Your Real Epiphany Sermon Notes

Last night, 6 January, we celebrated real Epiphany with a Solemn Mass.  At the beginning we blessed chalk.  Alas, there was no myrrh, though there was plenty of frankincense.  Our Deacon, Fr. Schroeder, sang the Noveritis.

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Were you able to go to Mass on real Epiphany?  After all, real Epiphany is on Twelfth Night.  It is a fixed date: 6 January.

Was there a good point made in the sermon you heard?

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13 Comments

  1. jaykay says:

    Epiphany, real Epiphany, 6th January, 12th day of Christmas, happily remains a Holy Day of obligation here in Ireland. I attended a midday NO Mass but couldn’t hear much of the sermon, alas, due to both the age of the celebrant and a weak voice, bad amplification and, be it said, my own hearing being not quite what it was. Anyway, what little I could hear was solid, focusing on the faith of the three Magi and their reward, and (I think) gently chiding those who doubted the veracity of the Gospel account.

    Unfortunately, due to work commitments, I couldn’t attend the 7 p.m. High Mass in the Dublin Latin Mass Chaplaincy; first time in years I’ve missed it.

  2. anj says:

    St. Alban’s, Rochester, NY, in the US Ordinariate celebrated high mass for (real) Epiphany. Of the many good points made in the sermon, one was that the wise men are traditionally represented as coming from all races, and symbolize the (foreshadowed) opening of the covenant with Israel to the whole world.

  3. mikeinmo says:

    Thank you for praying for our intention. Each of us needs all of the help we can get.

    BTW, my entire family went to Confession before Christmas. A neighboring parish offered all day confessions (with several priests taking 2 hour “shifts”), and my wife and 2 teenaged boys went there right after school. I went to the Penance Service at our parish, and received the Sacrament from a retired priest in his 80’s. This priest helps out with weekend Masses at our church and at our mission parish. I felt truly “cleansed” afterwards.

  4. pj_houston says:

    The CMAA is in town for a winter workshop, so I attended their Solemn High Mass in the EF at St. Mary’s Seminary Chapel in Houston. Yes, you read that right, an EF Mass at the Seminary! Fr. reminded us that as the world has packed away the holiday goods and gone back to the daily grind, Christmas is not over for us yet. He emphasized that like the Magi, we all come from the East, West, and all directions to celebrate the birth of our Savior. The choir consisting of workshop attendees was awesome of course, led by the world-class CMAA instructors.

  5. Mary Jane says:

    Real Epiphany Mass, last evening at 7pm. Sung High Mass, O Magnum Mysterium Mass and Motet by Victoria, as well as various Epiphany-appropriate polyphonic motets.

    Father spoke of the blessing of homes and marking our doors with blessed chalk, and how powerful the Magi are as intercessors for us in Heaven, as they are saints, and as protectors. He said when they “went back by a different road” they not only physically took a different route but they returned to their own land no longer as pagans but as Christians.

  6. CORBALLY says:

    I attended an EF Mass in U.K. Good solid sermon on the meaning of the feast. [And what was the good point?] Small choir
    sang Gregorian Propers, Gloria from Missa de Angelis, Credo 3 and a Mass setting which
    sounded vaguely Mozartian. Bizarrely, they did not sing the Benedictus but straight after the
    Consecration sang a very elaborate O Salutaris! Byrd’s ‘Ave verum’ at Communion.

  7. introibo says:

    Traditional Epiphany is Jan. 6, but if first night of Christmas is Dec. 25, isn’t twelfth night of Christmas Jan. 5?

    [Crickey! Our forbears have been getting this wrong for over a thousand year and you discovered it! No, seriously, this has do to with how we calculate time.]

  8. Gregorius says:

    Solemn High Mass, with Mass VIII ordinary for folks to sing along.
    The homily is too awesome to be able to summarize here, but if you have ten minutes, listen to it online here (archive[dot]org[slash]details[slash]Epiphany2016Jan6th)

    A wonderful party afterwards for the little oratory, and I recommend this spiritual group for all Catholic men in the area if they’re looking for some solid formation.

  9. Tony Phillips says:

    I got 2 epiphanies, one on Sunday at our NO parish and the other Wednesday at the SSPX chapel. (Fr Finigan being in hospital and Fr Holden away, this seemed to be the only EF Epiphany mass in East Kent.)

    Yeah, the sermon was good, and long enough that I felt I got my money’s worth for the 5 quid I dropped in the collection plate. But the best part was the choir–3 blokes doing Gregorian chant propers, which we never do hear in NO parishes, Sacrosanctum Concilium notwithstanding. That made it all worthwhile.

  10. I not only attended, I offered Holy Mass — in the EF of course — on real Epiphany. First time, as it happens.

    As that Mass began at 5:45 am — when we have the TLM each week — there was no sermon.

  11. rtrainque says:

    A couple good points from Fr.’s sermon: Just as Sts. Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar returned home telling of Christ, so are we all called to evangelize to fallen away and non-Catholics. Related to that, Christ’s manifestation to the gentile nations also tells us without a question that He and His Church are the path of salvation for ALL men; if they are not with Him, they absolutely need conversion (despite what we may be hearing elsewhere).

  12. JonPatrick says:

    Missa Cantata Wednesday evening at the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul Lewiston ME. Gold vestments and plenty of frankincense. Just as the Magi were on a journey which brought them out of a pagan world and to come to know Jesus, so we are also on a journey where we will hopefully encounter Jesus and salvation through him.

  13. introibo says:

    “Our forbears have been getting this wrong for over a thousand year and you discovered it!”
    Don’t mind me Father, I’m a Philistine. Now I know, thanks to your good communicating, that the first day of Christmas is Dec. 26. I believe Brownson said he who corrects me is my friend. Gratias tibi ago.

    [Again, this has to do with how we calculate time. For example, we talk about an Octave, which is of 8 days. But Octaves seem to be celebrated one week after. Right? How do we calculate time? Also, with regard to Twelfth Night, there are in fact customs surrounding the Vigil of Epiphany rather than Epiphany. Pretty fluid. But… Epiphany is not on 6 January because it is called Twelfth Night. Ephiphany is on 6 January because it has always been on 6 January.]

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