Our Year 4 children led us in our Epiphany Liturgy with the rest of our school community joining electronically due to the pandemic.
They begin by leading us in “We three kings of Orient are” as one child held a star aloft and three children dressed as kings, carrying their gifts entered.
The children reminded us that Christmas is not yet over! They explained that the word Epiphany means ’to suddenly see something incredibly special’. On the feast of the Epiphany we remember the Wise Men who, after following the star for a very long time, finally arrived at the crib and suddenly realised they were in front of someone very special. Jesus!
The children then read the story of the Epiphany from the Holy Gospel of Matthew:
Some Wise Men came to Jerusalem. ‘Where is the child, the king of the Jews?’ they asked. ‘We have followed his star from the east and we have come to worship him.’ When King Herod heard this, he was worried. Herod did not want another king around! He asked his advisers where the saviour would be born. They replied, ‘God’s prophet said long ago that the saviour would be born in Bethlehem.’ So, Herod sent the Wise Men to Bethlehem and told them, ‘Go and find the child, and when you have found him, let me know so that I, too, may visit him.’ The Wise Men followed the star to Bethlehem. When it stopped over the place where Jesus lay, they saw the baby with his mother, Mary. They fell on their knees and worshipped him. Then they gave him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. But God warned the Wise Men in a dream not to return to Herod and instead they went home by a different way.
Suddenly they could see that Jesus was God’s son! They were in the presence of God.
Many years after this special event, people began praying a special Epiphany prayer.
They invited God to be present with them too, just as he had been with the Wise Men.
They would ask God to bless their homes, their families and all the people who visited them.
The children invited the chaplains in each class to write a blessing in chalk to go above each classroom door. This ancient blessing reminds us that every time we enter this room we are asking for God’s blessing on us and the people who visit here. This is what the numbers and letters mean…
• 2022 is our new year. It means 2,022 years after Jesus was born.
C M B are the initials of the names given to the Wise Men.
• C is for Caspar
• M is for Melchior
• B is for Balthazar
We ended in prayer:
Dear God, our Father in heaven,
The light of your star led the Wise Men to your Son, Jesus
Bless us and bless all the people who visit this place,
As you blessed the Wise Men at the very first Epiphany.
May we welcome all people, as you welcomed the Wise Men.
So that our love for one another will reflect your love
for everyone. Amen.
