The Wise Men's Gifts
Some interesting facts about gold, frankincense, and myrrh
In yesterday’s homily, Father H. talked about the gifts the three wise men brought to Bethlehem on the night of Jesus’s birth: gold, myrrh, and frankincense. Gold, he said, is a precious metal and worthy of a king. Myrrh and frankincense, too, were rare herbs or spices and therefore worthy to be laid at the feet of the ruler of all of Israel.
It’s all true, but there’s so much more to be said about these three elements. In fact, if we explore them more closely, they even foreshadow, in a sense, the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.
Take gold, for example, which could be taken to symbolize and characterize Jesus himself.
It doesn’t rust or tarnish and therefore is a symbol of durability, if not immortality.
It’s both incredibly strong and incredibly soft. Gold is the softest and most malleable of the precious metals. If you’ve ever seen a pirate or Wild West movie where people bit into a gold coin to see it was real, this is why. If it’s pure gold, your teeth will leave a mark. At the same time, though, gold has a very high density. You can often tell a fake gold coin from a real gold coin by the weight of the latter. “Incredibly strong and incredibly soft” kind of describes Jesus quite well, I think.
Real gold has a shine and a ring to it that other metals don’t have. When you hold a gold coin, you just know you’re holding something pure. Even small coins have a hefty weight that other coins don’t have. And when you drop a gold coin on a flat surface like a table, it rings with a clear, jingly sound whereas other metals sound tinny and fake.
Gold has been used as money for thousands of years. It’s considered a reliable store of value, particularly in times of crisis—like wars, hyperinflation, depressions. Kinda like Jesus, who really is the ultimate crisis hedge. He died to save us from the pits of Hell where Satan would love nothing more than to drag us. I’d say that’s one hell of a crisis to hedge against.
Now let’s get to the two herbs—or really, resins—frankincense and myrrh, which are miracles in themselves.
It’s almost as if gifting the newborn king these two resins was like a foreshadowing of his ministry, since so much of it was about healing the sick.
The Healing Herbs
Frankincense and myrrh are highly fragrant resins from two different trees. The reason they’re so valuable (to this day) is that the boswellia and commiphora trees the resin is extracted from twice a year—much like maple syrup, for my Vermont and Ohio friends—are native only to the Arabian Peninsula and Northeast Africa.
Boswellia trees grow in limestone-rich soil in often hard-to-reach places like rocky hillsides and cliffs, which makes harvesting the valuable sap dangerous.
In biblical times, frankincense and myrrh were burned in places of worship to purify the air—in both a spiritual and a very practical sense because they were known to prevent the spread of contagious diseases.
Both resins possess strong antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties.
A scientific study on frankincense states, “Contemporary studies have shown that resin indeed has analgesic, tranquilizing, and antibacterial effects.” According to the study, Boswellia extracts and preparations…
reduce inflammatory conditions in the course of rheumatism
have an anti-inflammatory effect in ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, bronchitis and sinusitis
inhalation of frankincense smoke reduces the risk of asthma
“In addition, boswellic acids have an anti-proliferating [that means growth-inhibiting] effect on tumors. They inhibit proliferation of tumor cells of the leukemia and glioblastoma subset.”
Myrrh is no less miraculous:
It slows decay (hence, it was used in ancient Egypt to embalm mummies) and kills harmful bacteria and other microbes.
One 2018 study found that burning myrrh and frankincense incense reduced airborne bacterial counts by 68%.
Myrrh can directly kill bacteria and stimulate the immune system to make more white blood cells, which also kill bacteria.
Healthline reports that “In one test-tube study, myrrh oil at a low dilution of 0.1% killed all dormant Lyme disease bacteria, which can persist in some people after antibiotic treatment and continue to cause illness.”
Myrrh has been used to treat oral infections, inflammation, and even gingivitis.
It’s also been used to heal wounds and infections. In one test, researchers tried out 247 different combinations of essential oils. They found that myrrh plus sandalwood oil was particularly effective in killing microbes that infect skin wounds.
In another study, myrrh reduced the growth of five fungi that cause skin conditions like athlete’s foot and ringworm by up to 61%.
Reportedly, myrrh can also reduce pain and swelling, for example in joint pain.
Myrrh-containing medications were shown to cure trichomoniasis and giardiasis, two parasitic infections. In one preliminary study, 85% of women who hadn’t responded to standard drug treatment for trichomoniasis were cured by the oral drug Mirazid, made of myrrh sap and its essential oil. (Warning: Myrrh essential oil can be toxic and should not be ingested!)
Test-tube studies suggested that myrrh may help kill or slow the growth of liver, prostate, breast, and skin cancer cells. However, there are no clinical (aka, human) studies on this.
I could go on, but it’s obvious that there’s a lot more to the choice of gold, frankincense, and myrrh than you’d think.
That’s one reason I love God’s Word and the Church and its rich traditions—the Mysteries never end.
I feel so blessed to be a Catholic. Thank you, VatiGod, for poking and pushing—and yes, kicking—me until I finally ended up where you wanted me.