There are those who say that if shepherds really were tending their flocks that night, it must not have been winter, for in the winter, sheep in Palestine were penned at night. The abode of Christ's birth was not the kind of stable usually pictured, but most likely a hillside cave which sheltered livestock. Mary and Joseph may have camped in a livestock enclosure where the baby was born, wrapped and laid in a manger. Biblical evidence indicates that when the Magi or wise men visited the child Jesus, he was a toddler, about 2 years of age, not a new-born infant as typically portrayed. Most depictions of the Wise Men are based on tradition, and tradition says that there were three while St. Augustine and St. Chrysostom said there were 12.
Tradition expands upon the story with a rich biography.
Gold symbolizes Kingship, frankincense is a gift for a high priest, and myrrh for a great physician. Tradition assigns the date of this visit to January 6, Epiphany, known as Twelfth Night. The familiar abbreviation for Christmas originated in the Greeks. X is the first letter of the Greek word for Christ, Xristos. For several hundred years, Christians disapproved of the use of the term.