As children, when we woke up on December 6th, my brothers and I would find a red apple with a penny or a peseta coin next to it, wrapped in gift paper, next to the Nativity scene. My mother, a typical Costa Rican, celebrated Three Kings' Day in Costa Rica. For us, it was something very strange, since very few neighbors or friends from school celebrated it with their families.
One might suspect that the fact that Mom was married to a Spaniard of origin could have influenced the matter, however; I assure you that my dad had no “business being in my business”. My Father neither celebrated it nor noticed the fact, many times. It was a matter of my grandmother Maria from Carthago, my mom's mom, although typical Ticas, being deeply Hispanic, a culture, which has accepted this celebration like no one else.
Three Kings' Day is a religious holiday that celebrates the Epiphany. In the Christian faith, there are several meanings for this event, but all of them are related to a “divine revelation” and the arrival of Jesus to our world. It is significant that the second group of people to welcome Jesus are kings, magicians and from distant lands of the East, which shows that they come from a different culture. In short, the moment Christianity becomes history.
In Ancient Greece, an epiphany was having an encounter with a God. It was common, in battles or sublime moments of kings, heroes or even demigods. And for many ancient cultures, it was also possible for ordinary people to become epic or exemplary leaders, after their experience. It is precisely in that during difficult times or moment of crisis, when it seems that faith has been lost and we urgently need to recover it, that the Greek epiphany occurs.
Epiphanius of Salamis the Cypriot, a Byzantine bishop of Jewish origin who lived between 310/320 and 403 AC, gave a Christian meaning to the ancient pagan Greek concept of the Epiphany. During his lifetime he explained that the child Jesus proves to be the true light and that we should celebrate his birth. For this reason, from the end of the 4th century the Church began to celebrate January 6 as the Epiphany of Our Lord and it is usually observed on the Sunday between January 2 and 8. And consequently, in many countries it is celebrated on any of the first days of January of each year.
Our Christian experience tells the story of three wise men who came from afar and paid their respects to the newborn child. Kings who brought luxurious gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh, according to the Bible itself. Gold, a precious metal worthy of kingship, frankincense (an incense), a symbol of divinity and the pastoral commitment to guide and protect the great flock of the world and finally, myrrh, which symbolizes the omen of the overcoming of death and eternal life that Jesus will experience. The Life, Death, and Resurrection of Christ. Jesus, the Son of Man.
The three of them arrive at a poor manger in Bethlehem. The Savior of the Universe is born in the most extreme humility possible and imaginable for that place and time, and yet, three kings or great leaders of other nations or cultures, who have traveled enormous distances for that purpose, kneel before him. What does that really mean? The Savior is not of a specific group of people, nor is He a selfish salvation of a specific or local culture. He is the restorer of the entire World. We must only recognize Him as such, as they did with the instantaneous act of their conversion that they experienced. A powerful image.
The visitors, rather than great magicians, are wise men, erudite priests, or astronomical scientists. They knew how to read the divine message of the Annunciation in the sky and in the stars. The authentic Prophecy. They knew how to recognize the Truth. The Truth that has always been before us too. Why should we behave differently?
Even before the Three Wise Men, Jesus was worshiped by simple shepherds. They are part of the simple and common nature of his birth in the earthly setting. Unlike the majesty of the royal visit of the three foreigners, the shepherds are farmers belonging to the local people. If they, with their limited knowledge and education, unlike the Three Wise Men, understood the arrival of the Son of God, why is it so difficult for us to recognize the Truth?
Jesus was also accompanied at birth by some animals. A curious sign, which suggests other interpretations. Saint Francis of Assisi was the first to simulate a nativity scene in Greccio, Italy in 1223 and from the beginning, he included God's creatures, as he defined them. Our younger brothers, whom we must protect.
The Nativity scene, El portal de Belen, el pasito navideño, the Nativity of the Child, the altarpiece of Ayacucho, or whatever you want to call it, remains an Italian custom, which the Catholic tradition accepted with its different versions, from country to country. And yet, no one has incorporated it so deeply rooted, as the Hispanic world.
In the 6th century mosaic of Sant'Apollinare-Nuovo in Ravenna, Italy, the names of the Magi appear for the first time, as Melchior, Gaspar, and Balthasar, and in the 15th century they were defined as representing the three old continents, Melchior as the image of Europe, Gaspar of Asia, and Balthasar of Africa. The latter, represented with black skin, for that reason. A sign of diversity and inclusion.
Tradition has taken up the custom of giving and receiving gifts from different cultures to celebrate the birth of Jesus on December 25th or Christmas Day, or simply with different ancient celebrations of the Winter Solstice. But only children who have behaved well throughout the year or good people in general will receive sweet, nice, beautiful, or fun gifts like toys. Those who have behaved badly will receive unpleasant gifts like a piece of coal or simply will not receive them at all.
If you are confident that you have been very good throughout the year, you can encourage yourself to make “the letter to Baby Jesus”, to Saint Nicholas, to Santa Claus or why not? to make “the letter to the Three Kings”. In all cases, a list of wishes that we think or feel will fill us with satisfaction is always included.
But we must remain calm. The commercialism and extreme consumerism in which we live will not miss the opportunity to try to please us. The surprising thing about this whole story is to also recognize that savage global capitalism has not set its sights on Three Kings' Day and has not appropriated it as another opportunity to increase its sales, adding it to Christmas and other generous festivities of the year. A possible explanation can be found in the fact that the greed of some global cultures is far surpassed by the conscious indifference they exercise towards Hispanic culture and the consequent denial of it. Let us enjoy Three Kings' Day in our own way, with the family and understanding the profound spirituality, the prelude to its mysticism.