The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1916-01-01
WHO WERE THE WISE MEN?
TRADITION SAYS THEY WERE
GREAT kINcs-BAPTIzED BY
ST. THOMAS THE APOSTLE
PREACHED THE GOSPEL AND
WERE SLAIN.

PREACHED THE GOSPEL AND
WERE SLAIN.
One of the Christmas mysteries
that remains unsolved is Who were
the wise men of the East-the Magi
who followed the star OF Bethlehem
from afar to do homage to the new
born Saviour?
The simple story as told in the
Bible is one of the most familiar i'm
Christmas lore. Any child could re-
cite it in detail. Painters and sculp-
tors have made it the theme of the
most inspired products of their
brushes and chisels, but to this day.
the identity of the wise men remains
mystery. A search of the great
paintings in which the subject is
treated produces bewilderment.
There are half a hundred different
IDEAS presented. The varying YER
3ions of the books of the age are as
many.
1t is fair to assume from the fact
that the visitors were received at
court by King Herod, and that they
carried gifts of value, that they were
in their own country men of royalty
)r close to it. Herod evidently deem
7d it we'll to treat them with defer
'nce, for, disquieted though he was by
their news OF the comet that was to
lead them to the birthplace of the Re-
leemer, he dissembled and told them
that when they had found the new
BORN he would return to worship with
hem.
The Scriptures relate that Herod
vas so troubled by the question of the
Mag1, that he assembled the priests
Ind scribes, who told him that Christ
vas to be born in Bethlehem of .Judea.
The legends add that the priests, too,
lad seen the star, and that they con-
sessed to HerOd that the time had
'ome when all their prophecies should
De fulfilled.
The wise men, having thus obtained
the information they wanted, took
cave of Herod, who, pretending that
le too was anxious to see and worship
he Child heralded by such a miracle,
dismissed them saying: go and
search diligently for the young child,
md when We have found him bring me
word again, that I may come and wor-
ship him Also
1 Still following the star, the Magi
,ame to Bethlehem, where their ar
| s'ival again created a great excite
lneht, and when the Star stopped above
he stable they eagerly asked if there
vas a newborn child in the place.
Ipon receiving an affirmative answer,
hey quickly dismounted, to do hon.
| age to Him Whom they had travelled
| far to see.
/ Some versions say that the star
waited until the Magi's visit was end
ID, and then guided them safely home
again; but others state that as the
| wise men entered the stable, it drop
ped into well at Bethlehem, at the
,ottom of which it can still be seen.
But if several people try to obtain
| glimpse Of it at once, it only becomes
| apparent to the wisest among them.
Most of the information about the
'arly days of the Christian era comes
rom the monks of the fourteenth
,entury, who delved deeply into his
orical sources since lost to the world.
according to these monks, the wise
aen were the three great kings called
| 1aspar, Melchior and Balthasar. Gas
o1l
| forth. At the time of the birth of
| ,hrist he was 60 years old, and for
| nore than two-thirds of that time he
uled in Arabia. Balthasar was
lack, a native of Saba, from the
last, and forty years old. The young
\ EST was Melchior, from the South,
! those country was Tarsish. He was
I years old.
Impelled by some mysterious power,
| hey dropped all the cares of State,
Ind followed a single star thirteen
avs and nights without eating or
leeping till it led them to Jerusalem.
Then the story follows that Of the
Bible until they returned to their own
| ountries.
The story does not stop here. 1t
| ellis circumstantially the after life of
he three wise men. The good Apostle
| It. Thomas journeyed to their coun-
ry and baptized them, and all three
vent out to preach the doctrine of the
;hrist.
They we're slain by barbarous Gen.
lies, and later the Empress Helena,
mother of Constantine, recovered their
acred bones and took them to Con-
tantinople. Thence they were car
led to Milan, and finally found
esting place in Cologne, where they
low are.
Ape