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Epiphany

(Encyclopedia)Epiphany ĭpĭfˈənē [key] [Gr.,=showing], a prime Christian feast, celebrated Jan. 6, called also Twelfth Day or Little Christmas. Its eve is Twelfth Night. It commemorates three events—the bapti...

Twelfth Night

(Encyclopedia)Twelfth Night, Jan. 5, the vigil or eve of Epiphany, so called because it is the 12th night from Christmas, counting Christmas as the first. In England, Twelfth Night has been a great festival marking...

Wise Men of the East

(Encyclopedia)Wise Men of the East, Magi, or Three Kings, men who came from the East to adore the newborn Jesus. Mat. 2. They were the first to tell Herod of the birth. A star (the Star of Bethlehem) had been a si...

Christmas

(Encyclopedia)Christmas [Christ's Mass], in the Christian calendar, feast of the nativity of Jesus, celebrated in Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches on Dec. 25. In liturgical importance it ranks after Easter, P...

Holy Family

(Encyclopedia)Holy Family, term referring to the child Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. In the Roman Catholic Church the feast in its honor falls usually on the first Sunday after the Epiphany. In art the theme of the Holy...

Spagna, Lo

(Encyclopedia)Spagna, Lo lō späˈnyä [key], c.1450–c.1528, Italian painter, b. Spain, whence his nickname. His real name was Giovanni di Pietro. His art belongs to the Umbrian school and reveals his indebtedne...

Liberale da Verona

(Encyclopedia)Liberale da Verona lēbāräˈlā dä vārôˈnä [key], b. c.1445, d. 1526 or 1529, Italian painter of the Veronese school, whose given name was Liberale de Jacopo della Biava. He was employed at Mon...

Houghton, Michael

(Encyclopedia)Houghton, Michael, 1949–, Canadian biochemist, Ph.D. King's College, London, 1977. He joined G.D. Searle & Co. in 1977, then became (1982) a researcher at the Chiron Corp. In 2007 Houghton was a...

feast

(Encyclopedia)feast, commemorative banquet symbolizing communal unity. Generally associated with primitive rituals and later with religious practices, feasts may also commemorate such events as births, marriages, h...

carnival

(Encyclopedia)carnival, communal celebration, especially the religious celebration in Catholic countries that takes place just before Lent. Since early times carnivals have been accompanied by parades, masquerades,...

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