CHURCH ministers are urging people not to allow Twelfth Night to be forgotten as people wind down from Christmas and New Year festivities.

Todayis Epiphany - the festival of shining light - which marks the arrival of the three wise men at Jesus' birthplace.

It used to be the culmination of the 12 days of Christmas and was celebrated with parties and wassailing or carol singing.

Villagers would go out into their orchards to pour cider on tree roots to encourage a good crop and Shakespeare's play "Twelfth Night" is centred on the revelry.

The Rev Rodney Nicholson, of St Paul's Church, Clitheroe, said: "Officially the wise men weren't there in the stable at Bethlehem because they came two years later when Jesus was a little boy. They spent two years travelling.

"They tagged it on the end of Christmas because it's all part of the Christmas story. Nobody knows the exact date that Jesus was born, so in a way it doesn't matter."

But recently, the meaning of Epiphany has been largely forgotten as fewer people go to church. During the last century, New Year's Eve, which has a public holiday afterwards for recovery, has taken over as the party night.

Mr Nicholson said: "I would like to see it revived because it makes the point about the faith of Christ being for all races. The wise men weren't Jews, they were dark skinned people from the East and it shows right from the start that Christ is for all races."

One man who is trying to bring it back is Father John O'Connor, of St Francis' Church, Feniscliffe, who is organising a Majorcan-type service and hopes to make it an annual event. Congregation members dressed as kings will parade by torchlight to the church at 6pm tonight and be led by children to a nativity scene with a real "Holy Family" and baby for a short Holy Communion service.

He said: "It's an ancient festival and an important one but often it gets a bit overlooked in the aftermath of Christmas and New Year. We wanted to do something a bit different to highlight it."

At Blackburn Cathedral, the main Epiphany service with carols will be held on Sunday with civic leaders, including the Mayor of Blackburn and the Lord Lieutenant, at 6.30pm.

Clergy will bring in gifts symbolising gold, myrrh and frankincense and lay them on the altar as the wise men offered them to Christ.

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