Epiphany at Emmanuel Episcopal Church

It was during the reign of Roman emperor Aurelian, in the late 3rd century, that December 25, the winter solstice of the Julian calendar, was declared to be the official birthday of the divinity sol invictus, the Invincible Sun. Soon afterward, the Church seized the day for its own.

In the story of the Epiphany, as related in the gospel of Matthew, “three wise men from the east visited the baby Jesus in Bethlehem on the twelfth day following his birth.  An epiphany is a manifestation, and January 6th became the day appointed by the Church to celebrate the revelation of Christ’s divinity to mankind.

In the 4th century, the western world’s most influential preacher, St. Augustine, romanticized and embellished the story of the Epiphany.  The gift-bearing wise men became “kings,” and the Feast of the Epiphany, the twelfth day of Christmas, evolved into a major holiday imbued with royal associations.

Medieval monarchs would don their finest regalia, maybe even wager in a game of dice.  Presents were given to children to commemorate the gifts the kings gave to the baby Jesus.  In the great houses of Europe, the holiday became a glittering finale to a 12-day Christmas cycle, with elaborate entertainments featuring conjurers, acrobats, jugglers, harlequins and other humorous characters – notable among them the Lord of Misrule, whose task was to organize the festivities.  In England, where the seasonal extravaganzas might include elaborate allegorical dramas called masques that paid homage to the monarch as a guardian of the state and a provider of peace and prosperity, he was often appointed on November 1, All Saints’ Day, to allow him time to prepare.  His reign lasted throughout the 12 days of Christmas and sometimes even extended to the traditional feast day that serves as the overture to Lent - Shrove Tuesday.

While Twelfth Night customs that spread throughout Europe varied widely, one element transcended virtually every culture that observed the holiday: the choice of a mock king for the occasion.  He was chosen in various ways, but often a cake would be divided.  The person who found a bean or a coin in his piece was the lucky king for the night.  Sometimes he picked his own queen, sometimes chance chose her for him, and a pea secreted in the cake conferred the honor on its finder. The temporary change in status was sustained with ceremony: the king was given a crown, the 3 SUNDAY FELLOWSHIP TIME authority to call the toasts and lead the drinking, and sometimes, the more dubious privilege of paying the bill on the morning after.

Cake and King were thus linked as good-luck charms for the coming year.  The cake, the bean, and the pea were emblems of fertility and harvest, health and prosperity.  The King’s brief reign spanned the turn from one year to the next, and in his topsy-turvy kingdom, conventions were triumphantly defied.

Many changes have occurred in the customs of Twelfth Night festivities over the centuries since its inception.  In England, the century between 1760 and 1860 marked the heyday of Twelfth Night, giving way to the Christmas tree, Christmas cards, and traditions of “bringing home the yule log”, hanging of the holly, and kissing beneath the mistletoe.  The traditional Twelfth Night cake was replaced by a full-blown Christmas dinner with a large plum pudding.  But in Continental Europe, where the Roman Empire left a more lasting legacy, the ancient traditions associated with the winter solstice and Epiphany endured.  The ritual of hiding a tiny treasure in the celebratory cake was, indeed, a symbolic reenactment of Epiphany. In France, the bean – la feve – was eventually replaced by a bean-sized baby Jesus; its discovery commemorated the Magi's discovery of Jesus’ divinity.

Legend has it that the cakes were shaped like a ring and colorfully decorated to resemble a bejeweled crown.  The cake was topped with a delicious glazed topping and then sprinkled with colored sugar.  The three colors of the sugar were Purple (representing Justice), Green (representing Faith), and Gold (representing Power).  It became a tradition to serve the cake with a paper or cardboard crown on top.  Whenever found, the person finding the hidden trinket would get to wear the crown and choose a consort.

The cakes themselves have changed through the years. The almond-paste-filled pastry puff that’s traditionally associated with northern France, and the gateau des Rois enjoyed by the old Creole gentry in New Orleans, can still be found at some specialty bakeries.  But by far the most popular style of king cake these days has more in common with the Bordeaux Twelfth Night cake of southern France, the couronne, which is made from brioche dough.

​At Emmanuel, following each church service on January 5th, a King’s Cake will be served in Buck Hall.  Come see who finds the small treasure this year!  

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​Epiphany at Emmanuel
Join us as we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany—the revelation of Christ to the world. Following each service on January 5, all are invited to Buck Hall to share in the tradition of King’s Cake and discover the meaning, history, and joy of this sacred season.