The Feast of The Three Wise Men
Childhood traditions that I still keep alive today
Welcome, come sit with me in my living room.
Most likely, you’re aware that The Three Wise Men, whose travel coincides with the birth of Baby Jesus, didn’t arrive at that manger until the twelfth night. Well to be exact, that day is today, January 06th.
In some countries today is the day that children receive presents from the Three Wise Men and, according to my parents, the day the Wise Men come to ‘take back’ presents from ungrateful children. You gotta love that one!
Anyway, in keeping with the Catholic Church’s official schedule, today marks the end of the Christmas Season. Feast of the Epiphany, the Church calls it.
My parents borrowed from that tradition and kept ‘everything Christmas’ until the weekend leading to this day. With my father at the helm, we took down all decorations and gently as ever put Christmas back into boxes, transporting everything back to Grandma’s attic.
After Father passed, the shop display window was no more and Mother kept the house adorned until the week school started. That week, we’d come home from school to less red and green until at last, we’d morph into new activities, pleased, most of all, that the wise men didn’t stop by our house to take back the gifts we’d received from…
