"THE DAY, dearly-beloved, on which Christ the Saviour of the world first appeared to the nations must be venerated by us with holy worship: and today those joys must be entertained in our hearts which existed in the breasts of the three magi, when, aroused by the sign and leading of a new star, which they believed to have been promised, they fell down in presence of the King of heaven and earth. For that day has not so passed away that the mighty work, which was then revealed, has passed away with it, and that nothing but the report of the thing has come down to us for faith to receive and memory to celebrate; seeing that, by the oft-repeated gift of God, our times daily enjoy the fruit of what the first age possessed."
~Pope St. Leo I (c. 395-461 AD): Excerpt from Sixth Sermon on the Epiphany. (Sermon 36)
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"The Magi Journeying" (Les rois mages en voyage) by James Tissot
(French, 1836-1902).
Opaque watercolor over graphite on gray wove paper,
1894; Brooklyn Museum. |
