A couple of mentions in the catechism (ccc) then a dictionary explaination follow-
Cathechism of the Catholic Church
PART ONE: THE PROFESSION OF FAITH
http://www.catholicculture.org/images/clear.gif»SECTION TWO: THE PROFESSION OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITHhttp://www.catholicculture.org/images/clear.gif»CHAPTER THREE: I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIThttp://www.catholicculture.org/images/clear.gif»ARTICLE 8: "I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT"
http://www.catholicculture.org/images/clear.gif»III. GOD’S SPIRIT AND WORD IN THE TIME OF THE PROMISEShttp://www.catholicculture.org/images/clear.gif»In Theophanies and the Law
707 Theophanies (manifestations of God) light up the way of the promise, from the patriarchs to Moses and from Joshua to the visions that inaugurated the missions of the great prophets. Christian tradition has always recognized that God’s Word allowed himself to be seen and heard in these theophanies, in which the cloud of the Holy Spirit both revealed him and concealed him in its shadow.
697
Cloud and light. These two images occur together in the manifestations of the Holy Spirit. In the theophanies of the Old Testament, the cloud, now obscure, now luminous, reveals the living and saving God, while veiling the transcendence of his glory - with Moses on Mount Sinai, 43 at the tent of meeting, 44 and during the wandering in the desert, 45 and with Solomon at the dedication of the Temple. 46 In the Holy Spirit, Christ fulfills these figures. The Spirit comes upon the Virgin Mary and “overshadows” her, so that she might conceive and give birth to Jesus. 47 On the mountain of Transfiguration, the Spirit in the “cloud came and overshadowed” Jesus, Moses and Elijah, Peter, James and John, and “a voice came out of the cloud, saying, ‘This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!’” 48 Finally, the cloud took Jesus out of the sight of the disciples on the day of his ascension and will reveal him as Son of man in glory on the day of his final coming. 49
2 entries found for theophany. From a dictionary.
the·oph·a·ny ( P )
n. pl. **the·oph·a·nies **An appearance of a god to a human; a divine manifestation.
[Medieval Latin theophania, from Late Greek theophaneia : Greek theo-, *theo- + Greek phainein, phan-,
to show; see bhhttp://cache.lexico.com/dictionary/graphics/AHD4/GIF/amacr.gif-1 in Indo-European Roots.]
: a visible (but not necessarily material) manifestation of a deity to a human person