epiphanite

[Gr. epiphanes coming suddenly into view, and suff. -ite ( Min.) (q. v.).] Min.: A variety of Eukamptite (q. v.). ( Brit. Mus. Catal.) Ě-piph-a-nỹ, s. [In Fr. épiphanie ; Prov. epi fania, piphania; Sp., Port., & Ital. epifania ; Ger. epiphania ; all from Gr. epiphaneia =appearance, manifestation; epiphaino = to show forth, to display: epi to, and phaino = to bring to light, to make to appear.] Eccl. Calendar: The annual festival, held on January 6, to commemorate the manifestation of the Savior to the world by the appearance of the miraculous star which led the Magi to Bethlehem. It is stated to have been first observed by the Gnostic followers of Basilides, who flourished about A.D. 125. It does not figure in the list of church feasts given by Origen in A. D. 230, not yet apparently having been adopted by the church catholic. When the name Epiphany came into use, in the fourth century, which it did first among the Oriental churches, it was designed to commemorate both the birth and baptism of Jesus, which two events the Eastern churches believed to have occurred on January 6. Not seemingly till A. D. 813 did it become a Western festival appointed to commemorate the manifestation of the Savior by the star, without reference either to His birth or baptism.