The Feast of St. Blaise

Today is the Feast of St. Blaise. The Mass celebrating St. Blaise is a bit out of the ordinary. You see, the legend of St. Blaise says that he was a 3^rd century physician who became a Bishop in Armenia. The most famous story of St. Blaise tells of a woman whose son was dying because he had a fish bone stuck in his throat. She brought her son before St. Blaise as he was on his way to be executed for being a Christian and St. Blaise laid his hands on the boy’s throat and prayed for God’s blessings upon him. Because of this, St. Blaise is the patron saint of ailments of the throat (most take this definition broadly to include the words that we speak as well) and during Mass on this day, the priest blesses our throats.

A prayer is said in which two candles are blessed. These candles (unlit) are then in a crossed fashion over our throats (or in some regions, the wicks are dipped into holy oil and then used to apply holy oil to the throat) while the priest recites the words: May God at the intercession of St. Blaise preserve you from throat troubles and every other evil. He then makes the sign of the cross with us as we reply Amen. This day completes the “trilogy” of the celebrations of fire and light that began with St. Brigid’s Day (the Celtic Goddess of Fire and the Christian Saint associated with fire), continues with Candelmas in which candles as representatives of Jesus, the light of the world, are blessed, and concludes here with St. Blaise day and the candles being held in blessing over our throats.

An old Armenian tradition states that if a person asks for St. Blaise’s blessing while forming a knot in a piece of cord, that person shall be free of throat ailments.  In Europe, there is a tradition of having bread blessed on St. Blaise Day and then giving the bread to others as gifts.  The bread is formed into the shape of bread sticks known as St. Blaise sticks and it is said that those who partake of the bread will also be protected against problems with their throats.  See my favourite bread recipe (Beer Bread – delicious and so easy to make!) over at my other blog, The Red Apple Tearoom: http://islandtearoom.wordpress.com/2010/02/03/beer-bread/

Candelmas/Groundhog Day

Today is Candelmas. It is considered a day of purification, renewal, and hope. At this time, we have reached the midway point of winter and Spring is on its way. More than that though, this is a special celebration in the Church where we commemorate Mary’s obedience to Mosaic law: Luke 2:22-24 – “And after the days of her purification, according to the laws of Moses, were accomplished, they carried him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord.” Today is exactly 40 days after Christmas, the day we celebrate Jesus’ birth.

Forty days following giving birth, a Jewish woman was commanded to bring herself to the Temple for a rite of purification as stated in Leviticus 12:2-8: “If a woman having received seed shall bear a man child, she shall be unclean seven days according to the days of separation of her flowers. And on the eighth day the infant shall be circumcised; But she shall remain three and thirty days in the blood of her purification. She shall touch no holy thing; neither shall she enter into the sanctuary, until the days of her purification be fulfilled.”

Because Mary was born of Immaculate Conception and was holy, the Church holds the position that she did not need this purification – indeed, this is why her adherence to Mosaic law is considered even more sacred because she didn’t need to do it but she chose to do it to show her obedience to the Law. There is an old Catholic tradition known as the rite of the Churching of Women in which women imitate Mary’s actions after giving birth. In all honesty, I have never seen or heard of any women or churches taking part in this practice but I have heard that there are some regions in which this custom is still practiced. If you’d like to read more about this custom and what the rite entails, this site outlines it: http://www.fisheaters.com/churchingofwomen.html

Being the earliest flowers to bloom, this is often the time when snowdrops begin to poke their heads above ground. Snowdrops are nicknamed “Candelmas Bells” and legend has it that they sprang up at the hand of an angel who then pointed them out as a sign of hope to Eve. It is even considered bad luck to bring snowdrops inside the home prior to Candelmas but to bring them in on this day is said to purify the home.

In some places, the eve before Candelmas is celebrated by taking the Christmas tree down and putting away the Nativity scene– Mary’s purification and Jesus’ presentation in the temple being the signal of the end of the Christmas season. In some Latin countries, the Nativity scene is then replaced with a statue of Jesus as a child sitting on a chair, symbolizing his growth and the need to turn our attention from the baby Jesus to the adult Jesus whom we honour during Lent and Easter.

Simeon, in the book of Luke chapter 2, gave a prophecy to Mary and at that time, he referred to the infant Jesus as the light of the world. So, candles and light play an important role in the Candelmas celebration. At Mass, candles are blessed and handed out to the congregation. In some churches, when the priest hands a congregant a candle, they are to kiss it and then the priest’s hand (apparently this is the same custom used in some places for the handing out of the palms on Palm Sunday as well) but in my church, we simply make the sign of the cross and say Amen.

The custom then is to light the candles, sing hymns, and carry them in procession. Some people bring candles from home to be blessed as well (although Church tradition dictates that they must be at least 51% beeswax) that are then used on family altars and for family devotionals. It is also customary to light these candles during times of trouble and after dusk on All Saints’ Day. In Poland, the candles brought from home are decorated with symbols and ribbons and then taken home and placed before a statue of Mary where they are left to burn throughout the night.

This is also Groundhog Day and strange though it may seem there do seem to be a few connections between these two holidays. Groundhog Day actually began as a holiday in Pennsylvania originated by the Germans as part of their Candelmas celebrations. It has ties to European superstitions in which bears and badgers were seen as weather predictors. It was believed in many places that a bear would leave hibernation on Candelmas Day and venture outside to check and see if winter was over yet. If it saw its shadow, it would become afraid and run back into its den to return to hibernation for another six weeks. Somehow when the Germans settled in Pennsylvania this tradition was transferred from a bear to a groundhog.

Perhaps this lore began because of the ties between Imbolc, Candelmas Day, and the legend of St. Brigid and the view that all of these were symbolic of the midpoint of winter, the promise of a coming spring, and the hope representative of the increasing light from the days getting longer. An old Scottish poem stated:

As the light grows longer
The cold grows stronger
If Candlemas be fair and bright
Winter will have another flight
If Candlemas be cloud and rain
Winter will be gone and not come again
A farmer should on Candlemas day
Have half his corn and half his hay
On Candlemas day if thorns hang a drop
You can be sure of a good pea crop

Our Groundhog Day 2010 – not very bright and sunny out but there are some shadows!

From this seemingly evolved the idea that if the groundhog comes from his burrow on this day and sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter yet to come. Some places hold Groundhog Day festivals in celebration of this day – generally where speeches are made, feasts are served, and skits are put on. In some areas of Pennsylvania in which the German population remains strong, there is even a tradition that during the dinner, only German may be spoken at the table. If English was spoken, a coin must be put into a jar in the middle of the table for each word uttered.

As most people know, the largest of the Groundhog Day celebrations is held in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania as shown in the movie Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray. The groundhog there is known as Punxsutawney Phil.

The University of Dallas in Texas has made Groundhog Day an official university holiday and they hold a large celebration on that date every year. Here in Canada, our most famous Groundhog Day celebration is held in Wiarton, Ontario (a small town of only a couple thousand people in between Lake Huron and the Georgian Bay) where our groundhog is known as Wiarton Willie.

Video of Phil finding his shadow today:

Check out this adorable Punxsatawney Phil made by Sister Diane on the Craftypod site: http://www.craftypod.com/2010/02/02/phil-phil-is-that-you/

Wiarton Willie became well known in Canada by 1956. The original Willie was an albino groundhog who died in hibernation during the winter of 1999. There was quite a furor over this when his handlers discovered this just as they were making preparations for the Groundhog Day celebration. In fact, his death was publicized all over the world! That Groundhog Day there was a public display of a small casket with “Wiarton Willie” in it – pennies on his eyes, and a carrot between his paws. Mind you, this turned out to be just a symbolic stuffed Willie. The real one was far too decomposed to place on display but there was such a public outcry and so much media coverage that it was felt necessary to “honour” Willie publicly in some way – especially given that the Wiarton Groundhog Festival brings in over 20,000 tourists to town each year.

The festival in Wiarton, Ontario:

An adorable groundhog iPod case http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2010/02/how-to_groundhog_ipod_touch_ca.html

Statistical studies show that the groundhogs in general have only been accurate in their weather predictions about 37% of the time despite Wiarton’s claims that Willie accuracy rate is 90%. They insist that Willie is the truest and most accurate Groundhog Day groundhog because he was born on the 45^th parallel which is the halfway point between the Equator and the North Pole.

Wiarton Willie’s webcam:  http://www.wiartonwilliecam.com/#

Crepes are a traditional Candelmas Day food in many places.  Recipe over on my other blog, The Red Apple Tearoom: http://islandtearoom.wordpress.com/2010/02/03/crepes-for-candelmas-day/

The Feast of St. Brigid

Today is St. Brigid’s Day. Brigid was born in around 451 to a pagan father and a Christian mother, a slave woman. While pregnant, the slave woman met up with a Bishop who was a follower of St. Patrick and he prophesied that Brigid would grow to be a truly pious woman who would do great things with her life. Her father’s wife was not happy to have Brigid or her mother around and sold them to a Druid to be returned to her father when she was older. Brigid’s mother strived hard to provide for her and it is said that a white red-eared cow (rare in Ireland where Brigid was born and raised) provided all the food that Brigid needed to grow healthy and strong. This is why one of the St. Brigid’s Day traditions states that on this day Brigid will come, bringing her white red-eared cow with her and people leave out oat cakes and butter for Brigid and corn for her cow on their windowsills.

When Brigid was 10, she was sent back to her father and he put her to work in the dairy. He soon became enraged with Brigid’s charitable practices though as she would give much of what the dairy produced away to those less fortunate. While still quite young, Brigid went to visit a Christian mission. There was present there a Bishop who was telling of a dream he had in which he saw the Virgin Mary – as he was telling his story, Brigid came into the room and he immediately said that it was she who he had seen in his dream. This was taken as yet another sign of the special grace of God that had been bestowed on Brigid. Because of her father’s anger with her, Brigid was sent back to live with her mother and the Druid. She continued her charitable work there, always churning butter in 13 portions in honour of Christ and the apostles. The largest portion she would give away to the poor and yet, no matter how much she gave away, their pantry was always full. When the Druid saw this miracle, he and his wife converted to Christianity and gave Brigid and her mother their freedom.

Brigid returned to her father’s home but he and his wife weren’t too happy to see her. He took her to sell her again into servitude for the King of Leinster who was a Christian. While he was speaking with the king about his problems with her, being that she was always giving away his belongings to the poor, a leper approached the chariot that Brigid had been left in, and she gave away her father’s sword to him. The King met Brigid and was so taken with her devotion to the faith, he convinced her father to give Brigid her freedom and he reimbursed him for the sword with one of his own.

Now as a free woman, Brigid would be expected to marry someone in her father’s clan. She, however, didn’t want to marry, instead she devoted herself to Christ. Legend states that she even chose, like St. Rose of Lima, to disfigure her beautiful face so that no men would seek her out for marriage anymore. Brigid went on to form the first religious community for women in Ireland and so has the distinction of being the first nun in her country. She and her community had a meeting with the Bishop, St. Mel and as soon as he saw her, he stated that he recognized her as the woman he had prophesied about while she was still in her mother’s womb. The Bishop consecrated Brigid and her community and legend states that the moment he did, her face was healed and she was beautiful once more.

The King who had convinced her father of providing Brigid with her freedom provided land in Kildare for Brigid’s community to establish a convent. Irish legend says that Brigid desired a piece of land near an oak tree that she loved and when she was refused that, she told the King she would accept any land that her mantle could cover. He agreed and it’s said that her mantle miraculously covered all of Curragh. Because of this, her convent was named The Church of the Oak and on St. Brigid’s Day it is tradition to hang handkerchiefs and ribbons from trees and clotheslines as a representation of Brigid’s mantle. The hope is that Brigid’s spirit will pass by and touch them and in doing so, they will be infused with healing powers.

During one of Brigid’s travels through the region, she came upon a dying man – a pagan chieftain. She sat with him and as she did, she began weaving a cross out of some rushes found on the floor. The man asked her about it and she told him about Jesus and what the cross symbolized. The man accepted Christ and was baptized prior to his death. For this reason, another St. Brigid’s Day custom is to weave crosses out of rushes or reeds. It is then blessed with holy water and the following words are recited: May the blessing of God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost be on this cross and on the place where it hangs and on everyone who looks on it. It is placed on the family’s front door and left there until the following St. Brigid Day. At that time, the old cross is burned in the fire and a new cross is fashioned.  Want to make your own Brigid’s cross?  Gingerbread Snowflakes has a wonderful post on just how to do that here: http://gingerbreadsnowflakes.com/node/143

Brigid became well known for her healing abilities and for her wisdom. She was so loved by the people that they began using the blessing “Brigid and Mary be with you.” When Brigid died (around 525), her community built a fire in her honour and kept it burning until 1220. It was then relit and tended for another 400 years until put out during the Protestant Reformation. St. Brigid’s association with fire on her feast day of February 1 was often celebrated as part of a three day celebration of light – being combined with Candelmas on February 2, and the Feast of St. Blaise on February 3. This association created the custom of building bonfires on St. Brigid’s day and in some areas those fires are built on February 1 and then maintained right through the 3^rd.

Want a delicious Irish recipe to serve on St. Brigid’s Day?  There’s a recipe for Colcannon over on my cooking blog, The Red Apple Tearoom:  http://islandtearoom.wordpress.com/2010/02/01/colcannon/

The pagan celebration of Imbolc also occurs on February 1 (February 2 in some places and others say it begins on the eve of January 31 and continues through to the eve of the 2^nd). Imbolc is seen as a celebration of early spring.  It’s the halfway point of winter and since it’s the time when the first crocuses and snowdrops begin to appear, it is said, just like Brigid, to be a reminder of hope that spring is on its way. It is associated with customs like spring cleaning and in many places, the beginning of the spring agricultural season.

Imbolc also involved honouring Brigid, but the Brigid being honoured here is the Celtic goddess of fire. Same Brigid? Well it depends on who you ask and even then the answer might be “yes and no”. Some claim that the festival celebrating the pagan goddess came first and that the stories of St. Brigid of Ireland are simply myths made up to turn a pagan holiday into a Christian one. Others believe that the Celtic goddess is the same woman who was then granted sainthood by the Church – pagan and Christian in one.

Whatever the truth is, the Christian and pagan celebrations of Brigid have in many ways melded into one, sharing many similar mythos and traditions. According to the Druids, as a baby, Brigid was fed milk from a white red-eared cow (sound familiar?) but in this case they believe it to be a cow from the Otherworld. Another story tells of Brigid’s encounter of two lepers at her sacred well in Kildare. They asked her to heal them. She told them to take turns bathing each other with the well water and they would be healed. Once the first one had been bathed and healed, he was disgusted by the sight of the second man and refused to touch him. His leprosy returned. Brigid placed her mantle around the second man and the touch of it healed him. Again, this led to a custom similar to that of the Christians – a scrap of cloth would be placed on the front door of a home and in the morning, if there was a mark on it, it was believed that Brigid had touched it and infused it with her healing powers.

Remember the oak tree that Brigid so loved? Well, in pagan tradition, that tree is an ancient oak believed to be sacred – so sacred that no one was allowed to bring a weapon near it. Brigid’s convent is believed to have been a college for training priestesses and the custom of tossing coins into a fountain is said to have originated with Brigid partly because of the sacred well present at her shrine and partly because it was said that any Brigid rewarded anyone who made an offering to her. People began to toss coins into this fountain as their offering. Pagans also make Brigid’s crosses as part of their celebrations and as she is associated with fire and this holiday is connected in many ways with the Christian celebration of Candelmas, it is customary to light white candles in her honour as well.

Beautiful photos of Imbolc over on Gingerbread Snowflake:  http://gingerbreadsnowflakes.com/node/146  Be sure to check out the rest of her blog too.  There’s lots more information on Brigid, Imbolc, Candelmas, and Groundhog Day there and many other great posts with lots of crafty ideas to share!

More on Candelmas and the Feast of St. Blaise in the coming days!

Menu Plan Monday

 

Still keeping with the #pantry plan!  I’ve spent $50 on groceries this month – mainly just fresh items like milk and eggs but then a few things that were on for such a great sale price that I needed to stock up (like 500 gram cheese bars for $3 and whole chickens and beef roasts that were 2 for the price of 1).  I should be able to finish out the week without buying much more for this week – I will be shopping later in the week but that’s so I can do some freezer cooking for next month.

Here’s my menu plan for this week:

Monday – Because of being alone much of last week, I didn’t go through all the meals I had planned so tonight I am having the pork chops and rice I had planned for last week.  I plan to have creamed peas with it.  (yeah I know, not everyone’s cup of tea but I like them!)

Tuesday -  Captain Crunch chicken, oven fries, vegetable (I guess I am “cheating” a bit on this one.  I don’t buy Captain Crunch so a friend is trading me some for something I have on hand – is that cheating on my pantry?)

Wednesday – Cheese souffle for one (from Judith Jones’ book The Pleasures of Cooking for One), side salad (I will have to buy some fresh lettuce for the salad)

Thursday – Sweet and sour meatballs, noodles, vegetable

Friday – Easy Dump and Go Chicken, rice, vegetable

Saturday – Neopolitan Baked Ziti, side salad, garlic bread (using up leftover “heels” from loaves of bread that I’ve saved in the freezer)

Sunday – Boeuf Bourguignon with new potatoes and carrots (from Judith Jones’ book The Pleasures of Cooking for One)

Don’t forget to head over to orgjunkie.com to check out the rest of the menu plans for the week – hundreds of people have linked up so LOADS of great inspiration and recipes there!

A.A. Milne and Winnie The Pooh

Today is A.A. Milne’s birthday.  I have always loved Winnie the Pooh.  I even have my original design Winnie the Pooh and Eeyore (he’s my favourite!) from when I first went to Disney World at age 10.  The books always enthralled me and took me along for a little adventure and I was thrilled when my daughter enjoyed them, the tv show, and movies as much as I did.  (Her favourite is Piglet).  Here’s a little video clip in honour of A. A. Milne and Winnie the Pooh:

Winnie the Pooh
Winnie the Pooh
Tubby little cubby all stuffed with fluff
He’s Winnie the Pooh
Winnie the Pooh
Willy nilly silly old bear

Shari Lewis

Yesterday was Shari Lewis’ birthday.  I loved Shari and especially Lambchop when I was little (still have my Lambchop hand puppet!).  The clip below is from a video my daughter had called Don’t Wake Your Mom.  It worked like a charm.  I could doze on the couch while this was on and she would listen to Shari’s instructions not to disturb me! LOL

Menu Plan Monday: January 18-24

 

I’m linked up to Menu Plan Monday at Organizing Junkie: http://orgjunkie.com/2010/01/menu-plan-monday-jan-18th.html

Monday – Panko coated chicken bites, oven sweet potato fries, vegetable

Tuesday – Applesauce meatloaf, noodles, vegetable

Wednesday – Chicken and rice, vegetable

Thursday – Bistro burgers, raw vegetables and dip

Friday – Tangy chicken stirfry over rice

Saturday – Stromboli, salad

Sunday – Rouladen, vegetable

Still sticking really well to the pantry plan.  There’s nothing that I need to buy for any of the above meals – I have everything on hand in my freezer and pantry already!

Menu Plan Monday/Pantry Challenge – Jan. 11-17

I’m taking part in Menu Plan Monday again!  Here’s the link if you’d like to visit The Organizing Junkie’s site and see all the other great menu plans:  http://orgjunkie.com/2010/01/menu-plan-monday-january-11th.html

Monday:  Pioneer Woman’s meatloaf (all I need to buy for this are eggs) , homemade oven fries, white bean mash (everything for both of these dishes are in my pantry)

Tuesday:  Slow cooker Lemon Chicken, noodles, a vegetable (have everything I need for all of these in my freezer and pantry)

Wednesday:  Pork chops and rice, vegetable (I need to buy some tomato sauce/paste for this but I was going to anyway because it’s on sale for an incredible price; other than that, it’s all in my freezer/pantry)

Thursday:  $5 Dollar Dinner Mom’s Ginger Sweet Potato Chicken Bake, vegetable (have everything I need in my freezer/pantry)

Friday:   Sausages, boxed macaroni and cheese, vegetable (have everything on hand)

Saturday:  Pioneer Woman’s Rib Eye Steak with Whiskey Cream Sauce (I’ll need to pick up some cream for this but have everything else), mashed potatoes, vegetable (have all I need for these)

Sunday:  Grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup, veggie sticks and dip (have everything on hand)

The Magi

 

Popular tradition has it that Three Wise Men also referred to as the Three Kings or the Magi came from the east to worship the child Jesus.  In more recent years, theologians have pointed out that this view is not entirely accurate.  In Matthew 2:1, it states “When Jesus was born in the village of Bethlehem in Judea, Herod was king.  During this time some wise men from the east came to Jerusalem and said, “Where is the child born to be king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.”  No specific number of kings is given.  How then did we come to decide that there were three of them?  The most likely reason given is that we are told that they brought with them gifts of frankincense, gold, and myrrh.  Three gifts = three gift-givers…or at least that was the assumption. 

These men are often given actual names: Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar but it is believed that again this was based on assumption.  These names were associated with three powerful kings believed to be living at the time and so it seemed a logical conclusion that it was likely that if any three kings were to go and visit Jesus, it would be them.  In many traditions, the Magi are depicted as one of them being white, one being African, and one being Asian.  Again, this is not stated anywhere in the Bible and it is believed that this originated from the assumption that if there were three Magi, they would each be of a different race as this would symbolize and represent all nations of the world coming together to worship Christ. 

Current information however also puts into question whether or not these men were actually kings.  The gifts they brought were considered precious riches at that time – ones not available readily to the general public so again the assumption was made that they must be very wealthy, therefore royalty.  Most theologians believe that the term Magi is far closer and far more accurate a description of them.  No definition of Magi is provided in the book of Matthew, likely because it was assumed that his followers and readers at the time would know the meaning of the term.  Best research believes that the Magi were indeed considered to be wise men.  They were believed to be extremely well educated, well respected men, priests most likely in ancient Persia.  It is thought that they noticed the star in the sky indicating the birth of the Messiah because they studied the skies – perhaps part astronomers, perhaps part astrologers.  They were associated with dream interpretation, maybe even were seen as prophets who could interpret visions as well.  The Magi would indeed have been wealthy men despite not being royalty given their high status in society. 

Historically, many have held the belief that the Magi arrived on the night of Jesus’ birth and worshipped him at the stable/cave in which he was born in Bethlehem.  Matthew 2:11 states "And when they came into the house, they saw the young child Jesus with Mary his mother and fell down and worshipped…"  It doesn’t have them coming into the stable/cave but into a house…and they saw a young child not a baby.  This suggests that they arrived quite some time after his birth, not on the night of his birth as previously held by tradition.  Further evidence to support this is born out by the fact that it was simply too long a journey for the Magi to make in such a short amount of time.  Of course, all of this wording is subject to interpretation and others have suggested that the Magi, perhaps being prophets themselves, saw it foretold that the Christ child would be born on a certain night and set out well in advance so as to be able to make it there in time for the birth. 

Much as many children leave out cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer, in some countries it is traditional to leave out food and drink for the Magi and their camels on the eve before Epiphany.  The belief that the Magi travelled by camel is another widely held tradition but again not backed up by any actual evidence or reference in the Bible.  It was assumed that because they had such a long distance to travel and came from the east that they would be travelling by camel as it was a common practice in the day.  It however is also just about as likely that they travelled on horseback or even simply on foot.  There is a notion that they returned to their homes by ship however.  This was because they were avoiding going back through Jerusalem and having to encounter Herod again since they had been warned in a dream that he might learn Jesus’ location from them. 

This notion of them travelling by ship is reflected in the song “I Saw Three Ships”:

Have you ever wondered about the gifts the Magi gave to Jesus?  Gold seems pretty obvious.  Jesus was considered the king of the Jews – what more fitting gift for a king than riches like gold?  At that time, frankincense and myrrh were also gifts commonly given to kings but it is believed that these three gifts had more symbolic, spiritual, and even prophetic meanings behind them.  Gold obviously is seen as a symbol of an earthly king but other views see it as a symbol of virtue as well.  Myrrh was an embalming oil and was used as an incense during funerals and cremations.  Some believe that because of this myrrh is a symbol of death and suffering and was prophetic in foreshadowing Jesus’ death on the cross.  Frankincense has been suggested as a symbol of priesthood and prayer because in those times, people believed that if they burned frankincense it would help to carry their prayers up to heaven. 

People can debate what parts of our view of the Magi are accurate or not but I think if we look at the essential lessons in the story of the Magi, that’s where their importance really lies.  Does it really matter whether there were 3 of them or 12 of them?  Does it really matter what mode of transportation they used?  Scholars have suggested that we had the presence of shepherds worshipping the infant Jesus – representative of the common person, whereas the Magi were wealthy and powerful men so in their presence, we see even the rich, at the highest station in their society also recognizing the Messiah and humbling themselves before Him.  In addition, they suggest that they were known to be extremely learned men and this fact reinforced the idea that even the learned saw the significance of Jesus’ birth and honoured it.  What really matters to me is the example the Magi provide.  They kept their eyes open, watching for any signs or learning opportunities that might come along.  They saw their star and they chose to follow it.  They travelled a great distance to see Christ and acknowledge his importance without even knowing for sure that they would ever find Him (and let’s remember how extremely difficult that was at the time).  They were courageous and they stuck to their beliefs.  They rejoiced when they found Jesus. They bowed down to Him and presented Him with gifts – both acts of honour and reverence.  Even if not a Christian, couldn’t we all benefit from staying open to opportunities that come along?  Seeing those opportunities and choosing to follow “our star”?  Journeying towards that star, giving up what we need to along the way, enduring difficulties to make way for new joy?  Not being afraid to humble ourselves when faced with something greater? And then once we find our star, rejoicing in it?  Sounds like the path to happiness and fulfillment to me!

Twelfth Night – Epiphany

 

Tomorrow is Epiphany also known as Twelfth Night (note: in some places the official Church celebration of Epiphany is held on the first Sunday after New Year’s Day but January 6th remains the actual date for Epiphany).  It is the conclusion of the Christmas season.  For many in North America, it is a little known holiday but for some European countries this is the date when they have their gift giving celebration, reserving Christmas as a completely religious holiday.  Epiphany is the date the church commemorates the arrival of the Wise Men to see and present gifts to the child Jesus.  It is known as Twelfth Night as well because it is the 12th day of Christmas (as noted in the song The Twelve Days of Christmas – the first day being Christmas itself).  See my prior post on The Twelve Days of Christmas for more information about this:  http://cynsreality.wordpress.com/2009/12/25/the-twelve-days-of-christmas/

In my home, we extended the Christmas celebrations throughout the 12 days, culminating at Epiphany.  On Epiphany, my daughter would receive 3 small gifts – one for each of the traditional Wise Men (theologians tell us that the idea that there were 3 Wise Men is a misconception.  It doesn’t say give a number in the Bible, nor does it give them the names we have come to accept).  This was also the day that we added our 3 Wise Men figurines to the nativity scene in our home (they have been present in the room – moved closer and closer each day throughout the season), bringing it to its completion.  Finally, it has traditionally been the time when we would “untrim” the tree and put away our holiday decorations. 

There are other traditions associated with the celebration of Epiphany which we engaged in at our home and in my classroom, many of them I know of because they are practiced in some regions in the Catholic church.  We always hung a stocking with ours that was labelled for Jesus and throughout the Christmas season, we would write notes about qualities within ourselves that we wished to rid ourselves of with Jesus’ help or gifts of ourselves that we would like to give Jesus.  At Epiphany, we would take those notes out of the stocking – the ones that contained gifts for Jesus, we would place into three small boxes and wrap them with beautiful paper and ribbons to be laid at Jesus’ feet at the nativity scene.  The ones that contained the qualities we would like to rid ourselves of, we would burn as a ceremonial way of releasing them into God’s hands.  (These were much like making the typical New Year’s resolutions in a sense and if we hadn’t made out any up until that point, we would often sit down and write these out on New Year’s Eve as a way of saying goodbye to the previous year and to those sins). 

In Belgium, children (and often their families) would dress up as the Three Kings and go from house to house singing songs and receiving treats from the occupants.  This could be mimicked in your home with your children dressing up and going from room to room singing.  An appropriate song of choice would of course be “We Three Kings”. 

Another tradition is to have a piece of chalk blessed by our priest.  (The book “The Book of Catholic Customs and Traditions by Ronda De Sola Chervin and Carla Conley offers a short chalk blessing ceremony for those who can’t find a priest who can bless it for them.) On Twelfth Night, we would mark the door frame above the door with the year and the initials C, M, B (the most common explanation for these letters is that they stand for Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar…according to Domestic-Church.com, they say there is an alternate meaning for them in Christus Mansionem Benedicat which means May Christ bless this house. http://www.domestic-church.com/CONTENT.DCC/19990101/ARTICLES/blessing.htm) These were written in the following form:  The first two numbers of the year, then C+M+B, then the last two numbers of the year.  For example, for 2010, it would be “20+C+M+B+10”.  After marking each doorway leading to the outdoors, we would sprinkle holy water on the door and recite a prayer asking for blessings and protection on our home.  This link will take you to a page that has a blessing that can be used in conjunction with the chalk ceremony or you can make up your own.  http://www.domestic-church.com/CONTENT.DCC/19980101/FRIDGE/BLESSHM.HTM

An Epiphany cake (also known as Twelfth Cake or King’s Cake) is another traditional part of the celebration.  It can be nice to use one of those tube shaped cake pans (or a Bundt pan) to resemble a crown.  The book “A Treasure Chest of Traditions for Catholic Families” by Monica McConkey suggests using small candies placed all over the cake to represent the jewels of the crown and wafer cookies that have been cut into triangles to represent the peaks of the crown.  I used to use the pointy ice cream cones that I decorated with icing as the peaks.  As per tradition, a King’s Cake is baked with items in it to represent various things.  A small statue of Jesus, a dried pea, and a dried bean were all baked into it and those who received the piece with any of these items in it, were deemed to receive special honours.  The ones who receive the pea or bean are designated as King and Queen of the celebration and were usually given paper crowns to wear and special decorated chairs to sit in.  Sometimes they would then be given the honour of leading a parade around and up to the nativity scene.  (Note: either the cake was marked so that they knew which side had the pea – the designation for the Queen and which side had the bean – the designation for the King or two separate cakes were baked for each gender).  The person who found the Christ statue would be deemed as the recipient of a special blessing from God for the coming year.  Some people also added other “charms’ to represent and foretell additional events in the future:  for example, a ring that would indicate an impending marriage for the recipient, a coin that signified coming wealth, and so on.  Others would write little fortunes (much like in fortune cookies) or wishes for the future, prayers or blessings and wrap them in aluminum foil and bake those into the cake as well.  Note: if you are going to bake such a cake for your celebration please be sure to warn your guests that there are items within it.  Help small children to “dig through” their pieces prior to eating them to ensure that the items baked within have been found so that there is no risk of choking. 

In Mexico, the King’s Cake was a fruitcake and had some lima beans and a Christ statue baked in it.  The tradition was that the children who received a lima bean had been “bad” throughout the previous year and the child who got the Christ statue had been the “best behaved”.  The recipient of the Christ statue was supposed to then throw a party for everyone else on the Feast of Candelmas, February 2nd.  Another Mexican tradition was that the children would leave their shoes outside the door on Epiphany Eve.  In the morning they would check their shoes.  If they had been “bad”, their shoes would have coal in them, but if they had been good, they would find gifts instead.  This is reminiscent of a similar practice by Dutch and other European children on St. Nicholas Eve.  Personally, I would never engage in any activity that labels children as “bad”. 

In Greece, it is traditional on Epiphany for the priest to lead a procession out to the seaside where he would throw a cross into the waters.  Young people would dive in after it and the one who found it again would be considered to be the recipient of future gifts and blessings.  Some people re-enact this tradition by such means as attaching a magnet to a cross and placing it in a bin of water (or the bathtub or something similar) and using makeshift fishing poles (string attached to a stick with something like a large metal paper clip on the end of it) to allow their children to go “fishing” for the cross. 

Domestic-Church.com offers more suggestions for effective and meaningful Epiphany celebrations at home.  They also have a book available that I highly recommend on Christmas and Epiphany which outlines wonderful ways of ensuring that the true meaning of Christ’s birthday remains central to family celebrations.  The site has ideas for additional spiritual activities as well as colouring pages for children and Epiphany crossword puzzles for older kids.  http://www.domestic-church.com/CONTENT.DCC/19980101/FRIDGE/EPL_EPI.HTM

Note: I realize that most of the references I have given are from Catholic publications.  That does not mean that other Christians cannot benefit from these ideas.  Simply adapt them to suit your beliefs and preferences.