Christmas season ends with feast of 3 Kings

The Advent season is to end Sunday with the traditional Three Kings celebration, the Archdiocese of Manila announced yesterday.

Officials of the archdiocese said that while the Christmas season officially ends on Jan. 6 under the Church calendar, the event is traditionally celebrated on the first Sunday after New Year, also known as Feast of the Epiphany.

Homilies in Masses would be dedicated to the celebration of the Three Kings, which falls on Jan. 6 - the 12th and final day of Christmas.

The Bible says the Three Kings or Magi - Gaspar, Melchor and Balthazar - came to Bethlehem to pay homage to the newborn Jesus Christ. They followed a star until they reached the manger and presented the Savior with gold, frankincense and myrrh.

It is also known in the Philippines as Tres Reyes or Pasko ng Matatanda (Feast of the Elderly).

In the Philippines, a predominantly Catholic country, the feast is "a happy extension of more gift-giving," observes Msgr. Pedro Quitorio III, spokesman of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines.

Quitorio says the Church recognizes the practice wherein three men dressed in king’s costumes distribute gifts to children.

Some homes observe the feast of the Three Kings by encouraging children to put out their shoes or stockings, which would be filled up with candies, apples, coins and other gifts during the night by the "Three Kings."

According to the Vatican website, the event is also when most families take down Christmas trees in their homes, which in some areas are burnt in a big bonfire.

The eve of the Epiphany, which is intertwined with Christmas festivities, is often observed with prayers and burning of blessed dried herbs so their aromatic smell would fill the house.

The custom of the "star singers," reminiscent of the travel of the Three Kings, is still being practiced in Germany and Austria.

Children are also dressed in costumes of kings, holding up a large star as they go from door to door, caroling and singing a Three Kings’ song. For this, they receive money or sweets.

The Catholic hierarchy in the country has already issued its New Year’s message. Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales called on the Filipinos to move forward and work together to achieve peace and unity, echoing the appeal made by Pope Benedict XVI.