Published: January 04, 2009 08:30 pm      

Epiphany service celebrates twelfth day of Christmas

BLUEFIELD, Va. — As he watched several volunteers rushing to fill grocery bags with food on Christmas Eve at the Bluefield Union Mission, Lonnie Quesenberry, chairman of the union mission board of directors verbalized his thoughts that he wished the spirit people have at Christmas could be sustained throughout the year.

For many cultures, the Christmas season doesn’t begin and end on December 25. Christians of several denominations observe Epiphany Eve on January 5, as the day that corresponds to the visit of the Magi or three wise men, who followed the star of Bethlehem to the manger where the Christ child was born.

“And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary, his mother, and fell down and worshipped him; and when they had opened their treasures , they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh,” according to the Gospel of St. Matthew, 2:11.

“Epiphany, January 6, is the traditional time of the visit of the wise men to the baby Jesus,” Father Russ Hatfield, pastor of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church said. “Epiphany means an awakening or understanding; taking the light into the world. Epiphany Eve, (today) is the twelfth day of Christmas. The Tazewell Cluster of Episcopal Parishes will be celebrating Epiphany (at 6:30 p.m., today) at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church with the reading of scripture, singing, a message, Holy Communion followed by a feast of delicious food and drink.”

Hatfield came to St. Mary’s in 2001, and as a result of a suggestion made by his wife Debbie, the church started hosting Epiphany Eve services on Jan. 5, 2002. This year will mark the cluster’s seventh Epiphany service during Hatfield’s tenure, although he said the church may have been holding Epiphany services in the past.

“This church was built in 1910,” Hatfield said of St. Mary’s, located at 708 Tazewell Avenue, about a block away from historic downtown Bluefield, Va. The beautiful brown stone structure that will celebrate its centennial next year, also has an interesting historical feature inside. The pulpit was a gift (in 1910) from R.E. Lee Memorial Episcopal Church in Lexington, Va., and was the same pulpit that Confederate General Robert E. Lee preached from as Senior Warden at (then) Grace Episcopal Church in Lexington, according to Hatfield.

“At the end of the Civil War, Lee became president of Washington College (now Washington and Lee University) and served as Senior Warden of Grace Church,” Hatfield said. “He died on Oct. 2, 1870, and Grace was re-named in his memory in 1872.

“When the parish re-did R.E. Lee Memorial early in the 20th Century, someone up there in Lexington was friends with someone here at St. Mary’s, and we received the old pulpit as a gift,” Hatfield said. “As Senior Warden, Lee would have used this pulpit when he addressed the Grace parishioners. All of these wonderful things like the pulpit went to Episcopal churches throughout the state.”

“It’s a great tradition,” Craig Hammond, executive director of the Bluefield Union Mission said of the annual service. “At the conclusion of the service, everyone walks out of the church with a lighted candle representing carrying the light into the world. I try to attend every year.” Lonnie Quesenberry served as the Epiphany Service last year.

Hatfield emphasized that “all are welcome to attend,” he said.

– Contact Bill Archer at barcher@bdtonline.com