighty God, this home so that in it there may be health, chastity, victorious strength, humility, goodness and mildness, obedience to God's laws, and acts of thanks to God the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, and may this Blessing remain upon this house, and upon all who dwell in it. Through Christ Our Lord, Amen. from the Idaho Hicks In Austria ... The wild adventures of a small-town Idaho family living in the Austrian Alps. EPIPHANY!! January, 2008 We just received a visit from the wise men! In Gaming, (and maybe the rest of Austria) there is a tradition where the wise men come to each house and write their initials and the year above the door. We were fortunate enough to be home today when they visited. 
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The root problem in a lot of bad catechesis is ultimately not ignorance, but pride. ~ Mark Shea 
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| Derekap | Tuesday, 8. January 2008, 16:30 Post #2 |
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Lilo. Your account is very interesting. I think The Armenian Apostolic Church (Orthodox) blesses water on 6th January which is combined Feast of Christ's Birth, Epiphany and Baptism. However, I cannot accept the comment that a Blessing in one Rite is more efficacious or is less efficacious than a Blessing in another Rite. How can we prove it because we are not in a situation to evaluate Blessings. It is almost like saying that Fr John's Blessings are more efficacious because he gives them with great reverence and care than Fr James because gives them in a more casual manner. |
| Derekap | |
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| Lilo | Tuesday, 8. January 2008, 20:09 Post #3 |
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Derek, While I can see your point - sort of - I included this comment because of the on-going controversy over the old vs new form of exorcism. There are priests who insist that the old exorcism rite is more effective, and while this is often used as a reason to poke fun at someone who supposedly believes that the devil hates Latin, I doubt it's that at all. First, both forms of the blessing and/or exorcism are in the same rite - the Latin rite. Both are approved. But I find that in the modernization/simplification rush after the council, we sometimes found ourselves victims of the "change for the sake of change" crowd. It is possible to cut out too much, and I dare say we've seen some of that. That's probably why we now hear about a reform of the reform. Maybe there was a purpose to some of the repetition that's gone. Perhaps there was a reason for doing things the way we'd been doing them for generations, especially things that worked. Have you ever had the opportunity to attend liturgies in an Eastern rite? They haven't made many of the changes we've made, and you may be amazed at all the repetition, to say nothing of the lack of politically correct language in those parts of the liturgy that are prayed in English. In December we attended a diaconal ordination in a Russian Orthodox Church - the man being ordained used to be the local Baptist minister. Needless to say his protestant relatives and former friends were not impressed; other than his immediate family we were the only friends who showed up. Thus the language they use is still quite fresh in my mind - I found it impressive. I'm not opposed to change where it's an improvement, or even of equal value. But not all change fits the bill, and while you're right that none of us are experts who can determine the efficaciousness of a particular formula, I am not willing to completely discount the experience of those who regularly deal with such matters, either. |
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The root problem in a lot of bad catechesis is ultimately not ignorance, but pride. ~ Mark Shea
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