On Jan. 6, St. Paul Lutheran Church/Iglesia Luterana San Pablo in Minneapolis held a unique Three Kings Day celebration as part of the Feast of Epiphany. The celebration included music, a dramatic reading of the Epiphany story—featuring giant puppet costumes for the three magi—and a feast following the service.
Also offered were Epiphany home blessing packets, which included chalk for the Epiphany tradition of “chalking the doors,” a centuries-old practice in which participants ask God to bless their homes and all who live, work or visit them there.
Rosca de Reyes, the traditional bread prepared for Three Kings Day in the Latinx tradition, was served at the feast, and congregation members and guests were invited to search for the baby Jesus figures hidden in pieces of the bread. In the Mexican tradition, guests who find the figure then provide tamales for Candlemas/Día de la Candelaria on Feb. 2. Hierald Osorto, pastor of St. Paul/San Pablo, reported that he and three others all got baby Jesus in their pieces. “It looks like we will have lots of tamales available soon!” he said.