Epiphany, Feast of His Manifestation

Apertis thesauris suis*
obtulerunt Magi Domino
aurum, thus et myrrham, alleluia.
Opening their treasures*
the Magi offered the Lord,
gold, frankincense and myrrh, alleluia.

Rejoice in the Lord, my dearly beloved brethren;
again I say, rejoice.
For it is but a few days since the solemnity of the birth of Christ,
and the world is already illumined by the feast of His manifestation.
On this day the world acknowledges
Him who was born of a Virgin on the former feast.

known to believers

The Word made flesh so ordained His manifestation
that as a newborn Infant He would be known to believers,
but hidden from persecutors.

hidden from persecutors

Already on Christmas
the heavens were resplendent with the glory of God,
and the sound of His truth went forth to all the earth
when an army of Angels
appeared to the shepherds as messengers of the newborn Saviour,
and the guiding star began leading the Magi to adore Him.

Then it was that the birth of the true King shone over the world,
from the rising of the sun even to its setting.
For, through the Magi
both the East learned the truth of this great event,
and the Roman Empire was not left in ignorance.
[Sermon 2, Pope Saint Leo the Great]

Blessed Feast of the Epiphany to All!