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Does Christmas have pagan origins?

..., let the Epiphany be to you the most honoured, in which the Lord made to you a display of His own divinity. And let that feast take place on the sixth of the tenth month [January]. After that, the fast of Lent is to be observed by you as containing a memorial of our Lord’s manner of life and teaching. But let this solemnity be observed before the fast of Easter, beginning from the second day of the week and ending at the Day of the Preparation. After those solemnities, breaking your fast, begin the holy week of Easter, all of you fasting in this week with fear and trembling. — Apostolic Constitutions ~390 AD Much of what is instructed here hasn’t chang...

The Mystery Of Epiphany And The Star Of Bethlehem

...As the Church celebrates Epiphany, we reflect on the Magi's visit to the Christ child, guided by a star—a sign of God’s revelation to the nations. This story, steeped in wonder and mystery, has sparked fascination for centuries. What was this “Star of Bethlehem” that led the wise men to Jesus? Was it a miraculous light, or could it have been a natural astronomical event designed by the Creator to herald the birth of the King of Kings? The chart is from the SkySafari app The Great Conjunction In December 2020, the world witnessed a rare astronomical event called a “great conjunction.” Jupiter and Saturn appeared so close in the night sky that t...

Did Herod’s Massacre Of The Innocents Historically Happen?

...velation. Epiphany shines precisely because the world does not welcome the light easily. In this sense, the massacre of the innocents belongs fully within the Epiphany story. The Magi’s journey exposes the truth about Jesus, and that truth provokes fear in those who cling to power. Herod’s response is brutal, but entirely consistent with his character, and tragically ordinary. A Small Tragedy with Cosmic Weight The modest scale of the massacre does not weaken Matthew’s account, though, it strengthens it. This is not the language of mythic exaggeration or legendary inflation. It is the sort of event that would have unfolded quietly and locally, devastat...