The Feast of the Epiphany is the date
of an ancient Catholic tradition.
It is then that the Catholic Church
proclaims the Date of Easter and other important feast days for the
coming calendar year.
After the homily or after the prayer after
communion, the deacon, or, in his absence, another minister announces
the date of Easter and the other feasts of the liturgical year.
The
Proclamation of the Date of Easter on Epiphany dates from a time when
calendars were not readily available, the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishops explains on its website.
It was necessary to proclaim the date
of Easter in advance, since many celebrations of the liturgical year
depend on its date.
The number of Sundays that follow Epiphany, the date
of Ash Wednesday, and the number of Sundays that follow Pentecost are
all computed in relation to Easter.
Although calendars now give the date of Easter and the other feasts in
the liturgical year for many years in advance, the Epiphany proclamation
still has value.
It is a reminder of the centrality of the resurrection
of the Lord in the liturgical year and the importance of the great
mysteries of faith which are celebrated each year.
Here is the Epiphany
Proclamation for 2011:
Dear brothers and sisters,
the glory of the Lord has shone upon us, and shall ever be manifest
among us, until the day of his return.
Through the rhythms of times and seasons let us celebrate the mysteries of salvation.
Let us recall the year’s culmination, the Easter Triduum of the Lord:
his last supper, his crucifixion, his burial, and his rising celebrated
beginning the evening of the twenty-first day of April and concluding
the evening of Easter Sunday, the twenty-fourth day of April.
Each Easter — as on each Sunday — the Holy Church makes present the
great and saving deed by which Christ has for ever conquered sin and
death.
From Easter are reckoned all the days we keep holy.
Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, will occur on the ninth day of March.
The Ascension of the Lord will be commemorated on the fifth day of June.
Pentecost, the joyful conclusion of the season of Easter, will be celebrated on the twelfth day of June.
And this year the First Sunday of Advent will be on the twenty–seventh day of November.
Likewise the pilgrim Church proclaims the Passover of Christ in the
feasts of the Holy Mother of God, in the feasts of the Apostles and
Saints, and in the commemoration of the faithful departed.
To Jesus Christ, who was, who is, and who is to come, Lord of time and history, be endless praise, for ever and ever. Amen.
SIC: CSF/USA