Jan 6, 2016

Epiphany celebrations around the world

Epiphany, also known as Three Kings’ Day or Theophany, is a Christian celebration of the biblical manifestation of Christ to the world.

Festivities vary widely and often centers around blessings, baptismal rites, gift-giving, nativity scenes and parades.

: Pilgrims try to retrieve a wooden cross during an Epiphany ceremony to bless the water at the Athens’ southern suburb of Paleo Faliro on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016. Similar ceremonies to mark Epiphany Day were held across Greece at the sea, rivers, lakes and dams. An Orthodox priest throws a cross into the water and the swimmers race to retrieve it first. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

: Bulgarians plunge into the icy winter water of a lake in Sofia, to catch a cross during the Epiphany Day celebrations on January 6, 2016. As a tradition, an Eastern Orthodox priest throws a cross in the river and it is believed that the one who retrieves it will be healthy through the year as well as all those who dance in the icy water. (AFP Photo / Dimitar Dilkoff)

: Faithful dressed as the three Magi (the Three Wise Men) gather in St Peter’s Square during the Feast of the Epiphany attend the Pope Francis’ Angelus blessing on January 6, 2016 in Vatican City, Vatican. In his homily at Mass celebrating the solemnity of the Epiphany, Pope Francis said the Church is called to be a missionary Church and announcing Christ is not a profession and nor is it about proselytism. (Photo by Franco Origlia/Getty Images)

: Anderson Combs, 17, of Hudson, thrusts the blessed cross into the air after retrieving it from the bottom of the bayou during Tarpon Springs’ 110th Epiphany celebration at St. Nicolas Greek Orthodox Church in Tarpon Springs, Fla., Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016. (Zack Wittman/The Tampa Bay Times via AP)

: Anderson Combs, 17, of Hudson, Fla., is blessed by Archbishop Demetrios of America with the blessed cross retrieved from the bottom of the bayou during Tarpon Springs’ 110th Epiphany celebration at St. Nicolas Greek Orthodox Church in Tarpon Springs, Fla., Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016. (Zack Wittman/The Tampa Bay Times via AP)

: Pope Francis holds the pastoral staff during a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, at the Vatican, to mark Epiphany, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016. The Epiphany day is a joyous day for Catholics in which they recall the journey of the Three Kings, or Magi, to pay homage to Baby Jesus (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

: Pope Francis holds the book of the gospel as he celebrates a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, at the Vatican, to mark Epiphany, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016. The Epiphany day is a joyous day for Catholics in which they recall the journey of the Three Kings, or Magi, to pay homage to Baby Jesus (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

: An orthodox priest splashes horses with holy water during the traditional Epiphany celebration in the village of Pietrosani southwest of Sibiu, Romania, on January 6, 2016. As every year, horse owners and their animals gathered on a field next to the village to be blessed by an orthodox priest and to take part in a horse race. (AFP Photo / Daniel Mihailescu)

: Children take part in the traditional Epiphany parade in Warsaw on January 6, 2016. The Epiphany day celebrates the visit of the Three Kings to the infant Jesus. (AFP Photo / Janek Skarzynski)

: A man and a woman dressed as Joseph and Mary walk past a donkey during the traditional Epiphany parade in Warsaw on January 6, 2016. The Epiphany day celebrates the visit of the Three Kings to the infant Jesus. (AFP Photo / Janek Skarzynski)

: An Albanian man hands over to the priest the cross he retrieved from the Osum River in the southern city of Berat, Albania thrown there from an Eastern Orthodox priest to celebrate Epiphany day as people believe that the one who retrieves it will be healthy through the year, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016. Albania known for its religious coexistence where the Orthodox and Catholic communities live in peace with the majority Muslims. (AP Photo/Hektor Pustina)

: A man dressed as a ‘devil’ takes part in the ëDiabladaí festival, in Pillaro, Ecuador, Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016. ‘Devilsí invade this highlands town just before New Yearís and take over its streets for eight days, donning fearful masks to dance to the rhythms of local bands. The annual festival fills 12 blocks of this Andean town 60 miles (100 kilometers) south of Quito and ends on Three Kings Day, the Roman Catholic holiday. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

: Valerie Martinez, 2, receives a gift from Pablo Torrens, right, who with Bruno Carreras, center rear, and Venicio A. Hernandez, second from right, play the roll of the three wise men during a Three Kings Day toy giveaway sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Little Havana and the Marlins Foundation, at the Little Havana Activities and Nutrition Center, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016, in the Little Havana neighborhood of Miami. The holiday celebrates Epiphany and the arrival of the Three Kings and is the last of the 12 days of Christmas. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

: Performers march in the annual Three Kings Day Parade on January 6, 2016 in the Spanish Harlem neighborhood of the Manhattan borough of New York City. The parade is organized by El Museo del Barrio and is in it’s 39th year. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

: A general view shows Pope Francis leading the Epiphany mass (Three Kings’ Day) on January 6, 2016 at St Peter’s basilica in Vatican. (AFP Photo/Gabriel Bouys)

: Pilgrims queue to kiss a wooden cross during an Epiphany ceremony to bless the water at the Athens’ southern suburb of Paleo Faliro, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016. Similar ceremonies to mark Epiphany Day were held across Greece at the sea, rivers, lakes and dams. An Orthodox priest throws a cross into the water and the swimmers race to retrieve it first. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

: People parade through the streets as part of celebrations of Three Kings Day in downtown Vilnius, Lithuania, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016. Epiphany, the 12th night of Christmas, marks the day the three wise men visited Christ. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)

: The Cabalgata Los Reyes Magos (Cavalcade of the three kings) cross one street of the old city the day before Epiphany, in Pamplona, northern Spain, Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016. It is a parade symbolizing the coming of the Magi to Bethlehem following the birth of Jesus. In Spain and many Latin American countries Epiphany is the day when gifts are exchanged. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos)

: Greek Orthodox swimmer Nicolaos Solis holds a wooden cross retrieved from the Bosphorus river’s Golden Horn, as part of celebrations of the Epiphany day at the Church of Fener Orthodox Patriarchate in Istanbul, on January 6, 2016. Similar celebrations for the Epiphany Day are held across the country and region on river banks, seafronts and lakes. The Orthodox faith uses the old Julian calendar in which Christmas falls 13 days after its more widespread Gregorian calendar counterpart that celebrates Christmas on December 25. (AFP Photo / Ozan Kose)