Epiphany

The Feast of Epiphany is on 6 January. It marks the end of the 12 days of Christmas and celebrates the visit of the Wise Men to the baby Jesus. The Wise Men followed the Star which led them to the Manager.

These men, often called Kings or Magi, brought valuable gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to honour the baby.

The gift of gold was the gift people usually gave to their King. By giving gold they were recognising Jesus as their King.

The second gift, frankincense, is a white gum from a tree which when hardened will burn giving off a fragrant smell. It was burnt as an offering to God during worship, used as a medicine and a perfume.

The third gift, myrrh, also a gum from thorny tree was used for healing wounds because it is antiseptic, soothes redness and relieves pain.

In the Church calendar the Epiphany season lasts until Pancake Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday which begins the season of Lent.

How we are Celebrating

Members of the Parish Youth Team along with our Parish Priest Fr Murphy will be visiting the Parish Schools and talking to the children about the Feast of the Epiphany.  We will be giving the Children a “Faith Token” and inviting the Children to go with their family into any of our Churches on 6th January, the Solemnity of the Epiphany and redeem this token for a Candle.

We will be asking the young people of our Parish on this, the day that the light led the Kings to the Manager, to light a candle which we pray will shine a light throughout our Parish, and guide us all to a closer relationship with the new born Christ in 2017.