en eight days were accomplished
for the circumcising of the child") falls naturally on January 1, the
Octave of Christmas. It is not of Roman origin, and was not observed in
Rome until it had long been established in the Byzantine and Gallican
Churches.{29} In Gaul, as is shown by a decree of the Council of Tours
in 567, a solemn fast was held on the Circumcision and the two days
following it, in order to turn away the faithful from the pagan
festivities of the Kalends.{30}

The feast of the Epiphany on January 6, as we have seen, is in the
eastern Church a commemoration of the Baptism of Christ. In the West it
has become primarily the festival of the adoration |102| of the Magi,
the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles. Still in the Roman offices
many traces of the baptismal commemoration remain, and the memory of yet
another manifestation of Christ's glory appears in the antiphon at
"Magnificat" at the Second Vespers of the feast:--

"We keep holy a day adorned by three wonders: to-day a star led the
Magi to the manger; to-day at the marriage water was made wine;
to-day for our salvation Christ was pleased to be baptized of John in
Jordan. Alleluia."

On the Octave of the Epiphany at Matins the Baptism is the central idea,
and the Gospel at Mass bears on the same subject. In Rome itself even the
Blessing of the Waters, the distinctive ceremony of the eastern Epiphany
rite, is performed in certain churches according to a Latin ritual.{31}
At Sant' Andrea della Valle, Rome, during the Octave of the Epiphany a
Solemn Mass is celebrated every morning in Latin, and afterwards, on each
of the days from January 7-13, there follows a Mass according to one of
the eastern rites: Greco-Slav, Armenian, Chaldean, Coptic,
Greco-Ruthenian, Greco-Melchite, and Greek.{32} It is a week of great
opportunities for the liturgiologist and the lover of strange ceremonial.

The Blessing of the Waters is an important event in all countries where
the Greek Church prevails. In Greece the "Great Blessing," as it is
called, is performed in various ways according to the locality; sometimes
the sea is blessed, sometimes a river or reservoir, sometimes merely
water in a church. In seaport towns, where the people depend on the water
for their living, the celebration has much pomp and elaborateness. At the
Piraeus enormous and enthusiastic crowds gather, and there is a solemn
procession of the bishop and clergy to the harbour, wh