Merry Christmas 2009
And if their were twelve Magi, what did they bring?
OU Professor Says Ancient Text Reveals Startling Information About Magi, Star of Bethlehem
The Gift of the Magi
Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh On the Feast of the Epiphany
FEAST OF THE EPIPHANY (THEOPHANY) OF OUR LORD - January 6, 2010
New security as pope leads Mass for Epiphany
The Magi and the Star -- Epiphany Explored
Three Kings festivities in full swing around [Puerto Rico]
"A strange mingling of light and shadow..." On the Feast of Epiphany
Wise Men from the East -- Epiphany
The Feast of the Epiphany
The Magi and the Star
The Secret Life of the Magi Kings [Epiphany]
Wise Men from the East [Ecumenical - with a question]
Feast of the Epiphany (2)
Feast of the Epiphany (1)
Epiphany (when the Gentile visitors brought gifts) [Ecumenical]
Twelfth Night [Eve of the Feast of the Epiphany]
A Christmas Pilgrimage (maintaining Christmas until Epiphany)
Christmastide and Epiphany
Epiphany Revealed (Did the Wise Men Really Have Names?)
For the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord 'Three Kings' Seek, Find, and Worship the Lord
The Universal King
Helena's (Mother of Constantine) Epiphany Meditation
EPIPHANY - THREE KINGS - January 6 (Holy Day of Obligation)
The Epiphany of the Roman Primacy
Thousands watch teens dive for the cross in Tarpon Springs
The Season of Epiphany
Tarpon Springs Celebrates Epiphany
100th Epiphany Day Event Will Be Global Celebration
Patriarch Adds To Epiphany Pomp
Ready for "Little Christmas"?
The Magi and the Host
Another Christian Holiday Celebrated
Christmas and Epiphany
India's Zoroastrians and the Three Kings for Jesus
Journeying with the Magi
Who Were The Magi?
Were the Magi who visited Jesus -- Persian?
The Journey of the Magi
casseroles.
Marco Polo claimed that he was shown the three tombs of the Magi at Saveh south of Tehran in the 1270s:
"In Persia is the city of Saba, from which the Three Magi set out and in this city they are buried, in three very large and beautiful monuments, side by side. And above them there is a square building, beautifully kept. The bodies are still entire, with hair and beard remaining." (Marco Polo, Book One)
We've just finished listening to the 12 Days of Christmas by Bob and Doug McKenzie, so I don't think I oughta contribute...
A must read for 2011...The Dear and Glorious Physician, a novel about St. Luke (author Taylor Caldwell). St. Luke has a rare encounter with the Maji as a young boy, before he is even aware of who Jesus is.
We don’t know how many there really were but there were three gifts. That does not mean there were only three magi.
They probably were Jews from the dispersion still living in Persia who had worked their ways into the Persian courts, but still read the Prophetic scriptures each Sabbath.
Gold, frankincense and myrrh.
There’s no reason to assume that one wiseman = one gift.
It was likely a collective gift from a group of ancient Persian astronomers who knew scripture and realized that the sky was pointing toward prophesied events. It would have been a brutal trip from the east, not likely something for a group of only three scholars. There is safety in numbers, and it was likely a much larger entourage.
The richness of the gift most likely later financed a long trip by the poor carpenter, wife, and son when they fled to Egypt.
There are those who theorize that the Magi may have been Jews from the Babylonian school, who were descended from those Israelites who remained in the East when captives returned to rebuild Jerusalem after their 70-year exile.
You forgot to mention that there were zero magi at the birth as depicted in so many manger scenes. They did not show up until 2-3 years laters.
for later, interesting!