The Visit of the Magi
To show or to make known, to be made manifest, the meaning of Epiphany.
It is also a revelation or an ‘epiphany’, when all becomes clear.
In church it is marked by the colours of gold and white and is best known for the visit of the three wise men to the stable on the twelfth day of Christmas.
An interesting fact is that, around January 6, the symbol +C+B+M+ with two numbers before and two numbers after (for example, 20+C+B+M+12) is sometimes seen written in chalk above the doorway of Christian homes. The letters are the initials of the traditional names of the Three Magi: Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar. These letters also abbreviate the Latin phrase Christus mansionem benedicat, “May Christ bless the house.” The beginning and ending numbers are the year, 2012 in the example above. The crosses represent Christ.
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