Epiphany coming from the Greek word epiphaneia, meaning appearance or showing is much older than Christmas. It began to be celebrated in the Eastern Church in the 3rd C. when four manifestations of Christ were commemorated: to the shepherds, to the kings or magi, at His baptism and in His first miracle at Cana. Later the first manifestation of Christ became known as Christmas in the Western Church and its date was fixed in 440, and Epiphany celebrated the coming of the Magi to the Christ-Child. The Baptism and the first miracle are commemorated on the two successive Sundays after Epiphany. So in fact the Epiphany has been extended by two weeks in the modern Roman missal.
In this celebration we observe the ancient keeping of the four showings of Christ.
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