Feast of the Epiphany: Go to Bethlehem!

The Twelve Days of Christmas aren't just song lyrics....

They're a season of Christmas celebrations, a wonderful way to look at the waiting days of Advent (the start of a new church year in many churches) and the celebration of the birth of that sweet baby Jesus and then.... the celebration of the Holy Family and the Feast of the Epiphany.

So much to celebrate, and our church had an absolutely wonderful Epiphany event....

When that Caesar Augustus put that call out to come and be counted and pay your taxes (hey, I'm from New York, I know what this all means!!!!) he meant it! So the church set up a Marketplace... a Bakery.... Food.... The Three Wise Men (although we don't really know how many there were, we just know of the three mentioned gifts) and a lovely visit from Joseph and Mary with their new baby... (who just happen to be new members of our church and they registered and had a BABY so that got them an instant invite to be part of the Epiphany Celebration!)

The nice thing is they didn't run away! And they were adorable.

We took Eli, Xavier, Finn and Lena to Bethlehem.

First you had to walk past the Roman guard, show him your "tax" (a food donation for the local food shelf) and go inside and be "counted". Then a name tag and then out to find your way around the unfamiliar city.

Wise men, looking for a star in the East, greeted us.

A bakery with sustenance was located nearby.

And there was a marketplace (they set up a big tent in the back of church!) with jewelry making,

handmade tiles,

weaving stars...

 and every child was taught how to spin a dreidel and how to play the game.  Only I was too busy with the little spinners to get a picture of them. Oops!

And then there is this, an old way of blessing a home for Epiphany:

The "20" represents the 20 centennials that have passed since Christ's birth... C+M+B represent the three kings, Caspar and Melchior and Balthazar and the 19 is the number of years past the centennial change. (Caspar is also known as Gaspar and/or Kaspar)

The house blessing is done with chalk... you put the figures and letters near your front door and you ask God to bless your home. The "C M B" also represents the blessing in Latin:

Christus mansionem benedicat

Here's how these Carmelite sisters did it: 

http://www.carmelites.net/news/chalking-door-epiphany-house-blessing-2015/

I had never heard of this tradition, but I love it!

And in the church kitchen, lovely women had make vast pots of turkey soup for the hungry masses coming to their town to be counted.

And before it drew to an end, the young couple playing Mary and Joseph arrived with the baby...

I was in the middle of dreidel with six little kids, so I couldn't snap a picture of them, but they were darling....

And this beautiful day concluded the weeks of prayerful preparation, joyful anticipation, some folks with flu and some tragedies have unfolded around our town, our neighborhood...

So the thought of praying for blessings and safety for us and others is a wonderful thing to do right now!