01/13: Afterfeast of the Theophany of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (G.O)

Today marks the seventh and final day since the Theophany in the Greek Orthodox tradition. It is also called the Epiphany, and is observed on the same day in the Catholic church as well.  This holiday celebrates the incarnation of Christ, and is also intended to mark the manifestation of Christ to the Magi, at his baptism, and at the wedding in Cana.

Below is the liturgy provided by goarch.org, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America's website for today:

At this point, I don't know what Apolytikion or Kontakion means, nor do I know the significance of the icon represented here. As the year progresses, I hope to learn more about this. 

The Greek Orthodox Church also remembers Hermylos and Stratonikos today. Below is a part of the liturgy available regarding these saints:

In the Catholic tradition, today's saint is the French St. Hilary of Poitiers, who lived from c.315-368 and was involved in defending the church against the orthodox heresy of Arianism.  A couple interesting facts about St. Hilary: he did not convert to Christianity until he was in his 30s, and was forced to become Bishop of Poitiers against his will.  He was exiled for not supporting Arianism and for refusing to denounce Athanasius, another early church leader.  His works were read and affirmed by other scholars, including St. Augustine. Below is a representation of St. Hilary's ordination. 

(A quick editorial note: I apologize for not having a post up yesterday; my alarm didn't wake me, and I wasn't able to post later in the day.  I hope to remain on schedule moving forward.)