EPISCOPACY
506
EPISTEMOLOQT
Nativity feast, though, adds the saint, it was only
after twelve days that Christ " appeared to the Magi in
the Temple". The dies epiphaniorum, he says (P. L.,
XII, 1274), is by some tliought to be " the day of the
Baptism, or of the Transformation which occurred on
the mountain ". Finally, an unknown Syrian annota-
tor of Barsalibi (Assemani, Bibl. Orient., II, 163)
boldly WTites: "The Lord was born in the month of
January on the same day on which we celebrate the
Epiphany; for of old the feasts of the Nativity and
Epiphany were kept on one and the same day, because
on the same day He was born and baptized. The
reason why our fathers changed the solemnity cele-
brated on 6 January, and transferred it to 25 Decem-
ber follows: It was the custom of the heathens to
celebrate the birthday of the sun on this very day, 25
December, and on it they lit lights on account of the
feast. In these solemnities and festivities the Chris-
tians too participated. When, therefore, the teachers
obser\'ed tluit the Christians were inclined to this fes-
tival, they took counsel and decided that the true
birth-feast be kept on this tlay, and on 6 Jan.. the feast
of the Epiphanies. Simultaneously, therefore, with
this appointment the custom prevailed of burning
lights until the sixth day."
It is simpler to say that, about the time of the diffu- sion of the December celebration in the East, the West took up the Oriental January feast, retaining all its chief characteristics, though attaching overwhelm- ing importance, as time went on, to the apparition to the Magi. Epiphanius indeed had said (loc. cit.) that not only did water in many places turn into wine on 6 Jan., but that whole rivers, and probably the Xile, experienced a similar miracle; nothing of this sort is noted in the West. The Leonine Sacramentary is de- fective here; tiut Leo's eight homilies on the Theo- phania (in P. L., LIV, Serm. xxxi, col. 234, to Serm. xxxviii, col. 263) bear almost wholly on the Magi, while in Serm. xxxv, col. 249, he definitely asserts their visit to 1:>e the commemoration for which the feast was instituted. Fulgentius (Serm. iv in P. L., LXV, 732) speaks only of the Magi and the Innocents. Augustine's sermons (cxcix-cciv in P. L., XXXMII) deal almost exclusively with this manifestation, and the Gelasian Sacramentary (P. L., LXXIV, 1062) ex- clusively, both on the vigil and the feast. The Grego- rian Sacramentary makes great use of Ps. Ixxii (X.X. Ixxiii), 10 and mentions the three great apparitions in the Canon only. The Ambrosian, however, refers to all three manifestations in the vigU-preface, and in the feast-preface to Baptism alone. The " Missale ^'eson- tiense " (Xeale and Forbes, The Anc. Liturgies of the Galilean Church, p. 22S) speaks, in the prayer, of Illuminatio, Manifestatio, Declaratio, and composes its Gospel of Matt., iii, 1.3-17; Luke, iii, 22; and John, ii, 1-11, where the Baptism and Cana are dwelt upon. The Magi are referred to on the Circumcision. The Gothic Missal (Xeale and Forbes, op. cit., p. 52) men- tions the Magi on the vigil, saying that the X'ativity, Baptism, and Cana make Christ's Illustratw. All the manifestations are, however, referred to, including (casually) the feeding of the 5000, a popular allusion in the East, whence the name ^avi^di-io. Augustine (Serm.suppl.cxxxvi, 1, in P. L., XXXIX, 2013) speaks of the raising of Lazarus (cf. day 5 of the Jerusalem ritual) as on an efjuality with the other manifestations, whence in the East the name Bcthphania occurs. Maxi- mus of Turin admits the clay to be of three mirack's, and speculates (Horn, vii, in epiph., in P. L., LVII, 273) on the historical connexion of date and events. Polemius Silvanus, PauHnus of Nola (Poem, xxvii; Natal., v, 47, in P. L., LXI) and Seduhus (in P. L., LXXII) all insist on the three manifestations. The Mozarabic Missal refers mainly to the Magi, using of their welcome by Christ the word Acceptio, a term of "initiation" common to Mithraists and Christians. In 3S1, the Council of Sargossa (can. iv), read together
with the Mozarabic Missal's Mass in jejunio epiphanice,
makes it clear that a fast at this season was not un-
common even among the orthodox. "Cod. Theod."
(II, viii, 20; XXV, v, 2) forbids the circus on this day
in the year 400; "Cod. Justi." (Ill, xu, 6) makes it a
day of obligation. In 380 it is aheady marked Ijy ces-
sation of legal business in Spain; in Thrace (if we can
trust the "Passio S. Philippi" in Ruinart, "Acta",
440, 2) it was kept as early as 304. Kellner quotes the
"Testamentum Jesu Christi" (Mainz, 1S99) as citing
it twice (I, 2S; IV, 67, 101) as a high festival together
with Easter and Pentecost.
In the present Office, Crudelis Herodes alludes to the three manifestations; in Nocturn i, the first response for the day, the octave, and the Sunday within the octave, deals with the Baptism, as does the second response; the third response, as all those of Nocturns i and iii, is on the Magi. The antiphon to the Bene- dictus runs: "To-day the Church is joined to her celestial spouse, because in Jordan Christ doth wash her sins; the Magi hasten with gifts to the royal mar- riage-feast, and the guests exult in the water turned to wine." Sola refers to the Magi only. The Magnifi- cat antiphon of Second A'espers reads: " We keep our Holy Day adorned with three miracles: to-day a star led the Magi to the crib, to-day wine was made from water at the marriage, to-day in Jordan Christ willed to be baptized by John to save us." On the Epiphany it was a very general custom to announce the tlate of Easter, and even of other festivals, a practice ordered by many councils, e. g. that of Orleans in 541 (can. i); Auxerre in 578 and 585 (can. ii), and still observed (Kellner) at Turin, etc. Gelasius finally tells us (Ep. ad episc. Lucan., c. xii, in P. L., LIX, 52) that the dedication of virgins occurred especially on that day.
II. Origin. — 'The reason for the fi.xing of this date it is impossible to discover. The only tolerable solution is that of Mgr. Duchesne (Orig. Chr., 262), who ex- plains simultaneously the celebration of 6 January and of 25 December by a backward reckoning from 6 April and 25 March respectively. The Pepyzita>, or Phrygian Montanists, savs Sozomen (Hist. Eccl., VII, xvii^.-m P. G., LXVII, 1473), kept Easter on 6 April; hence (reckoning an exact number of years to the Divine life) Christ's birthday would have fallen on 6 January. But, it may be urged, the first notice we have of the observance of this date, refers to Christ's Baptism. But this (if we may assume the Basilidians, too, to have argued from 6 April) will have fallen on the exact anniversary of the Birth. But why pre- eminently celebrate the Baptism? Can it be that the celebration started with those, of whatever sect, who held that at the Baptism the Godhead descended upon Christ? On this uncertain territory we had better risk no footstep till fresh evidence, if such there be, be furnished us. Nor is this the place to discuss the legends of the Three Ivings, which will be found in the article M.vGi.
Kellner, Heortologie (Freiburg im Br., 1906); Funk in Kr.\us, Rcal-Kncyclopijdic, s. v. FeMe; Bingh.\m. AntiqtiUies of the Christian Church (Lonrlon, 170S-22), Bk. XX, c. iv; IJSENER, Reliffionsgesckichtliche Untersuchungcn (Bonn, 1SS9), I.
Cyril M.\ktindai-e.
Episcopacy. See Hierarchy.
Episcopal Church. See Anglicanism; Protest- ant Episcopal Church of America.
Epistemology (liria-T-^iiii, knowledge, science, and X670S, speech, thought, discourse), in a most general way, is that Ijranch of philosophy which is concerned with the value of human knowledge. The n;ime epistemolofin is of recent origin, but especially since the publication of Ferrier's "Institutes of Metaphysics; the Theory of Knowing and Being" (1S.')4), it has come to '»e used currently instead of other terms, still sometimes met with, like appUed logic, material or
