Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Happy Epiphany, 

Faith Formation Families!

This Sunday is the Feast of the Epiphany!  This is just a short little Flocknote to bring you an Epiphany Children's Liturgy of the Word, an Epiphany craft, an Epiphany blessing, and a few Epiphany fun facts!

Did you know...?

The Bible doesn't give much detail about the Wise Men who visited Baby Jesus on that first Christmas so long ago.  It basically just tells us that some wise men from the east saw the star, came to Bethlehem, and brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  Were there three wise men?  What were their names?  Where exactly were they from?  How long did it take for them to get to Bethlehem?  Did they travel on camels?  Why did they bring those particular gifts?  No one knows for sure!  

Have you learned about legends in school?  We have some legends about the wise men that have been passed down through the centuries as church tradition.

One tradition gives the wise men names:  

Balthasar, Caspar (or Gaspar), and Melchior.

Another church tradition gives some reasons for the gifts the wise men brought:

The gold symbolizes that Jesus is King.

The frankincense, used in prayer and worship, symbolizes that Jesus is God.

The myrrh, a burial spice, looks forward to Jesus's death and resurrection.

Yet another church tradition says that the wise men were astronomers, studying the stars, and that's how they were aware of the unusual star that appeared over the stable where Jesus lay.  Some believe they may have also been kings.

The Feast of the Epiphany falls on January 6 each year, but we celebrate it on the second Sunday after Christmas.  In some countries, gifts are exchanged on January 6 instead of December 25!

The Wise Men even have traditional colors of red, purple, and green!  (Did you notice all the red, purple, and green in this Flocknote?)