In Europe, they used to celebrate the vigil of the Epiphany on the twelfth night after Christmas with Saturnalian merrymaking. This vestige of the Roman Saturnalia was never transplanted to the Philippines, nonetheless.
Christmastide ends with the Epiphany that commemorated the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles as represented by the magi or wise men. Ony the first gospel mentioned wise men and it never stated that they were three in number, whatsoever; only that they were from the east. At first, they were conceived as a big delegation. Later, this number was trimmed down to three because there were three gifts specified: gold, because He was King; frankincense, because he was God; myrrh because He was Man. From the 8th century onwards, they came to be represented as kings. Later, they required definite names: Melchon, meaning "King of Light", Gaspar, "the white one" and Balthazar, "the lord of treasures." In the middle ages, Gaspar was represented as youth, Melchor as middle-aged, Balthazar as an ancient. Medieval legend refers to them as the three Kings of Cologne.
Butler's Lives of the Saints lists the feast of the three Kings on July 23, but nobody celebrated their feast on that day. Instead, the Epiphany became better known as Three Kings. For centuries, the magical gift-bringers of the Philippine Christmas were the three wise men who returned annually to Bethlehem; on their way, they stopped to fill children's shoes and socks with gifts; courtesy demanded that some straw be left for their camels. Today, they are just ghosts of Christmas past.
In Europe, they used to celebrate the vigil of the Epiphany on the twelfth night after Christmas with Saturnalian merrymaking. This vestige of the Roman Saturnalia was never transplanted to the Philippines, nonetheless.
Christmastide ends with the Epiphany that commemorated the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles as represented by the magi or wise men. Only the first gospel mentioned wise men and it never stated that they were three in number, whatsoever; only that they were from the east. At first, they were conceived as a big delegation. Later, this number was trimmed down to three because there were three gifts specified: gold, because He was King; frankincense, because he was God; myrrh because He was Man. From the 8th century onwards, they came to be represented as kings. Later, they required definite names: Melchon, meaning "King of Light", Gaspar, "the white one" and Balthazar, "the lord of treasures." In the Middle Ages, Gaspar was represented as youth, Melchor as middle-aged, Balthazar as an ancient. Medieval legend refers to them as the three Kings of Cologne.
Butler's Lives of the Saints lists the feast of the three Kings on July 23, but nobody celebrated their feast on that day. Instead, the Epiphany became better known as Three Kings. For centuries, the magical gift-bringers of the Philippine Christmas were the three wise men who returned annually to Bethlehem; on their way, they stopped to fill children's shoes and socks with gifts; courtesy demanded that some straw be left for their camels. Today, they are just ghosts of Christmas past.