The Three Kings could have been magi, or astrologers, and they could have been from Persia. Only the Gospel of St. Matthew records their arrival. In our creche, we have the Three Wise Men, and they have replaced the shepherds. Most likely, their arrival was a few months after the birth of Christ, because St. Matthew says that they entered “the house.” So, the Holy Family must have found some place to live, and was no longer in the stable, which must have been an uncomfortable place indeed. It is in the house that the Wise Men found the Christ-Child, together with Mary, His mother, as the Gospel clearly states. The Blessed Virgin Mary accompanies, witnesses, the homage of the kings.
The Three Kings must have been men of a great thirst for the truth, because they risked much to search for the Christ-Child. They left behind their comfort, their own culture, their own language, and undertook a dangerous trip. Travel in the ancient world was uncomfortable, risky business. How many times would they have heard in their journey, “where are you going?” not knowing their destination. After all, they were only following a star. In the end, they were rewarded for their efforts, because they encountered a Child and His Mother, a Child who is the fullness of Truth.
The gifts that the Three Kings bear have a special significance. The gold they offer signifies that Christ is the true King, and, in fact, the only King. The frankincense they give is the sign that Christ is true God, as incense is offered only to God. Finally, myrrh, the last gift, signifies that Christ will suffer and die, and symbolizes belief in Jesus’ true humanity. So, Jesus Christ is true King, true God, and true Man.
There are many traditions associated with the Solemnity of the Epiphany. One of them is the marking of doors with the letters C+M+B, plus the current year. This signifies that we are asking, “May Christ bless this home” – Christus mansionem benedicat. In Poland, the letters are K+M+B, or Kacper, Melchior, Baltazar, the names that tradition has given to the Three Wise Men. As you write these letters with chalk, you sprinkle Holy Water on the door. This beautiful tradition is a way to ask Christ to bless your home in the upcoming year.
Some lessons for us from the Three Wise Men: The Three Wise Men encounter King Herod. Notice how king Herod, a man with evil intent, figures into God’s providential plan. Even his scheming serves to fulfill God’s designs. He directs the Wise Men to Bethlehem, asking them to search for the new-born King. Nothing can stop God’s economy of salvation, even people with evil intent. As St. John Chrysostom states, “O Blessed Magi! Who, before they had known Christ, confessed Him in the presence of a most cruel king” (The Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers, M.F. Toal ed., vol. 1, pg. 204, 1957). Moreover, the Wise Men also remind us of the truths that they risked so much to discover. Jesus Christ is the true King, true God, and true Man. He is the light of the world, and the one who enlightens all people.
Finally, the Wise Men give us an example of men leaving their comfort to search for the truth, which they found in a Person. We too many times will be called to leave our comfort. This will happen in our own culture, where to be a Catholic means that we are counter-cultural. Like the Wise Men following the star, we as Catholics need to swim against the current. The Three Wise Men are those who went against the grain, both in searching for Christ, and in the return to their homeland. They returned to their own country by a different road. St. Gregory the Great explains: “the Magi intimate to us something of great import…for we left our land by the path of pride, of disobedience, by following after wealth, by eating forbidden fruit. And so we must return another way: by the way of tears, by the way of obedience, by contempt of the world, by restraining the desires of the flesh” (The Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers, M.F. Toal ed., vol. 1, pg. 212, 1957).
The relics of the Three Wise Men rest in the great cathedral of Cologne, in Germany. Today we ask for their intercession. Intercede for us, o Three Kings, that we may draw closer to Christ, the Light of the World and the fulness of Truth, and in doing so, let us come closer to the Mother of the Word Incarnate. May St. Andre Bessette pray for us! Niech będzie pochwalony Jezus Chrystus. May Jesus Christ be praised.
(Fr. Paweł Ratajczak, OMI, Jan. 7, 2024)