Three Kings Day
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 DÃa 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 DÃa de los Tres Reyes is also called The Three Kings Day, Epiphany, or “Little Christmas.” The DÃa de los Tres Reyesis celebrated in Spain, Mexico, Cuba, and other Latin American countries
The night before El DÃa 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 twelve days of Christmas.
