Wedding at Cana in the context of "Epiphany (holiday)"

The life of Christ as a narrative cycle in Christian art comprises a number of different subjects showing events from the life of Jesus on Earth. They are distinguished from the many other subjects in art showing the eternal life of Christ, such as Christ in Majesty, and also many types of portrait or devotional subjects without a narrative element.

They are often grouped in series or cycles of works in a variety of media, from book illustrations to large cycles of wall paintings, and most of the subjects forming the narrative cycles have also been the subjects of individual works, though with greatly varying frequency. By around 1000, the choice of scenes for the remainder of the Middle Ages became largely settled in the Western and Eastern churches, and was mainly based on the major feasts celebrated in the church calendars.

Cana of Galilee (Ancient Greek: Κανὰ τῆς Γαλιλαίας; Arabic: قانا الجليل, romanized: Qana al-Jalil, lit. 'Qana of the Galilee') is the location of the Wedding at Cana, at which the miracle of turning water into wine took place in the Gospel of John.

The location is disputed, with the four primary locations being Kafr Kanna, Khirbet Qana and Reineh in Lower Galilee, and Qana in Upper Galilee in Lebanon. The Arabic phrase "Qana el-Jalil" has been said not to be in use as a place-mame other than in Gospel-related contexts.The name possibly derives from the Hebrew or Aramaic word for reeds.

Alcoholic beverages appear in the Hebrew Bible, after Noah planted a vineyard and became inebriated. In the New Testament, Jesus miraculously made copious amounts of wine at the wedding at Cana (John 2). Wine is the most common alcoholic beverage mentioned in biblical literature, where it is a source of symbolism, and was an important part of daily life in biblical times. Additionally, the inhabitants of ancient Israel drank beer and wines made from fruits other than grapes, and references to these appear in scripture. However, the alcohol content of ancient alcoholic beverages was significantly lower than modern alcoholic beverages. The low alcohol content was due to the limitations of fermentation and the nonexistence of distillation methods in the ancient world. Rabbinic teachers wrote acceptance criteria on consumability of ancient alcoholic beverages after significant dilution with water, and prohibited undiluted wine.

In the early 19th century the temperance movement began. Evangelical Christians became prominent in this movement, and while previously almost all Christians had a much more relaxed attitude to alcohol, today many evangelical Christians abstain from alcohol. Bible verses would be interpreted in a way that encouraged abstinence, for example 1 Corinthians 10:21, which states, "You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too..."

Khirbet Qana (Arabic: خربة قانا), is an archaeological site in the Lower Galilee of Israel. It has remains of a settlement from the Hellenistic period to the Early Arab period. Findings including Hasmonean coins and ostraca using the Jewish script indicate its population in ancient times was predominantly Jewish.

Khirbet Qana has been identified with the ancient village of Cana, site of Wedding at Cana of the New Testament, and referenced by Josephus. Over the years, various locations such as Kafr Kanna in Galilee and Qana in Lebanon have also been proposed as Cana. However, recent excavations have established Khirbet Qana as the most likely site.

The Wedding Church at Cana (Arabic: كنيسة الزفاف في كنا; Hebrew: כנסיית החתונה) or simply Wedding Church, also Franciscan Wedding Church, is a religious building of the Catholic Church located in the central part of the town of Kafr Kanna (Cana), in Lower Galilee, located in northern Israel. It is dedicated to the weddings of Christianity. Its name commemorates the event of the Wedding at Cana from the Gospel of John, thought by some Christians to have taken place on the site, during which Jesus performed his first miracle, by turning water into wine at the request or behest of Mary.

The Church is owned by the Custody of the Holy Land, part of the Franciscan order in the Catholic Church. The current church was built circa 1881, and expanded from 1897-1905, following efforts by the Franciscans to acquire the site between 1641 and 1879, when acquisition was completed. Twentieth-century archaeological excavations indicated that, before the current church building, the site housed a Jewish synagogue in the fourth and fifth centuries, and tombs under the rule of the Byzantine Empire in the fifth and sixth centuries.