Tuesday is the Feast of the Epiphany or Three Kings Day -- concluding the Christmas season that began with Advent. Above, Filipino kids scramble to collect candy given out by men dressed as the Three Kings in Manila today during celebrations there.
In most Western churches, Epiphany remembers the visit of wise men, who brought gifts to the child Jesus. Eastern Christians also commemorate all of Jesus' childhood events, including his baptism in the Jordan by John the Baptist.
Epiphany means "to show," "to make known" or to reveal," and refers to the wise men's "revealing" to the Gentiles the manifestation of Christ.
Grace United Methodist Church in York will present its 11th annual Twelfth Night Boar's Head Festival 3 and 6 p.m. today. Participants dress in Renaissance clothing, the church is transformed into a manor house, and the choir sings Renaissance madrigals to celebrate the Twelfth Night (the eve of the Feast of the Epiphany). Note: Tickets are required, although there's no charge for admission.
At the 12:30 p.m. Spanish-language Mass at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Gettysburg, children will mark El Dia de Los Reyes. In some parts of Latin America, Jan. 6 is highly anticipated by small children who wake up to find toys and gifts left by the Reyes Magos, or Magi.
According to the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, epiphany can also mean:
- an appearance or manifestation, esp. of a deity
- a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely or commonplace occurrence or experience
- a literary work or section of a work presenting, usually symbolically, such a moment of revelation and insight
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