The word epiphany comes from the verb “to appear.”
The Meaning
The feast of Epiphany celebrates baby Jesus being seen or appearing to the visitors who had traveled to see him.
So, who were these visitors?
The Visitors
Three wise men in a land far away studied the night sky and were skilled astronomers.
�One night, they saw a special star. It shone brightly and guided the men to the newborn baby, Jesus.
These men lived in the east, and were possibly from Persia, which is now called Iran.
Did you know?
These Wise Men are often called Magi, which was a word given to describe priests and clever men.
The Star
The writings told them that one day there would be a great star, and the star would mean that a new king had been born.
The Wise Men were very clever and understood the religious writings that were many years before.
The men decided to pack up their belongings and follow the star to wherever it led them.
The journey would have been very long.
The Journey
The star led them to the town of Bethlehem in Israel.
They probably traveled on camels, across deserts, and over mountains.
The star came to rest over the place where Jesus lay. The Wise Men brought expensive gifts for him and worshipped the new King.
The Gifts
The Bible never mentions how many Wise Men there were, but because there were three gifts, people often think there must have been three Wise Men.
The gifts were gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Did you know?
The Wise Men are sometimes called the Three Kings because of the expensive gifts they brought.
The Feast of Epiphany is celebrated in churches usually on January 6.
The Feast of Epiphany
Epiphany is also known as Three Kings’ Day.