In the Irish half of this writer’s lineage, it’s often called “Little Christmas;” but it is much more than that. (Nor is it little.)
The feast of the Epiphany, or "appearance" of the Christ, traditionally on January 6, in Western Christendom not only predates Christmas Day as a celebration of the coming of a Savior into history, by at least a hundred years. What is more, that “Little” is a bit ironic: because in the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar the feast in a way “outranked” December 25 for centuries until our own time, in 1970. The feast is still of about equal dignity.

Read the entire article in the Dec. 18th issue of the Express.