Little Christmas

mise

Don't know if this is the right forum, but what is the significance of Little Christmas. On my calendar in work it says "c.4BC - Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem". I just thought it was the end of Christmas! Excuse my ignorance if everyone else knows this

gogo

I Think it has something to do with the calender, he was born on the sixth but with variations and the inital introduction of the calendar as we know it, the sixth is equal to the 25th. (maybe equal not the right word)

That's really badly worded, but its something like that, its got to do with the calander eitehr way.

ixoy

Ah 'Little Christmas' or the Epiphany. From Wikipedia:

Epiphany is a Christian feast intended to celebrate the 'shining forth' or revelation of God to mankind in human form, in the person of Jesus. The observance had its origins in the eastern Christian churches, and included the birth of Jesus; the visit of the three Magi (Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar) who arrived in Bethlehem; and all of Jesus' childhood events, up to his baptism in the Jordan by John the Baptist. The feast was initially based on, and viewed as a fulfillment of, the Jewish Feast of Lights. This was fixed on January 6.

The first reference to Epiphany in the Latin West is a slighting remark by Clement of Alexandria in Stromateis, I, xxi, 45:

"There are those, too, who over-curiously assign to the Birth of Our Saviour not only its year but its day…"

Origen's list of festivals (in Contra Celsum, VIII, xxii) omits any reference to Epiphany. The first reference to an ecclesiastical feast of the Epiphany, in Ammianus Marcellinus (XXI:ii), is in 361.

Thus in the Latin church, the feast of Christmas was established before that of Epiphany. Over time the western churches decided to celebrate Christmas on December 25. The eastern churches continued to treat January 6 as the day marking Jesus's birth. This has given rise in the west to the notion of a twelve day festival, starting on December 25, and ending on January 6, called the twelve days of Christmas, although some Christian cultures — especially those of Latin America — extend it to forty days, ending on Candlemas, or February 2 (known as Candelaria in Spanish).

Prior to 1970, the Roman Catholic Church (and prior to 1976, the Anglican churches) reckoned Epiphany as an eight-day feast, beginning on January 6 and continuing through the Octave of Epiphany, or January 13. More recently, Roman Catholics in the United States mark Epiphany on the Sunday after the first Saturday in January (before this the Sunday between January 1 and January 6, in years when there was one, was designated the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus), and all Catholics and Anglicans (along with many other Protestants) now formally end the Christmas season on the Sunday immediately following January 6, or, for American Catholics, the ensuing Monday in years when the Epiphany falls on January 7 or 8. In either case, the feast of the Baptism of the Lord is observed on the latter day, after which the first installment of Ordinary Time begins.

Today in Eastern Orthodox churches, the emphasis at this feast is on the shining forth and revelation of Jesus Christ as the Messiah and second person of the Holy Trinity at the time of his baptism.

Usually called the Feast of the Theophany, it is one of the great feasts of the liturgical year; "theophany" is Greek for "God shining forth".

The Irish call this day Little Christmas. In Rome, "Epiphania" was transformed into Befana, the great fair held at that season, when sigillaria of terracotta or baked pastry were sold (Macrobius I, x, xxiv; II, xlix).

In Spain, Cuba and some Latin American countries Epiphany day is called El Día de Reyes (Kings' Day, as the Magi are known as the Los Tres Reyes Magos) or Pascua de Negros (Blackmen Christmas). In Spanish tradition, on this day, the Magi deliver Christmas presents.

So there...

dudara

Churchwise, it's the day that the Three Kings finally arrived in Bethlehem. If you have a crib up, today is the day that the statues of the three wise men are to be placed in it.

Here in Ireland, it's also called Women's Christmas (Nollaig na mBan) and is a day for the ladies of the household, who up to this spent the whole of Christmas cooking etc. Today is their day off.

Zombienosh

i thought was only for old ladies and country folk.....

cujimmy

mise wrote:

Don't know if this is the right forum, but what is the significance of Little Christmas. On my calendar in work it says "c.4BC - Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem". I just thought it was the end of Christmas! Excuse my ignorance if everyone else knows this

Watched a programme on BBC over the xmas about the 3 Kings/wise men. this programme claimed with some justification that the birth of JC was 17th April 4bc