The holiday season may be over on New Year’s Day for some people, but some Christians still have a holiday to look forward to after Christmas.
Every year on the twelfth day of Christmas, January 6, the Ephipany (also known as Three Kings Day) is celebrated as a Christian holiday. For many Christians, the holiday season does not end with the Epiphany, which indicates the biblical worship of Jesus baby from the three kings (also known as Wise Men or Magi). According to the Gospel of Matthew, the three kings followed a star to reach Jesus at the manger where he was born in Bethlehem.
“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the time of King Herod, Magi came from the east to Jerusalem and asked, ‘Where is the one who was born king of the Jews? We saw his star when he get up and come to worship him, ‘says the Gospel of Matthew.
And when they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star which they had seen when it arose rose before them, until it stood over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, “When they came home, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.”
The kings offered the infant gold, frankincense and myrrh. Huffington Post notes that gold is attributed to royalty, as Jesus is ‘king of the Jews’. The incense represents Jesus’ holy presence as God’s son. Finally, myrrh, commonly used as a preservative, symbolizes that Jesus was mortal and would die for our sins in the future.
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According to ABC10, children celebrating the Epiphany traditionally leave their shoes outside their doors on January 5 and find toys and gifts in them the next morning. It is reminiscent of how Jesus received gifts from the three wise men. People usually take down their Christmas tree and decorations on the Epiphany or the previous day, which is the end of the 12 days of Christmas. If you leave it behind after the Epiphany, it will unfortunately be bad.
In non-pandemic times, Three Kings Day is usually celebrated with parades and other events around the world. In Spain, the holiday is celebrated with joyous processions. In Belgium, children dress up as the three wise men and go and sing from door to door. Rosca de Reyes, or Kings Cakes, is baked in Mexico to celebrate the Epiphany. These cakes have a small clay or porcelain figurine of Jesus baby hidden in the cake.