Gifts for You on the Feast of Epiphany


Adoration of the Magi, Perugino

Today is the solemnity of the Epiphany, which takes places on the 12th day after Christmas, January 6, and commemorates the manifestation of the majesty and divinity our newborn Savior. Originating in the Eastern Church in the 3rd century, this feast soon spread to the West, where it is now commemorated especially for the apparition to the Magi.

One of the customs of Epiphany is the exchange of simple gifts. My gifts to you, my dear readers, are the following:

An Epiphany Prayer

Lord Jesus, may your light shine our way,
as once it guided the steps of the magi:
that we too may be led into your presence
and worship you,
the Child of Mary,
the Word of the Father,
the King of nations,
the Saviour of mankind;
to whom be glory for ever.

~Frank Colquhoun

An Epiphany Quote

"If the Magi had come in search of an earthly King, they would have been disconcerted at finding that they had taken the trouble to come such a long way for nothing. Consequently they would have neither adored nor offered gifts. But since they sought a heavenly King, though, they found in Him no signs of royal pre-eminence, yet, content with the testimony of the star alone, they adored: for they saw a man, and they acknowledged a God."

~St. John Chrysostom
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Comments

  1. Anonymous1/7/08, 12:41 AM

    Some things I've wondered about, but don't know where to look:

    What's the monetary value of the gifts the Magi gave? Based on what can be extrapolated from what little we know about them (e.g., "possibly"[?] from some priestly class ["caste"?] in Persia, etc.), what would be the value of the gifts they gave the Holy Family? What would gift-giving customs, in that area of the world, dictate? Given that they're supposed to b "honoring" the "new born King of the Jews," might they have given the Holy Family a whole "lot" of gold, frankincense, and myrrh? And if so, what measurement constitutes "a whole lot"? According to some custom/rule/practice/etc., might it be that different amounts of each gift were given? (E.g., a big boxload of gold and, a "small" jar of myrrh?)

    Given the best "guesstimate" of what was given, a)what would be the monetary value of these gifts today? b)what was the monetary value of the gifts when and where they were given? c)how long would the money have lasted? Some have suggested that Jesus's Parents "probably" might have sold the gifts for money. If they did, how long might this money have lasted?
    Modern investing, at least as we know it, didn't really exist back then. But the Parable of the Talents seems to suggest that *something* akin to banking existed in Jesus's time, the usury prohibition notwithstanding.

    Anyway, I was just wondering. Just a curiousity of mine.
    I know it probably has no bearing on the Deep Question of Human Existence, or theological controversies, or anything like that.

    ReplyDelete

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