Mexico Celebrates 3 Kings Day Monday January 6
Tara A. Spears
3 Kings Day isn’t the only name that this holiday goes by. Other names that are common include Epiphany, or the Twelfth Day. The celebration of January 6 goes back to the first years of evangelization in the New World and continues to this day. According to Mexican tradition, it is the Wise Men who bring gifts to children.
While the holiday is celebrated in Mexico and throughout Latin America, it is not noticed much in northern latitudes. The most common practice in western Mexico is the sharing of a special sweet bread, Rosca de Reyes, which is readily available at all the local markets.
Traditionally this special bread is baked into a round shape to signify a King’s crown. The bread represents a crown, the fruits represent his jewels and the hidden doll symbolizes the baby Jesus that was hidden and protected from Herod in the days of the biblical story.
The Rosca de Reyes is a staple of the holiday and sold in most stores a few days before the 6th. Hidden within the sweet bread is a “baby Jesus” figurine. The custom is that the individual who finds the toy in their slice must then prepare tamales for everyone on the Day of the Candles, which is celebrated on February 2.
Another component of the celebration involves gifts. Reflecting the influence of the Aztec peoples, Mexico celebrates this day by adding figurines of the Three Wise Men to the nativity on January 5. The following day, Melchior, Caspar, and Balthazar will have left gifts next to the shoes the kids put the night before.
The custom is that the children previously laboriously write a letter to ask Melchor, Gaspar and Baltazar for the toys they would like to receive. On the eve of the party, January 6, they leave their shoes by the window. The next morning, the letter has disappeared and instead the footwear is filled with treats and toys. As with any special day the children get up very early to enjoy the surprise of the gifts.
After the Three Kings’ Day celebration, Mexicans usually put away all ornaments and conclude the Christmas festivities until the following year.
The charming observance of Día de los Reyes is a fun way to wrap up the Christmas holiday season. If you have domestic workers- maids, yard man- it would be appropriate to give them a little gift.