As the discussion in the comments has illuminated, today marks the end of Christmas and the start of Epiphanytide, though in another sense the “Christmastide” continues for some time until Candlemas.
Growing up I was misled by Christmas pageants and Nativity scenes to believe that all the events happened at once: the Magi standing around the manger with the shepherds and the donkeys, everyone gathered together in celebration as we were ourselves come together as a family on Christmas morning. Epiphany was never mentioned. Of course it makes sense, though, that a journey in those days took quite some time. The mind prefers the easy, complete picture.
6 comments:
There is a mass at 6:30 tonight
There will be epiphany water and blessed chalk available to all
So we were told to bring our salt and our water and get supplied for the year
And hopefully there will be Gregorian chant
THE FEAST OF THE Epiphany
on January 6 marks the day when three cultured philosopher-kings came from the East to Bethlehem. Their systems of thought and pagan divination now exhausted, these seekers were drawn by a mysterious revelation to search for a child. They were kings looking for a king. They found a baby in a cave, surrounded by none of the prerogatives of power. Here was no symbol or sign. Here was the very Wisdom they craved incarnated. Here was no illumination of the mind alone. Their hearts were enlightened too. Their search ended; they fell to their knees and adored. “We have seen His star, and are come to adore Him” – Matt, ii, 2.
As Eastern mysticism and “mindfulness” continue to spread in the West, let’s remember today that these ideas are not new, but as old as time. This road was traveled by the Magi.
Some relevant words by G. K. Chesterton:
“It is still a strange story, though an old one, how they came out of orient lands, crowned with the majesty of kings and clothed with something of the mystery of magicians. That truth that is tradition has wisely remembered them almost as unknown quantities, as mysterious as their mysterious and melodious names; Melchior, Caspar, Balthazar. But there came with them all that world of wisdom that had watched the stars in Chaldea and the sun in Persia; and we shall not be wrong if we see in them the same curiosity that moves all the sages.They would stand for the same human ideal if their names had really been Confucius or Pythagoras or Plato. They were those who sought not tales, but the truth of things; and since their truth was itself a thirst for God, they also have had their reward.” (The Everlasting Man, Ignatius Press; p. 176)
“O God, who by the direction of a star didst this day manifest thy only Son to the Gentiles; mercifully grant, that we, who now know thee by faith, may come at length to see the glory of thy Majesty.”
Thanks to:
https://www.thinkinghousewife.com/2023/01/march-of-the-three-kings/
Greg
Growing up, the Three Kings started out at the far end of the room from the manger scene. They got a little closer each day until New Years (we took down the decorations before Epiphany.)
We also had three larger papier-maché kings that survived traveling from Ethiopia to the US. They were quite gaudy compared to the usual Nativity scene figures.
LittleRed1
Heh, LittleRed1, I often did the same thing as a child with the carvings of the camels and Wise men added to my parent's original Nativity. We also had a lighted star that always hung in an east-facing window.
We also started doing that at some point, but arriving on the Epiphany. I've kept that tradition in our house. As with not putting the baby in the manger until Christmas day.
For another take on who the Magi were, there is Dwight Longnecker, ex-fundamentalist from Bob Jones U who is now a Catholic priest, who I wrote about three years ago. https://assistantvillageidiot.blogspot.com/2020/02/magi.html . His book shows that most of what we think we know about them is based on writers from further west in the Mediterranean, who didn't know nothin' about roads, customs, and travels in the East, only that that there were some figures called "magi" from Persia, so those must be the same, right? The East Road actually started out southeast, then ran due south, and at least one other group fits the description far better than Persians.
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