Three Kings Day

In Christian tradition the Magi, also known as the Three Wise Men, The Three Kings, or Kings from the east, are Zoroastrian judicial astrologers from Ancient Persia. The Gospel of Matthew states that they came "from the east to Jerusalem" to worship the Christ, "born King of the Jews". According to Matthew, they navigated by following a star which came to be known as the Star of Bethlehem. As they approached Jerusalem, Herod tried to trick them into revealing where Jesus was, so that he might be put to death. Upon finding Jesus, the Magi gave him an unspecified number of gifts, amongst which were three highly symbolic ones: gold, frankincense and myrrh. Because these three gifts were recorded, most believe there were three givers; however, the Scripture does not specify how many wise men came from the east.

The Magi were then warned in dreams that revealed Herod's deadly intentions for the child and decided to return home by a different route in order to thwart them. This prompted Herod to resort to killing all the young children in Bethlehem, an act called the Massacre of the Innocents, in an attempt to eliminate a rival heir to his throne. Jesus and his family had, however, escaped to Egypt beforehand.

El Día de los Tres Reyes, occurs on January the sixth. Depending on where you are, it may be called various thing and celebrated in different ways. The Día de los Tres Reyes is also called The Three Kings Day, Epiphany, or "Little Christmas." The Día de los Tres Reyesis celebrated in Spain, Mexico, Cuba, and other Latin American countries

The night before El Día de los Tres Reyes, the children leave their shoes or an empty box filled with straw outside their home so that when the kings’ camels arrive, they have something to eat. In the morning, the straw is gone and toys, gadgets, and/or candies are left in the hay’s place. There is special bread that is baked for Three Kings Day called Marzan bread. This bread is shaped like a crown and each load has a prize baked inside. It is said that the person who finds the prize will have good luck.

Though the western Christian Church set the Christmas date at December 25 the East continued to set this celebration fixed on January six because that is around the official time that we believe Jesus was born. And so, the west, for the most part, celebrated December 25- January 6 as the twevle days of Christmas.