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Pilgrimage of Etheria

Egeria, tr. McClure and Feltoe, 1919

24. III. Festivals at Epiphany

III FESTIVALS AT EPIPHANY
1. Night Station at Bethlehem¹

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Blessed is he that cometh in the Name of the Lord, and the rest which follows.² And since, for the sake of the monks who go on foot, it is necessary to walk slowly, the arrival in Jerusalem thus takes place at the hour when one man begins to be able to recognize another, that is, close upon but a little before daybreak. And on arriving there, the bishop and all with him immediately enter the Anastasis, where an exceedingly great number of lights are already burning. There a psalm is said, prayer is made, first the catechumens and then the faithful are blessed by the bishop; then the bishop retires, and every one returns to his lodging to take rest, but the monks remain there until daybreak and recite hymns.

2. Morning Services at Jerusalem

But after the people have taken rest, at the beginning of the second hour they all assemble in the greater church, which is in Golgotha.³

Now it would be superfluous to describe the adornment either of the church, or of the Anastasis, or of the Cross, or in Bethlehem on that day; you see there nothing but gold and gems and silk. For if you look at the veils, they are made wholly of silk striped with gold, and if you look at the curtains, they too are made wholly of silk striped with gold. The church vessels too, of every kind, gold and jewelled, are brought out on that day, and indeed, who could either reckon or describe the number and weight of the cereofala,⁴ or of the cicindelae,⁵ or of the lucernae,⁶ or of the various vessels? And what shall I say of the decoration of the fabric itself, which Constantine, at his mother’s instigation, decorated with gold, mosaic, and costly marbles, as far as the resources of his kingdom allowed him, that is, the greater church as well as the Anastasis, at the Cross, and the other holy places in Jerusalem? But to return to the matter in hand: the dismissal⁷ takes place on the first day in the greater church, which is in Golgotha, and when they preach or read the several lessons, or recite hymns, all are appropriate to the day. And afterwards when the dismissal from the church has been made, they repair to the Anastasis with hymns, according to custom, so that the dismissal takes place about the sixth hour. And on this day lucernare also takes place according to the daily use.

3. Octave of the Festival

On the second day also they proceed in like manner to the church in Golgotha, and also on the third day; thus the feast is celebrated with all this joyfulness for three days up to the sixth hour in the church built by Constantine. On the fourth⁸ day it is celebrated in like manner with similar festal array in Eleona, the very beautiful church which stands on the Mount of Olives; on the fifth day in the Lazarium, which is distant about one thousand five hundred paces from Jerusalem; on the sixth⁹ day in Sion, on the seventh¹⁰ day in the Anastasis, and on the eighth day at the Cross. Thus, then, is the feast celebrated with all this joyfulness and festal array throughout the eight days in all the holy places which I have mentioned above. And in Bethlehem also throughout the entire eight days the feast is celebrated with similar festal array and joyfulness daily by the priests and by all the clergy there, and by the monks who are appointed in that place. For from the hour when all return by night to Jerusalem with the bishop, the monks of that place¹¹ keep vigil in the church in Bethlehem, reciting hymns and antiphons, but it is necessary that the bishop should always keep these days in Jerusalem. And immense crowds, not of monks only, but also of the laity, both men and women, flock together to Jerusalem from every quarter for the solemn and joyous observance of that day.

4. The Presentation.¹² Mass

The fortieth day after the Epiphany is undoubtedly celebrated here with the very highest honour, for on that day there is a procession, in which all take part, in the Anastasis, and all things are done in their order with the greatest joy, just as at Easter. All the priests, and after them the bishop, preach, always taking for their subject that part of the Gospel where Joseph and Mary brought the Lord into the Temple on the fortieth day, and Symeon and Anna the prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, saw Him, — treating of the words which they spake when they saw the Lord, and of that offering which His parents made.¹³ And when everything that is customary has been done in order, the sacrament is celebrated, and the dismissal takes place.¹⁴

Notes

The Old Armenian Lectionary of the eighth or ninth century, of which there are two codices with certain variations, one in the Bodleian at Oxford and one at Paris, has preserved for us the antiphons, psalms and lections in use at Jerusalem. They are here given, as far as they bear on Etheria’s narrative. At the night station at Bethlehem, Gregory Asharuni, a commentator about 690, mentions that they “assemble in the shepherd’s hut” at the ninth hour, and this canon is performed: Ps. xxiii.¹—[the small ¹ here indicates that ver. 1 is sung as an antiphon after each verse of Ps. xxiii.: and so elsewhere]; Alleluiah; Ps. lxxx.; S. Luke ii. 8-20; S. Matt. i. 18-25; Gen. i.-iii. 20; Isa. vii. 10-18; Exod. xiv. 24-xv. 22; Mic. v. 1-8; Prov. i. 1-9; Isa. ix. 5-7; xi. 1-9; xxxv. 4-8; xlii. 1-7; Dan. iii. 1-90; Tit. ii. 11-15; Alleluiah; Ps. cx.; S. Matt. ii. 1-12.
S. Matt. xxi. 9.
The Bodleian Codex of the Old Arm. Lect. says that on the second day they assemble in the shrine of S. Stephen, but on the third day they go to the holy shrine in the city (i. e. the martyrium, or as Etheria calls it, the greater church in Golgotha), and this canon is prescribed: Ps. cx.3; Heb. i. 1-14; Ps. cx.; S. Matt. ii. 13-23, but Etheria seems to have confused the order of the fourth, fifth and sixth days.
See above, p. 48.
Lamps for burning oil. The word is used four times by S. Gregory of Tours. We also find the expression “oleum cicindelis” in the Life of S. Nicetius, Bishop of Lyons, and that glass or pottery was probably the material is shown by the following: — “Cicindela — de manibus super lapides lapsa est, quæ nec versa est, nec fracta, nec extincta,” which occurs in Messianus Presbyter’s Life of S. Cæsarius of Arles. As late as the twelfth century we still find the word in use. Beroldus was himself a cicendelarius at Milan, and fully describes the duty of that functionary.
Lanterns, or lamps.
Here again, although not specified, the Eucharist must have been celebrated.
On the fourth day the Paris Codex of the Old Arm. Lect. makes the assembly in holy Sion, and this canon is performed: Ps. cx.; Gal. iv. 1-7; Ps. cxxxii.; S. Luke i. 26-38. The fifth day is on the Mount of Olives. Canon: Ps. xcix.; Heb. xii. 18-27; Ps. xv.; S. Luke i. 39-56.
The Paris Codex makes the assembly in the shrine of Lazarus, and they celebrate his raising. Canon: Ps. xxx.; 1 Thess. iv. 12-14; Ps. xl.; S. John xi. 1-46.
The Paris Codex has on the seventh day: “They assemble in holy Golgotha and perform the canon: Ps. xcviii.; Col. ii. 1-15; Alleluiah; Ps. lxxxiv.; S. Luke ii. 21.” Here Etheria and the Lectionary again agree, but the Lectionary has not prescribed anything for the eighth day, and it concludes: “Here ends the canon of the Holy Epiphany. By all the martyrs is this canon performed.” The later Codex has: “Here ends the canon of the assemblage of holy Epiphany of the Lord. In all commemorations of the holy martyrs this canon is performed.”
i.e. of Bethlehem,
The Paris Codex gives February 15 as “the Quadragesima of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. They assemble in the shrine [i.e. martyrium] of the city, and this canon is performed: Ps. xcviii.; Ktzord [i.e. Antiphon], All the ends...; Gal. iii. 24-29; Alleluiah; Ps. xcvi. 2; S. Luke ii. 22-40.” The Bodleian Codex has February 14 for this Festival.
S. Luke ii. 22-39.
Sacramenta aguntur et sic fit missa.