Laudetur Iesus Christus! Today January 6 is the great feast of Epiphany.  As liturgist Dom Prosper Gueranger notes, this is one of the cardinal feasts of the Church; it retains its own season, and like Easter and Pentecost, it has several Sundays named after it and its own octave. Gueranger also notes there are 3 mysteries of Christ celebrated on this day:

The mystery of the Epiphany brings upon us three magnificent rays of the Sun of Justice, our Saviour. In the calendar of pagan Rome, this Sixth day of January was devoted to the celebration of a triple triumph of Augustus, the founder of the Roman Empire: but when Jesus, our Prince of peace, whose empire knows no limits, had secured victory to his Church by the blood of the Martyrs, then did this his Church decree that a triple triumph of the Immortal King should be substituted, in the Christian Calendar, for those other three triumphs which had been won by the adopted son of Cæsar.

The Sixth of January, therefore, restored the celebration of our Lord’s Birth to the Twenty-Fifth of December; but in return, there were united in the one same Epiphany three manifestations of Jesus’ glory: the mystery of the Magi coming from the East, under the guidance of a star, and adoring the Infant of Bethlehem as the divine King; the mystery of the Baptism of Christ, who, whilst standing in the waters of the Jordan, was proclaimed by the Eternal Father as Son of God; and thirdly, the mystery of the divine power of this same Jesus, when he changed the water into wine at the marriage-feast of Cana.

THE EPIPHANY OF OUR LORD ~ Dom Prosper Gueranger

Epiphany Mass Schedule

Please note a schedule changes  The previously advertised Epiphany Latin Mass at Prince of Peace in Taylors, SC was canceled.   Here are the Masses today:

Thursday January 6 – Feast of the Epiphany

• St. Ann, Charlotte – 6pm High Mass – followed by the annual Kings’ cake (Rosca de reyes) celebration after Mass
• St. Thomas Aquinas, Charlotte – 7pm High Mass
• Our Lady of the Lake, Chapin, SC – 6:30pm Low Mass, followed by blessing of chalk and salt (2 hours south of Charlotte)
• Prince of Peace, Taylors SC – CANCELLED. There will not be Mass or blessing tonight.

Home blessing kits for Epiphany

It is a custom to have homes blessed during Epiphanytide and to use the items blessed on the vigil of Epiphany (water, chalk, and salt). Below are parishes providing them:

• The CLMC is hoping to provide Epiphany home blessing kits again this year with chalk, salt, and some instructions. Please check the CLMC table in the St. Ann narthex after Mass this Sunday while quantities last.
• St. Thomas Aquinas parish is not blessing Epiphany water this year but will be handing out kits of Epiphany water, salt, and chalk in the narthex while quantities last.
• St. Mark parish has Epiphany Water in the narthex, and also has small home blessing kits of chalk and salt in the Kerin Center (near the front desk).