Traditionally, the time from December 25th, the Solemnity of Christmas and January 5th, was seen as the 12 days of Christmas. This is where the tradition of the 12 days of Christmas comes from, as well as Shakespeare’s play, Twelfth Night, because the night of the 5th marked the 12th and final night of Christmas. During this time, it was also common to go wassailing.
The word wassail means “good health,” however, it also became a very common drink during the season, to the point that there would be fanfare and singing while serving this hot mulled alcoholic cider. The song became a carol known as “Here we come a-wassailing.”
This fanfare and celebration would also lead to role reversal, whereby a peasant would become king and a king a peasant. If you ever read Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night you know that this is the theme of the play.
All of this would lead up to January 6th the typical day for the Solemnity of the Epiphany, which also came to be known as the Theophany or Three Kings Day and it was during this time that gifts were usually exchanged in imitation of the Magi bringing gifts to the child Jesus and, some would say, where the tradition of exchanging gifts during Christmas originated.
It was also customary to take down one’s decorations after The Epiphany, though, in the New Church calendar, Epiphany can be between Jan 2nd – Jan 8th and Ordinary Time does not begin until the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, which we will celebrate next Sunday.
Given this, our celebration marks not just the end of Christmas but the beginning of Christ’s manifestation to the world. In fact, the word Epiphany simply means, “to make known,” “to manifest,” “to reveal.”
And, traditionally He revealed Himself to the world in three incredible ways, first by the Magi, then at His Baptism in the Jordan River then at His first miracle at The Wedding Feast of Cana.
Yet, He revealed Himself even more intimately, as a vulnerable child to His family, to the shepherds, and to all of us in the persons of Caspar, Balthasar and Melchior, the Three Kings who embarked upon a long journey to see this king, a trip that many believe was much longer than one night, in fact, some believe that the Magi traveled between 1000-2000 miles. And, in doing so, were forced to leave behind their family and their friends and everyone they knew.
And the gifts they brought showed us who it was they came to adore, because gold was used by kings and was always a sign of royalty, prestige and power. Incense is a gum resin from dried tree sap and is native to Somalia. It was used by Moses to set before the tabernacle as an offering to God and, therefore, was considered to be holy to the Lord, to the point that any profane use, as cited elsewhere in the Book of Numbers, was forbidden. This is why, even today, it is used in churches and why it is seen as a symbol of our prayers rising to Heaven.
Myrrh is a brownish gum resin and native to East Africa and Arabia, it was used to embalm the dead, it was used by Moses to anoint the tabernacle and Nicodemus brought it Jesus to anoint His body after His death. It could also be ingested, which is why it was mixed with wine and offered to Jesus before He died on the cross.
And, with these gifts were three men, three men that were seen, by the early Church Fathers, as representatives of the three ages of man, because, accordingly, Caspar was young and beardless who brought frankincense, Melchior was older, white-haired and bearded, who brought gold and Balthasar was bearded and of African descent and, as it is said, in the prime of his life, who brought myrrh. Of course, many people speculate that there were more than three Magi, however, in Cologne, Germany there is a cathedral that contains the relics of the Magi, which was discovered in Persia by St. Helena, only for them to go from Constantinople to Cologne. It is said, that the trip to Cologne took place on three separate ships, hence the Christmas carol, “I Saw Three Ships.”
Yet, the greatest sign is the Star of Bethlehem. People have speculated it to be anything from a comet, to a supernova, to a conjunction of planets, and while no one but those who were there will know for sure, it is St. Augustine who puts it well, he says: “Christ was not born because the star was there; but the star was there because Christ was born.”
And, these Magi knew this, in fact, they were astrologers, those who would study the Heavens and sought to read signs in the sky and it was believed that there would always be a sign in the sky of a famous birth, like a king or queen.
And, when those Magi came to adore Jesus, they didn’t just kneel, they prostrated themselves before Him, that is, they fell on their faces in humility, in trust and in worship. They knew that that tiny child was someone more than just another child, He was and is God made man, to whom our prayers rise, our King, who wears the crown of thorns adorned with the gold of His blood and our Savior, who though anointed for death became its conqueror.
This is why the miracle wasn’t the star, the angels, the gifts or even the manger, the miracle, indeed, was the child, and they knew that, which is why they stopped at nothing to follow that star, a star that became not just the compass to the Magi, but the very spotlight to our Savior, the light of Christ in the sky, the light in our hearts, the star that we all seek to follow, the one leads us from Bethlehem to Calvary, to this altar today.
Therefore, like those Magi, let us seek Christ always, allowing Him to manifest Himself in our lives, especially in the Most Holy Eucharist we will receive shortly, though hidden behind the blanket of bread, as it were, is the same whom those Magi came to worship. So that we can partake in the greatest epiphany of all, the one that will happen upon that altar, when He will manifest Himself in our bodies and in our souls and dwell, in the end, in the manger of our hearts.
The word wassail means “good health,” however, it also became a very common drink during the season, to the point that there would be fanfare and singing while serving this hot mulled alcoholic cider. The song became a carol known as “Here we come a-wassailing.”
This fanfare and celebration would also lead to role reversal, whereby a peasant would become king and a king a peasant. If you ever read Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night you know that this is the theme of the play.
All of this would lead up to January 6th the typical day for the Solemnity of the Epiphany, which also came to be known as the Theophany or Three Kings Day and it was during this time that gifts were usually exchanged in imitation of the Magi bringing gifts to the child Jesus and, some would say, where the tradition of exchanging gifts during Christmas originated.
It was also customary to take down one’s decorations after The Epiphany, though, in the New Church calendar, Epiphany can be between Jan 2nd – Jan 8th and Ordinary Time does not begin until the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, which we will celebrate next Sunday.
Given this, our celebration marks not just the end of Christmas but the beginning of Christ’s manifestation to the world. In fact, the word Epiphany simply means, “to make known,” “to manifest,” “to reveal.”
And, traditionally He revealed Himself to the world in three incredible ways, first by the Magi, then at His Baptism in the Jordan River then at His first miracle at The Wedding Feast of Cana.
Yet, He revealed Himself even more intimately, as a vulnerable child to His family, to the shepherds, and to all of us in the persons of Caspar, Balthasar and Melchior, the Three Kings who embarked upon a long journey to see this king, a trip that many believe was much longer than one night, in fact, some believe that the Magi traveled between 1000-2000 miles. And, in doing so, were forced to leave behind their family and their friends and everyone they knew.
And the gifts they brought showed us who it was they came to adore, because gold was used by kings and was always a sign of royalty, prestige and power. Incense is a gum resin from dried tree sap and is native to Somalia. It was used by Moses to set before the tabernacle as an offering to God and, therefore, was considered to be holy to the Lord, to the point that any profane use, as cited elsewhere in the Book of Numbers, was forbidden. This is why, even today, it is used in churches and why it is seen as a symbol of our prayers rising to Heaven.
Myrrh is a brownish gum resin and native to East Africa and Arabia, it was used to embalm the dead, it was used by Moses to anoint the tabernacle and Nicodemus brought it Jesus to anoint His body after His death. It could also be ingested, which is why it was mixed with wine and offered to Jesus before He died on the cross.
And, with these gifts were three men, three men that were seen, by the early Church Fathers, as representatives of the three ages of man, because, accordingly, Caspar was young and beardless who brought frankincense, Melchior was older, white-haired and bearded, who brought gold and Balthasar was bearded and of African descent and, as it is said, in the prime of his life, who brought myrrh. Of course, many people speculate that there were more than three Magi, however, in Cologne, Germany there is a cathedral that contains the relics of the Magi, which was discovered in Persia by St. Helena, only for them to go from Constantinople to Cologne. It is said, that the trip to Cologne took place on three separate ships, hence the Christmas carol, “I Saw Three Ships.”
Yet, the greatest sign is the Star of Bethlehem. People have speculated it to be anything from a comet, to a supernova, to a conjunction of planets, and while no one but those who were there will know for sure, it is St. Augustine who puts it well, he says: “Christ was not born because the star was there; but the star was there because Christ was born.”
And, these Magi knew this, in fact, they were astrologers, those who would study the Heavens and sought to read signs in the sky and it was believed that there would always be a sign in the sky of a famous birth, like a king or queen.
And, when those Magi came to adore Jesus, they didn’t just kneel, they prostrated themselves before Him, that is, they fell on their faces in humility, in trust and in worship. They knew that that tiny child was someone more than just another child, He was and is God made man, to whom our prayers rise, our King, who wears the crown of thorns adorned with the gold of His blood and our Savior, who though anointed for death became its conqueror.
This is why the miracle wasn’t the star, the angels, the gifts or even the manger, the miracle, indeed, was the child, and they knew that, which is why they stopped at nothing to follow that star, a star that became not just the compass to the Magi, but the very spotlight to our Savior, the light of Christ in the sky, the light in our hearts, the star that we all seek to follow, the one leads us from Bethlehem to Calvary, to this altar today.
Therefore, like those Magi, let us seek Christ always, allowing Him to manifest Himself in our lives, especially in the Most Holy Eucharist we will receive shortly, though hidden behind the blanket of bread, as it were, is the same whom those Magi came to worship. So that we can partake in the greatest epiphany of all, the one that will happen upon that altar, when He will manifest Himself in our bodies and in our souls and dwell, in the end, in the manger of our hearts.
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