“Behold the Lamb of God!” We hear this phrase every Sunday at Mass, but there’s a good chance that many Roman Catholics do not know who in the Bible originally spoke it. The phrase appears only in the Gospel of John, on the lips of John the Baptist, who utters it twice.

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Where on earth would you go to honor the magi? Iran or Saudi Arabia, Tarshish or the Isles come to mind, but Cologne, Germany would be a good choice. There the Shrine of the Three Kings has been the centerpiece of the city's cathedral since the fourth century. Today it is the largest reliquary in the world: a gilded and ornamented triple casket gleaming high above the altar. In the fourth century, the supposed relics of the wise men were taken from Constantinople to Milan, where they remained until the German Emperor with the unlikely name Frederick Barbarossa (Red Beard) gave them to the Archbishop of Cologne. Ever since, pilgrims have streamed into the city to honor the magi, the first of all pilgrims, and thus the heavenly patrons of all who have some holy wanderlust.

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