Wise Women Also Came...

Dear Diary,

Finally, after two months of restoration, the old family bible came back yesterday!  The woman who restored it is also the woman who binds my photo journals.  She did a truly remarkable job.  I wish I had taken some before photos...it was in a sorry state.  The cover had detached, pages had come loose and many pages had seriously damaged edges.  The leather was flaking away at an alarming rate.  All that is fixed now.  The bible is about 190 years old being given to my 3X great grandmother at her marriage in 1827.  The fly leaf shows the 6 generations of women who have cared for it and passed it on.

Today is Epiphany where we celebrate the appearance of the Wise Men in Bethlehem.  It is also called Noillaig na mBan in Irish, Women's Little Christmas.  If you want to learn more about it you can visit Jan Richardson's wonderful site, Sanctuary of Women.  Personally, I believe "wise women" visited the holy family before the wise men got there.  I am sure, hearing of a young mother with a new baby, these women hurried to bring food and blankets and whatever else was needed.  It is what women do.

I dedicated my family chronicle to three wise women listed on this page, Asada, Emma and Mary.  They kept the family stories alive and passed them down  They were my inspiration through this long process.  I hope I have honored them by my efforts.  On one page Alsada wrote of the death of her husband in 1895, "And I trust he is safe in heaven."  It is my wish for these three wise women too and for all those I have loved and lost over the years.

The Irish Times on Noillaig na mBan.