Blessed Epiphany!

We celebrated the arrival of the three Magi to the baby Jesus...they recognize and acknowledge Him as the NEW KING (epiphany...right?) Upon recognizing the King, they present Him with gifts brought from afar.

Being homeschoolers, we're always looking for new things to learn and today is an excellent day for geography! We took time on a cold morning to snuggle up and read about Epiphany celebrations all over the world.

The Bulgarians (and many other Eastern Europeans) had the "blessing of the waters" (symbolizing Jesus's Baptism) when the priest tosses a cross into the river (sometimes they have to cut a hole in the ice...brr) and a bunch of guys jump in to retrieve it. My son said, "if you find the cross you're lucky that day!" (I thought, "If you don't die of hypothermia, you're lucky that day!") They also did this in Greece, which is more temperate for diving into rivers.

In Italy and Russia, La Befana or Babushka are major figures in tales on this day. It seems the women were annoyed that the Wise Men interrupted their cleaning in their search for the Christ child. Annoyed, they gave the Magi incorrect directions! In retrospect, with a troubled conscience, the women set out with gifts and goodies to catch up with the Magi on their journey. Alas, they were unsuccessful but did leave their treats with all the sleeping children along the way. I love this story...don't spend so much time cleaning that you miss the really important things!

In Hispanic countries, there were HUGE parades and festivals. For most, this day is bigger than Christmas itself. I was thinking about that...this is the day that the Magi, the Wise Men, realized that Christ is the King we should all worship. What an important part of the story. After the birth of the Savior, this is definitely a day to rejoice!

While we were reading, I looked at my mantle that has the candle covers of the stable, the shepherds, and the magi. Funny that God would tell simple shepherds the news first and it would take the smart guys almost two more weeks to catch on. I'm thinking He is trying to tell us something there.

Whatever your tradition and whether you celebrated Epiphany on the 12th day of Christmas, or on Sunday with the Church crowd (or both!), let's be sure to join in the Epiphany that the Wise Men had...Christ is our King and Savior. Oh come let us Adore Him!