Electric Prayer

The Liturgy of the Hours, the Mass, and other things.

Archive for January, 2023

The Epiphany again

Posted by universalis on 6 January 2023

Some people get into a terrible flap after the Epiphany, and six years out of seven they write to us to say that we have got the readings wrong. So this post really ought to appear every year.

In religious parts of the world the Epiphany is celebrated when it always has been: on the 6th of January, when good children get presents from the Kings. In more commercial parts of the world the Epiphany is moved to the Sunday after New Year’s Day, so that the Twelve Days of Christmas become the Eight Days or the Fourteen Days.

The reason for all the panic is that a day such as Saturday 7 January 2023 has different readings depending on where you are. In religious countries (including England and Wales) it is 7 January, the first day after the Epiphany. In commercial countries (including Scotland and the USA) it is the day before Epiphany Sunday, normally labelled “7 January (before Epiphany)” in the books. Everything gets back into step on Tuesday 10 January 2023, which is Tuesday of week 1 in Ordinary Time.

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