Rosca de Reyes celebrated in Belize
Have you ever celebrated Epiphany Day? Do you even know when and why it is celebrated? Don’t feel too bad if you don’t, I am pretty sure you are not alone. Epiphany day, also known as el Dia de los Reyes or la Pascua de los Tres Negros, is a fusion of ancient pre Hispanic Aztec traditions and European religion that creates a fun and family oriented event for Mexicans. To find out more about this tradition, News Five’s Duane Moody at the invitation of the Embassy of Mexico joined his colleagues for a celebration and files this report.
Duane Moody, Reporting
It’s a traditional event in many Latin American countries that is celebrated on the Sunday between January second and eighth, but today, Friday, in an effort to educate media professionals the Institute of Mexico in Belize City celebrated el Dia de los Reyes, the day of the three kings. It’s based on the Bible Scripture in which three kings: Balthazar, Gaspar and Melchor, followed the North Star and brought gold, frankincense and myrrh to baby Jesus. According to Mexican tradition, that day is actually the sixth of January.
Marcelino Miranda, Mexican Press Officer
“Originally, the Belizean tradition is to commemorate the arrival of the kings who visited baby Jesus and who bring special presents for him. It became a very popular celebration in Mexico and every sixth of January, most families in Mexico have Rosca de Reyes that is a special bread. ”
It’s a “special-sweet” bread called Rosca de Reyes and made in the shape of a large donut. Several tiny figures, signifying baby Jesus, are baked inside. When finished, family and friends are then invited to cut the bread. And if they are lucky enough to find a figure inside their slice, children receive gifts while adults participate in el Dia de Candelaria—another Mexican tradition held on February second.
Marcelino Miranda
“February the second is Candelaria day in Mexico and traditionally most of the Catholic churches in Mexico, people take the Jesus figures—made especially of ceramic or porcelain—they take it to the church and they dress the baby. This is a tradition and especially it’s the day which those who get those figurines from the Rosca de Reyes, they have to cook tamales for February the second and this is to share with all the friends and the family. So what we are expecting is that those who get the figurine today, they are going to cook tamales for February the second and we are going to meet again here at the institute of Mexico and we are going to have Mexican tamales.”
This is the first of many traditions and celebrations that the Mexican Embassy plans to share with Belizeans. Miranda says that 2010 is also historic for Mexico since it marks two hundred years of independence.
Marcelino Miranda
“This is a very important year for Mexicans. We’re going to celebrate two hundred years of the beginning of independence and one hundred years of the Mexican revolution. This year in Mexico we are going to have a lot of cultural activities and lots of ceremonies in order to commemorate those dates and we want to share this with the Belizean people. We want to share the Mexican culture and also we want to include Belizean artists and Belizean cultures in our celebrations.”
Mexico gained independence on September sixteenth 1810. One hundred years later on the twentieth of November 1910, the revolution which led to the creation of the country’s constitution, started. Duane Moody, reporting for News Five.
The word Epiphany is derived from Greek and means “appearance” or “manifestation”; today Epiphany day is observed in churches as a Christian feast day that celebrates the revelation of God made man in the person of Jesus Christ.
