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Gifts of Magi sent to St. Petersburg

MOSCOW, January 14 (Itar-Tass) - An aircraft carrying the Gifts of the Magi, a Christian relic brought to Russia from Mount Athos in Greece, has left a Moscow airport for St. Petersburg.

According to the Gospel according to Matthew, Biblical Magi, or Wise Men, were led by the Star of Bethlehem to the place where the baby Jesus was born. They brought Christ gold, frankincense and myrrh and worshipped him.

The Gifts, which are out of Greece for the first time since the 15th century, were displayed in Moscow on January 7-13, where more than 400,000 believers worshipped them, according to a city official. In St. Petersburg, they will be open for visitors from Tuesday evening until Friday.

The relic will then leave the northern Russian city for the Belarusian capital Minsk, where they will be on display on January 18-24 and the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, an Orthodox Christian monastery in the Ukrainian capital (January 25-30).

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