The Season of Epiphany: An Anglican Perspective

The Season of Epiphany

The Season of Epiphany is the season of manifestation — the weeks between the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6 and the Last Sunday of Epiphany, also called Transfiguration Sunday. It is not one of the Church’s great penitential seasons, nor a season of fasting. It is a season of revelation: the steady unfolding, Sunday by Sunday, of who the child born in Bethlehem actually is. The Epiphany feast itself announces him to the nations. The season that follows traces the successive demonstrations of his identity — in the waters of the Jordan, at the wedding in Cana, in the synagogue at Nazareth, in the healings and teachings and confrontations of his public ministry, and finally on the mountain where his face shines like the sun and the voice of the Father confirms what the whole season has been showing: this is my beloved Son.

The BCP 2019 appoints collects on pages 601–605 and lectionary readings on pages 718–720 for the season. The season’s length varies considerably from year to year, depending on the date of Easter. When Easter falls early, Epiphany may last only four Sundays. When Easter falls late, it may extend to nine. This variability is itself part of the season’s character: the light that breaks in at Christmas and is manifested at Epiphany does not shine for a fixed duration. It shines until Lent calls the Church to look directly at the cost of what that light accomplished — and the season’s length in any given year is simply the space the calendar allows for the Church to receive it.

The Season of Manifestation

The word epiphany comes from the Greek epiphaneia — appearing, manifestation, the showing forth of something previously hidden. The feast on January 6 marks the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles in the Magi’s visit. The season that follows extends that manifestation across the weeks of winter and early spring, tracing the way in which the identity of the one who came is progressively revealed to those around him.

The First Sunday of Epiphany is always the Baptism of Our Lord — the moment at which the Father’s voice speaks from the opened heavens: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17, ESV) The Magi recognized him by a star. The Father names him at the Jordan. The season’s opening is the divine identification of the one whose arrival was announced at Christmas and whose nature was proclaimed at Epiphany. Everything that follows in the season is the unpacking of that identification.

The Second and subsequent Sundays of Epiphany trace the spreading of the light through Jesus’ public ministry. In Year A, the season follows Matthew’s account: the calling of the first disciples from the fishing boats, the Sermon on the Mount, the healings of Capernaum, the teaching on salt and light and the law. In Year B, it follows Mark and John: the wedding at Cana where Jesus manifests his glory, the call of the disciples, the teaching with authority in the synagogue. In Year C, it follows Luke: the proclamation in the Nazareth synagogue where Jesus announces that the Scripture has been fulfilled in their hearing, the miraculous catch of fish, the Beatitudes.

The Second-to-Last Sunday of Epiphany is designated World Mission Sunday in the BCP 2019, and its collect is explicitly missionary: asking God to pour out the Holy Spirit anew so that the preaching of the Gospel may reach to the ends of the earth. The BCP rubric notes that this collect, with its corresponding psalm and lessons, may be substituted for any Sunday of Epiphany except the First or the Last — a provision that allows parishes with particular missionary occasions to observe the World Mission Sunday emphasis at the most fitting moment in the season.

The Last Sunday of Epiphany is always Transfiguration Sunday — the moment the manifestation reaches its climax before Lent. The disciples who have followed Jesus through weeks of ministry now see his face shine like the sun and his garments become white as light, and Moses and Elijah appear with him, and the Father’s voice speaks again from the bright cloud: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” (Matthew 17:5, ESV) The season begins with the Father’s voice at the Jordan and ends with the Father’s voice on the mountain. Between those two declarations, the whole of Jesus’ public ministry has been the answer to the question the Epiphany raises: who is this? Transfiguration Sunday is the season’s answer, stated in blinding light: he is the Son.

The Epiphany Lectionary

The lectionary readings for the Season of Epiphany are found on pages 718–720 of the BCP 2019 and vary across the three-year cycle. The First Sunday (Baptism of Our Lord) and the Last Sunday (Transfiguration) are fixed across all three years with the same structural emphasis, though the specific Gospel passages vary by year. The Sundays between them trace the distinctive Epiphany arc of each year’s evangelist.

Year A follows Matthew. The season moves from the baptism at the Jordan through the calling of the disciples, the Beatitudes, the salt and light discourse, and the antitheses of the Sermon on the Mount — building the portrait of the one who teaches with authority, not as the scribes. The Transfiguration in Year A is Matthew 17:1–9, where the voice from the cloud echoes the baptism: the same beloved Son, now revealed in glory to the three disciples who will be the first witnesses of the resurrection.

Year B follows Mark and John. John 1:29–42 opens the Second Sunday with John the Baptist’s testimony — “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29, ESV) — and John 2:1–11 on the Third Sunday brings the wedding at Cana, where Jesus manifests his glory and his disciples believe in him. Mark’s urgent, authoritative Jesus then takes over: the calling of the disciples, the healing in the synagogue, the cleansing of the leper, the healing of the paralytic, the controversy over the Sabbath. The Transfiguration in Year B is Mark 9:2–9.

Year C follows Luke. The Third Sunday brings the great synagogue scene in Nazareth, where Jesus reads from Isaiah 61 and says: “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:21, ESV) The miraculous catch of fish and Peter’s “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord” follow. Luke’s Beatitudes and Plain Discourse occupy the later Sundays. The Transfiguration in Year C is Luke 9:28–36, where Moses and Elijah speak with Jesus about his exodus — his departure which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

The Old Testament and Epistle readings across the season support the manifestation theme from different angles. Isaiah dominates the Old Testament slot — the same prophet who provided the theological ground for the Epiphany feast itself — along with passages from Deuteronomy, Micah, and the wisdom literature. The Epistles draw from 1 Corinthians in all three years for the early Sundays, tracing Paul’s account of the body of Christ, the gifts of the Spirit, and the love that surpasses all gifts. The psalm appointed for the First Sunday across all three years is Psalm 89, with its declaration of the Lord’s faithfulness to the Davidic covenant — the covenant whose fulfillment is announced at the Jordan.

The BCP 2019 Collects and Preface

The BCP 2019 appoints a distinct collect for each Sunday of Epiphany, found on pages 601–605. The Preface of the Epiphany, on page 153, governs the First, Second, Third, World Mission, and Last Sundays of the season. For the middle Sundays — the Fourth through Eighth — either the Preface of the Epiphany or the Preface of the Lord’s Day may be used, as the BCP notes.

The First Sunday collect on page 601 (p. 601) names the Baptism as a revelation of the Trinity: “Eternal Father, at the baptism of Jesus you revealed him to be your Son, and your Holy Spirit descended upon him like a dove: Grant that we, who are born again by water and the Spirit, may be faithful as your adopted children; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.” The collect connects the baptism of Jesus directly to the baptism of the believer: the Spirit who descended on the Son at the Jordan is the Spirit through whom we are born again by water and the Spirit. The Epiphany season begins with this connection — the manifestation of Christ’s identity is simultaneously the ground of the Church’s identity.

The Second Sunday collect on page 602 is explicitly missionary: “Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ’s glory, that he may be known, worshiped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth.” Light received becomes light given. The Epiphany season is not only about the Church receiving the revelation of Christ’s identity — it is about the Church becoming the bearer of that light to those who have not yet seen it.

The World Mission Sunday collect on page 604 extends this missionary thrust: “Almighty God, through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, you revealed the way of eternal life to every race and nation: Pour out this gift anew, that by the preaching of the Gospel your salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” And the Last Sunday collect on page 604, for Transfiguration, draws the season to its luminous close: “O God, who before the passion of your only-begotten Son revealed his glory upon the holy mountain: Grant that we, beholding by faith the light of his countenance, may be strengthened to bear our cross, and be changed into his likeness from glory to glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.” The Transfiguration collect introduces the cross — the glory on the mountain is revealed before the passion. The Epiphany season ends exactly where Lent begins: the cross in view, the glory acknowledged, and the Church asked to be changed from glory to glory by beholding the one who will soon walk toward Jerusalem.

The Preface of the Epiphany, found on page 153 of the BCP 2019, governs the key Sundays of the season: “Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who took on our mortal flesh to reveal his glory; that he might bring us out of darkness and into his own glorious light.” (BCP 2019, p. 153) The preface names the season’s movement in a single sentence: mortal flesh assumed, glory revealed, darkness ended, light entered. The Season of Epiphany is the liturgical enactment of that movement across the weeks of winter, Sunday by Sunday, until the light has been fully shown and Lent calls the Church to look at what it cost.

Vestments and Worship in the Epiphany Season

Green vestments are worn through the Season of Epiphany, signaling growth and life — the Church living in the light of what has been revealed, growing in its understanding of who Christ is. But the First Sunday of Epiphany (the Baptism of Our Lord) and the Last Sunday (Transfiguration) often call for white, reflecting their festal character: both Sundays are moments of divine declaration and luminous revelation rather than the steady unfolding of the Sundays between them. The Sundays from the Second through the Second-to-Last wear green, marking the season’s ordinary but purposeful growth. This is not merely an aesthetic choice but a theological one: white for the moments of declaration and glory, green for the weeks of following the light as it spreads through Christ’s ministry. Parishes planning the season visually will find this distinction helps communicate the arc of the season at a glance.

The Baptism of Our Lord on the First Sunday provides a natural occasion for the renewal of baptismal vows in the congregation — a practice common in many Anglican parishes and fitting given the collect’s connection between Christ’s baptism and the believer’s new birth. The Epiphany season, which begins with the revelation of Christ’s identity and the invitation to share in it through baptism, is a sustained catechesis on what it means to be a baptized member of the body of Christ.

The Presentation of Christ in the Temple on February 2 — also called Candlemas — falls within the Epiphany season when it falls on a Sunday. The BCP 2019 appoints its own collect and preface for this feast on page 603, and it may be observed on the nearest Sunday if February 2 falls on a weekday. Candlemas is the feast on which Simeon holds the child and says: “a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” (Luke 2:32, ESV) It is the Epiphany theme in miniature — the light revealed, the nations in view — and its placement within the Epiphany season is fitting.

Epiphany as the Bridge Between Christmas and Lent

The Season of Epiphany holds a unique structural position in the Anglican year: it bridges the Incarnation cycle and the Paschal cycle. Christmas announces that the Word became flesh. Lent prepares the Church for the cross and resurrection. Epiphany is the season between them — the season in which the Church lives with the one who has come and learns, through his ministry, who he is and what he has come to do.

This bridging character is most visible at the season’s two ends. The First Sunday of Epiphany looks backward to Christmas: the child born in Bethlehem, now standing in the Jordan, is declared the Son at his public debut. The preface of the season names the Incarnation’s purpose: he took on mortal flesh to reveal his glory and bring us out of darkness into his glorious light. That is Christmas theology carried into Epiphany. But the Last Sunday looks forward to Lent with equal clarity: the Transfiguration collect says explicitly that the glory on the mountain was revealed before the passion. The cross is already in view at the close of the Epiphany season. The glory and the suffering are not two separate stories. They are one story, and Epiphany is the season in which the Church walks with the one who will fulfill both.

This is why the season’s variable length does not diminish it. Whether the Church has four weeks or nine to spend in the light of Christ’s manifested identity, the movement is the same: from the declaration at the Jordan through the unfolding of the ministry to the glory on the mountain, and then the turn toward Jerusalem. Epiphany is the season of the ‘not yet’ of the Passion — the season when the disciples are still following, still learning, still asking who this is. Lent is when the answer becomes the cross.

Observing the Season

The Season of Epiphany begins the day after the Feast of the Epiphany, January 6, and runs through the Last Sunday of Epiphany. Its length in any given year depends on the date of Easter: the season ends when Ash Wednesday arrives, and Ash Wednesday’s date is fixed by Easter. The BCP 2019 provides collects beginning on page 601 and lectionary readings on pages 718–720.

To observe the season: pay attention to the lectionary’s arc from Sunday to Sunday. The Season of Epiphany is perhaps the season that most rewards sustained engagement with the Gospels — each Sunday’s reading is a window onto who Christ is, and following the arc from the Baptism through the Transfiguration is to follow the disciples’ own journey of recognition. Read the Old Testament readings alongside the Gospels and notice how Isaiah and the psalms provide the vocabulary for what the disciples are witnessing.

Many households find it rewarding to use the appointed Epiphany collect in daily morning prayer throughout each week, letting the Sunday’s collect shape the days that follow it. The BCP 2019’s provision of a distinct collect for each Sunday of Epiphany makes this particularly fruitful: the collect for the Baptism Sunday holds the Trinitarian revelation of the Jordan through the week; the missionary collect of the Second Sunday carries the sending impulse into daily life; the Transfiguration collect frames the final week before Ash Wednesday with the cross already visible.

Many also find it helpful to read the full Gospel of the current year devotionally alongside the Sunday lectionary portions — Matthew in Year A, Mark in Year B, Luke in Year C. The Epiphany season is the natural moment to read a Gospel whole, since the lectionary is tracing each evangelist’s portrait of Jesus week by week. Reading ahead and behind the appointed passage each Sunday gives the season’s arc a depth that individual Sunday readings alone cannot provide.

Pray the collect for each Sunday. The Epiphany collects are among the most varied and theologically rich in the BCP — moving from the Trinitarian declaration of the Baptism collect to the missionary thrust of the Second Sunday, through the petitions for strength and protection in the middle Sundays, to the luminous Transfiguration collect that ends the season with the cross already on the horizon. Let the World Mission Sunday collect be an occasion for intentional prayer for the Church’s missionary work, wherever it falls in the season.

Let the Transfiguration Sunday that closes the season be the hinge it is designed to be. The glory revealed on the mountain is not a detour from the Passion — it is the preparation for it. The disciples who see the Transfiguration are the disciples who will shortly fall asleep in Gethsemane and flee at the arrest. The season ends with the question Lent will press: having seen the glory, will the Church bear the cross? And the collect’s answer is the only honest one: not by our own strength, but by beholding the light of his countenance and being changed from glory to glory.

Conclusion

The Season of Epiphany is the Church’s annual school of recognition — the season in which the question the Magi’s arrival raised is answered, week by week, through the unfolding of Christ’s ministry. He is the Son declared at the Jordan. He is the Lord who turns water to wine and commands unclean spirits and heals the sick and teaches with authority. He is the one who stands in Nazareth and says the Scripture has been fulfilled in their hearing. He is the face that shines like the sun on the mountain of Transfiguration, before the passion. The season does not end in a minor key. It ends in glory — the same glory that Advent anticipated, that Christmas announced, that Epiphany proclaimed. And it hands the Church to Lent having seen the light, prepared to follow it all the way to the cross.

“O God, who before the passion of your only-begotten Son revealed his glory upon the holy mountain: Grant that we, beholding by faith the light of his countenance, may be strengthened to bear our cross, and be changed into his likeness from glory to glory.” (BCP 2019, p. 604)