Free Republic

(English-language translation) The sight of three sumptuously-dressed potentates giving the first Christmas gifts has been portrayed in innumerable ways: in classical paintings, in greeting cards, and even in some billboard on a public square. We know their names: Melchior, Caspar, and Balthazar. Standing on one side of the stable, in the company of animals, shepherds, and a few angels fluttering around the beams. They sing John Henry Hopkins' immortal Christmas carol "We Three Kings of Orient Are", and each one describes the meaning behind the gift he carries. There is only one problem. The Bible never mentions only three kings...

Feast ofthe Epiphany  See also the page "Twelfthnight" Also known as Feast of the Epiphany, Three Kings Day, or Theophany, this Feast is a great and very important Feast in memory of Jesus showing His glory in 3 ways: as an infant to the Magi, at His baptism, and at His first miracle at the wedding in Cana. So important is this Feast, that it is a Holy Day of Obligation in many parts of the Catholic world, though not presently in the United States. The symbols of the day are the same as those mentioned on the page describing...

Feast of the Epiphany    (See the page on Twelfth Night firstfor the basics of the meaning of this Feast)  As described on the page on Twelfthnight, this Feast -- also known as the . "Theophany" or "Three Kings Day" -- recalls Christ revealing Himself as Divine in three different ways: to the Magi, at His Baptism, and with His miracle at the wedding feast at Cana. For families who practice traditions involving "the Magi" or "La Befana" leaving gifts for children, the day begins with the wee ones discovering what was left for them while they slept on Twelfth...

Caspar, Balthasar, Melchior.  These "three kings of Orient are" found, complete with crowns and camels, in every nativity scene.Yet if you look closely at the gospel account of the Magi (Mat 2:1-12), you won't find these names.  Actually there is no mention of how many Magi there were or that they were kings riding camel-back.This is a testimony to something some Bible Christians would like to deny: that all who read a text of Scripture do so in the light of some tradition, through some lens.  If it is the right lens, it magnifies the text and allows us to...

(Summarized from E. L. Martin, "The Star that Astonished the World," ASK Publications, Box 25000, Portland Or. 1991) (1) The date of the birth of Christ hinges on just one thing, the statement of Josephus (Antiquities 17.6-8) that Herod died shortly after an eclipse of the moon. Astronomers supply the dates for such eclipses around those years: None in 7 or 6 BC. In 5 BC, March 23, 29 days to Passover. Also in 5 BC. Sept. 15,7 months to Passover. In 4 B.C. March 13, 29 days to Passover. 3 and 2 B.C. no eclipses. In 1 BC. January...

In his historical novel Helena, Evelyn Waugh paints the mother of the Emperor Constantine as a Briton, the daughter of King Cole of Colchester, and a tardy convert to Catholic faith. She is already an old woman by the time she begins her search for the True Cross in Jerusalem, and by Christmastide is fatigued by her labors almost to the point of delirium. During the lengthy Epiphany Mass her exhaustion causes a semi-swoon that is part meditation, part reverie. At a time when many Catholic statesmen, and their chaplains, beamingly connive at assassination of the unborn and elderly, at...

CLEVELAND, Ohio (CNS) – The gospel accounts of the Nativity (Matthew 1-2, Luke 1-2) do not say what day Jesus was born. There were attempts to calculate the day, but by the third century Christians realized this was impossible.So they tried other ways to determine a date for Jesus' birth: - Many people believed the world was re-created on the first day of spring (March 25 of the Julian calendar followed in ancient Rome). How appropriate, then, for the world's redeemer to become incarnate that day! - Other scholars argued that Jesus became incarnate not at his birth but at...

In its December 27, 2005 online edition, "El Vocero" newspaper from Puerto Rico reports that the governor of that U. S. Commonwealth has signed a bill assigning an annual $75,000 grant to help finance the Kings' Day (Epiphany) Festival which has been held every year since 1884 in the southern coastal town of Juana Díaz. The monies will be specifically allocated to the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture which, in turn, will provide them to a local private organization responsible for holding the Festival. To those fellow FReepers who are a little rusty on their Biblical history, the Epiphany is...

Dec. 28, 2005 - " ... during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, 'Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.'" - Matthew 2:1-2 They are requisite figures in every nativity scene: Three elegantly dressed exotic men, camels in tow, weighed down with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. They are always a few steps removed, seeming to defer to the farm animals surrounding the young mother and her newborn. Accuracy is not a hallmark...

I am worn out from Christmas already, but am still looking forward to the "Little Christmas" in 11 days. While looking for a recipe for King's Cake, I came across a website that has a huge section on the customs of the liturgical year -- and the pages on Twelfthnight and the Feast of the Epiphany are too beautiful to not post here. On the Twelfthnight page, the information on the Magi and the Star of Bethlehem is especially interesting (who knew about the Orion symbolism?!). A quote (from the Twelfthnight page) by St. Ephraem on the Star of Bethlehem:...

The feast of the Epiphany, the adoration of Our Lord in Bethlehem by the “Magi from the East” (Matthew 7), shows us the value of representation and symbolism in the plans of Divine Providence. The Three Kings represented the Gentile peoples who would come to worship Christ. It is generally said that the Three Magi came to adore Our Lord as representatives of the Gentile peoples. It is also common to say that they were magi because they represented the ancient wisdom of the East paying homage to Our Lord Jesus Christ. Magus, a word derived from the Greek, means...

Almost everyone knows about the magi, the "wise men from the East" who herald the birth of Jesus with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. But few realize that these three kings of Orient are not Christians or Jews, but Zoroastrians -- members of an ancient faith that not only survives to this day, but holds its national convention next week -- Tuesday to Saturday -- in San Jose. Who were these pagan astrologers, following yonder star into the Gospel according to Matthew and onto the set of countless Christmas cards and nativity scenes? And what do they have to...

The Christmas Star By Dr. Hugh Ross (updated 12/02) For centuries scholars and laymen alike have speculated on the nature of the star that led the wise men from the east to seek out the Messiah that had come to the Jews. The only reliable account of this event is found in Matthew 2 of the Bible. Three controversial questions arise out of a study of this text: 1. Were the wise men led by astrology? Some people have used the story of the advent of Jesus Christ, specifically the Matthew 2 portion, to suggest that astrology might be okay,...

The newsweeklies discovered long ago that Jesus Christ sells magazines. So it is not surprising to find him on the covers of Time and Newsweek a few weeks before Christmas.... What are we to make of the Gospel accounts of the Nativity? For a Christian, of course, they are true, an article of faith. But faith does not preclude looking at them as historical and literary documents.... Since the late 18th century, there has been a scholarly assault on the four Gospels, and some of the "experts' quoted by Time and Newsweek are simply bringing up the rear of this...

LONDON - The three Wise Men may have been neither wise nor men, the Church of England has decided. The church's decision was in response to moves to replace the term "Magi" with "Wise Men" in a series of short prayers. The church's governing body ruled there was no evidence of the sex or sagacity of the three gift-bearers to the infant Jesus. "While it seems very unlikely that these Persian court officials were female, the possibility ... cannot be excluded completely," it said.

<p>Gaspar, Melchior and Balthasar may give way to Gail, Melanie and Barbara at least in the Church of England.</p> <p>Church officials yesterday agreed to drop the term "Three Wise Men" from a newly approved prayer book because there's no proof the trio of visitors to the infant Jesus were male or even learned.</p>

The Three Wise Men who followed the star to Bethlehem bearing gifts for the baby Jesus may not have been all that wise -- or even men. The traditional infant Nativity play scene could be in for a drastic rewrite after the Church of England indulged in some academic gender-swapping over the three Magi at its General Synod in London this week. A committee revising the latest prayer book said the term "Magi" was a transliteration of the name used by officials at the Persian court, and that they could well have been women. "Magi is a word which discloses...

January 4, 2004The Epiphany of the Lord Psalm: Sunday 4 Reading I Responsorial Psalm Reading II Gospel Reading IIs 60:1-6 Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come,the glory of the Lord shines upon you.See, darkness covers the earth,and thick clouds cover the peoples;but upon you the LORD shines,and over you appears his glory.Nations shall walk by your light,and kings by your shining radiance.Raise your eyes and look about;they all gather and come to you:your sons come from afar,and your daughters in the arms of their nurses. Then you shall be radiant at what you see,your heart shall throb...

Journeying with the Magi Louise Perrotta You want to cheer when the magi appear on the horizon in chapter 2 of Matthew’s Gospel. After all, the Savior of the world, God in the flesh, has been born! History’s central event has taken place! And although Jesus slipped in among us more like an undercover agent than a conquering hero, how right and fitting that a special delegation would make a special effort to welcome the newborn King. Perhaps, like me, you feel indebted to the “wise men from the East” as you read the twelve verses where they make their...