TODAY IS EPIPHANY...
climax of the 12 days of Christmas. In the West, Epiphany is the feast commemorating the arrival of the Magi and their worship of the young Savior Jesus -- the first foreigners to find Jesus, light of the WORLD.

In the East, the church commemorates the baptism of Jesus on Epiphany and there is a special service which centers on water.

Epiphany is the second oldest holiday on the church's calendar (Easter/Pascha is the oldest) and early on was a combined commemoration of the Nativity, the arrival of the Magi, and the baptism of Jesus. At some point the feast of the Nativity was shifted to December 25th. This likely came about after the conception of Jesus was through a somewhat convoluted formula fixed to March 25th -- nine months before December 25th. However, the Armenian Apostolic Church (Oriental Orthodox) still celebrates the Nativity (Christmas) on January 6th.