You may know about the forty days of Lent, but there are forty days of Christmas as well. The Feast of the Epiphany marks the day when the Magi (often called the Three Wise Men, but we have no idea how many there were, we only assume they were men, and asking Herod for directions wasn't very wise!) visit the Christ child with gifts of gold, myrrh and "frankincense" (which is why we shall be using incense at the service at St Peter on Friday 6 January). We shall also remember the journey of the Magi alongside our own journey of faith at the Epiphany Procession: our final carol service of the season.
The forty days of Christmas end with Candlemas, or The Presentation of Christ in the Temple. This is a bitter sweet day when two old people, Simeon and Anna, who have been waiting for the Messiah all their lives celebrate birth of Jesus with joy whilst at the same time acknowledging that the manner of his living and his dying will bring much pain to his mother Mary.
