The Christian festival of Epiphany better known as “Three Kings” (Traja krali) was marked all over Slovakia by Holy Masses on Monday, January 6. The Catholic Church sees this holiday as one of the most significant events in human history.
According to the Bible, wise men from the East were led by a star to the infant Jesus in Bethlehem, arriving twelve days after his birth to present gifts of gold (for a king), frankincense (for a priest), and myrrh (as a symbol of suffering). The pilgrimage of the three kings, by tradition called Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar, their arrival in Bethlehem, and the presentation of gifts are a traditional part of Nativity scenes and plays. Slovak villages would celebrate the holiday by carol-singing and other festivities. Landlords would also place three crosses lined with garlic and holy water on the lintel of each door in order to ward off evil spirits. People went to church to have their candles, salt, water, and chalk blessed. These were believed to help with healing, in the prevention of natural disasters, and when sowing crops
