Epiphany (holiday) the calendar used, calling the feast that of the Nativity and Theophany of Our Lord. Origen's list of festivals (in "Contra Celsum", VIII, xxii) omits any reference to Epiphany. The first reference to an ecclesiastical feast of the Epiphany, in Ammianus Marcellinus (XXI:ii), is in 361. In parts of the Eastern Church, January 6 continued for some time as a composite feast that included the Nativity of Jesus: though Constantinople adopted December 25 to commemorate Jesus' birth in the fourth century, in other parts the Nativity of Jesus continued to be celebrated on January 6, a date later devoted exclusively
Epiphany (holiday) cold water to retrieve the cross, and whoever retrieves it is believed to be blessed during the whole year. These are very festive gatherings with lots of spectacles attending the sites. Special food jelly from pork and beef meat and bones called "pacha" (пача) or "pivtii" (пивтии) is prepared the day before, but served on the day after Epiphany, together with warm local brandy, rakija (ракија). Epiphany is a non-working day for the Orthodox believers in Macedonia. In Malta, Epiphany is commonly known as "It-Tre Re" (The Three Kings). Until the 1980s, January 6 was a public holiday, but today