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Of all the scenes of the life of our Lord preserved and handed down to us in the holy Gospels, it is the mystery of the Epiphany which most thoroughly illustrates the charisms of Miles Jesu. All the charisms of our Institute are somehow contained in this one great mystery. In fact, we are Sons and Daughters of the Immaculate Heart of Our Lady of the Epiphany.
The journey of the Three Kings represents the call of the laity to holiness, and the vocation to manifest Jesus to the world. The love of Christ moves us into action, and as the Kings traveled together in a group for strength and encouragement, we band together as a community recognizing our need for one another. Their willingness to leave their pagan land in order to follow the True King symbolizes our spirit of daily conversion and joyful repentance, which is expressed partly by our frequent use of the sacrament of Reconciliation.
The Star of the Epiphany symbolizes the Virgin Mary, the Morning Star, who leads us to Jesus, and in fact, the Three Holy Kings found Jesus in the arms of His Mother Mary. All the members of Miles Jesu foster a tender and loving devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. When the Kings lost sight of the star they sought direction from the Jewish authorities, an action which symbolizes our charism of loyalty to the official Magisterium of the Church.
The mystery of the Epiphany also has Eucharistic overtones since they found Jesus in Bethlehem, which means "House of Bread", denoting our charism of promoting reverence and devotion to Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament.
The gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh represent the three vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience which are the total gift of oneself to God. The gifts also signify the divinity, humanity and kingship of Christ, since frankincense was always used in the worship of God, myrrh is a burial aloe for His humanity and gold is the possession of kings.
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