Hello everyone, tomorrow we celebrate the day of the kings and so I was talking a little with my 4 and 5 year old students about the day of the kings. Then I asked them to draw about the story I told them. I admit that they surprise me more and more. I think they draw so well for their age.
The Kings Day Tradition is celebrated on the 6th of January, starting from the principle that it was on this day that the Wise Men finally arrived with the Baby Jesus. In some countries, gifts are given on this day.
The three wise men were guided by a star to Bethlehem, where Mary was with her newborn son Jesus. The road traveled was long, it took them about twelve days to reach their destination.
Starting from different places, each one took a gift full of meaning:
Gaspar left Asia, taking incense to protect the Messiah. As a source of faith and spirituality, this object was intended to scare away insects with the aroma spread through the air. From Europe, Belchior arrived. As a gift, he took gold, a gift that was only offered to the Gods. He offered it to Jesus as a symbol of wealth and royalty.
Baltazar took myrrh, from Africa, it was the souvenir offered to the prophets. It is an oil or resin extracted from a plant, used for the preparation of medicines
kings day legend
Among us, the King's Day tradition is the king cake. According to legend, when the Magi Kings went to visit Jesus, they had a discussion near the cave where the boy was, to know which of them would be the first to offer the gifts.
An artisan passing by watched the conversation and proposed a solution to the problem, so that everyone was satisfied.
The craftsman decided to make a cake and put a fava bean in the dough. Once baked, he divided the cake into three parts and the one to whom the bean came out would be the first to offer the gifts to the Boy. Thus it became known by the name of bolo rei and, as it had been made to choose a king, it started to be used as a Christmas sweet.
They say that the codea in the cake symbolizes gold, the fruits symbolize myrrh and the aroma, incense.
Epiphany Day Tradition in Portugal
In Portugal, whoever leaves the Bolo-rei fava must pay for the cake the following year. Another Portuguese tradition is the Cantar dos Reis: groups of people get together and go through the doors Cantar os Reis which are traditional songs from the life of Jesus and greetings to the family and owners of the house
The song is accompanied by popular instruments such as: the reco - reco, the ferrinhos, the bass drum, the accordion and the viola.
After singing, the owners of the house invite "kings" to enter and offer them food and drink. The Cantar de Reis begins on the 5th of January and runs until the 20th.
There is yet another tradition: the Janeiras, in which songs are sung in groups on December 31st and January 1st.
In certain regions, people offer new oil to light the candles in the church or chapel in their hometown, in homage to the souls of family members who have died.
I hope you enjoyed it, see you soon friends 😃