Epiphany or Three Kings’ Day

This entry was posted on January 20, 2014, in Holiday, Made by Me, Waldorf and tagged , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink. 2 Comments

This post is long overdue! The little one and I had a lovely time celebrating Epiphany this year. In December, I participated in a Three Kings’ Day swap in one of the Waldorf groups I belong to. I made “gifts” (things to represent the presents the Wise Men brought; pictured below) and in return, received lovely items five other crafty moms made! It was a great way to have an instant holiday set.

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Epiphany, also known as Twelfth Night or Three King’s Day, falls on the 12th day of Christmas (January 6th), with December 25th being the first day of Christmas. It is the day the Wise Men reached baby Jesus and presented their gifts to Him. (Epiphany means a striking realization, in this case, the realization that Christ is the son of God.)

In the afternoon, my son and I started with a prayer (God of heaven and earth, you revealed your only-begotten One to every nation by the guidance of a star. Bless this house and all who inhabit it. Fill us with the light of Christ, that our concern for others may reflect your love. We ask this through Christ our Saviour. Amen). Then we did some special activities, like re-enacting the Wise Men reaching baby Jesus. My son moved the Wise Men one-by-one to the baby Jesus figure, where they then presented him with their gifts. While my little one moved the Wise Men to the Christ baby, he wore his own “King’s outfit”: a crown (hand knit cotton), a robe, and a royal scepter (which has a lovely golden crystal at the end that he pretended was the star of Bethlehem, leading the Wise Men to Jesus) (the wood Wise Men set, the gifts, and my kiddo’s Kingly attire were all things I received in the swap).
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We also read a child-friendly book of the Nativity story to re-enforce what we had been doing through Advent and Christmas. We wrapped up our afternoon by baking a treat for the rest of the family to enjoy for dessert. We were really short on time, so I am going to confess something to you: we used a boxed cake mix as a starting point to make banana chocolate chip bread. It was yummy but I just made it up as we went. Below is a recipe for a yummy dense tea cake I made after that (from scratch– see, I redeemed myself) that my family loved. (The recipe is one I slightly modified from one I found on Facebook.) You can top it with cream cheese frosting or a dusting of powdered sugar and cut up fresh fruit or cut the cake in half and put some lovely raspberry jam in the middle.
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RECIPE: Tea Cake

  • 1 cup butter, softened (2 sticks)
  • 6 oz cream cheese, softened
  • 6 eggs
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1. Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Prepare a 9 x 13 pan with non-stick cooking spray.

2. Cream together butter, cream cheese, and sugar.

3. Beat in eggs one at a time; Add vanilla and then mix in flour slowly.

4. Spread batter into prepared pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until wooden pick comes out clean. Cool on cooling rack.

For me, Epiphany extends the beauty, joy, and love of the Christmas season. Celebrating the day keeps the emphasis of Christmas on the wonder of the birth of Christ, further helping to push away the commercialization and materialism often associated with secular Christmas. It winds down the Christmas season on a high note filled with faith and happiness.

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2 thoughts on “Epiphany or Three Kings’ Day”

  1. What a lovely way to honour and celebrate Epiphany and to teach your little one as well! Thanks for sharing with all of us.

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