El Dìa de Los Reyes - Three Kings Day
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| | In Mexico, the Christmas season is joyously extended though February 2nd, when El Dìa de Los Reyes, or Three Kings Day, is celebrated. This celebration is the last of the Christmas festivities, 40 days after the birth of Jesus. |
El Dìa de Los Reyes, or Three Kings Day is the traditional gift giving day in most Latin cultures. It commemorates the time when, according to legend, the Reyes Mago, Melchor, Gaspar, and Baltazar, arrived at the manger in Bethlehem to pay homage to the Christ child with their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Traditional on the night of January 5, the figurines of the Three Wise Men are added to the nativity scene. That night before going to bed children place their old shoes under their beds or in the living room, where the Wise Men will leave them their presents. In current times shoes are not put out but the youngest children in each family do receive gifts from the Three Kings on this day.
Additionally, all over the country, in every city and in every little town, bakeries offer the Rosca de Reyes, an oval sweetbread, decorated with candied fruit. There are Roscas of all sizes, very small ones for two or three people and very large ones that will delight more than twenty people.
The Spaniards brought the tradition of celebrating the Epiphany and sharing the Rosca to the New World. The Rosca is served with hot chocolate, a gift from the native people of the New World. Inside this delicious Rosca, a plastic figurine of the Baby Jesus is hidden. The Baby is hidden because it symbolizes the need to find a secure place where Jesus could be born, a place where King Herod would not find Him.
Each person cuts their own slice of the Rosca. The knife symbolizes the danger in which Baby Jesus was in. One by one the guests carefully inspect their slice, hoping they didn't get the figurine. Whoever gets the baby figurine will be the host, and invite everyone present to a new celebration on February 2, Candelaria or Candle mass day.
To view some really great Rosca recipes click HERE.
The Mexican Christmas season is joyously extended though February 2 when the nativity scene is put away, and another family dinner of delicious tamales and atole (a hot, sweet drink thickened with corn flour) is served with great love and happiness. This celebration is the last of the Christmas festivities, 40 days after the birth of Jesus. |
Vallarta Weddings
Vallarta Living | January 2008 
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