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Happy Epiphany!

The McGregors of KVSS and I spent some time talking about this weekend’s feast and its roots in the early Church. Junior has posted an audio file (scroll down to the bottom of the “Talks” page) to enhance your celebration. Kris McGregor will be joining Scott Hahn and me for our pilgrimage to Rome. Maybe you can come, too?

2 thoughts on “Happy Epiphany!”

  1. Mark

    Mike,
    Could you post some information about the Magi, or some links to some sources about who they were, where they came from, what their vocation and station must have been?

    I sat through a moving and thought-provoking sermon today that was, sadly, undermined by repeated mentions by the pastor that “other than these few verses in the N.T., we don’t know *anything* about who the kings from the Orient were or where they were from.” I mentioned to my 11-year-old son after the worship that we DO know more about them, from the Early Church Writers, but I didn’t have any specifics to back it up.

    I’m hungry for whatever you can tell or link me to. I want my kids to know from an early age — unlike myself — that we KNOW far more about Jesus’ time and the early church than most people think we do… and that knowledge is a faith builder in a fact-driven culture such as our own.

    Thanks and blessings, Mark in Ann Arbor

    ps. Just finished your expanded “Fathers of the Church” — bravo bravo bravo! Now I’m recommending it to friends as quickly as I think they’re ready for it.

  2. Mike Aquilina

    Thanks for the kind words, Mark! A good roundup on the Magi is at the old reliable Catholic Encyclopedia. Do you have access to the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture? (It’s in many libraries.) New Testament vol. 1a includes five pages of patristic commentary on the visit of the magi, then several more on the Star of Bethlehem, from the likes of Theodore of Mopsuestia, Gregory the Great, Peter Chrysologus, Cyril of Alexandria, John Chrysostom and others. Unfortunately, we don’t know much for certain about the Magi. But there are some fascinating traditions, and I’m not one to dismiss all of them out of hand.

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