In my family, when I was growing up, we always celebrated St. Nicholas’ Day (December 6th) by putting our shoes by the door on December 5th and waking up the next morning to have them filled with fun goodies – candy, lipgloss, socks, etc…I think the fact that we got presents weeks before Christmas helped get the Christmas Season off to a nice start for me! My mom came from a Catholic family in Wisconsin and this tradition is strong in Catholic countries and Catholic Cities in teh U.S. Milwaukee, St Louis, etc. Since I have been married I have followed this fun tradition and put our shoes by the door each Dec 5th. It was fun to add one more tiny baby shoe to the mix this year! Anyway, here is a bit more background on the tradition since most people have not heard of it!
Early in the Advent season celebrate a feast that has been popular for centuries in Christian countries, especially in Northern Europe. In our over-commercialized society, this holiday gives us a good "teaching moment" to remind children that Jolly Santa Claus, is, in fact, Saint Nicholas, a fourth century bishop of the city of Myra in what is now Turkey. Saint Nicholas was a real person who helped people because he loved Jesus. Saint Nicholas is the person behind the idea of Santa Claus.
Saint Nicholas was renowned for his great kindness and his generous aid to those in distress. Among the kind and miraculous acts attributed to him are saving three young girls from prostitution by secretly providing them with dowries, raising three murdered boys from the dead, and saving sailors caught in stormy seas. For these reasons, he is considered the patron saint of children, unmarried girls, and sailors, among others.
Traditional celebrations of Saint Nicholas Day in Northern Europe included gifts left in children's shoes (the origin of our American Christmas stockings). Good children receive treats - candies, cookies, apples and nuts, while naughty children receive switches/tree branches or lumps of coal. Sometimes coins were left in the shoes, reminiscent of the the life-saving doweries the saint provided.
For more fun stuff and ideas about starting your own St. Nicholas Tradition, check out http://www.stnicholascenter.org/
3 comments:
Yep, we celebrated St. Nicholas day too! With so many shoes to fill, I've simpled it down some to just chocolate coins and a very small toy or item (ie- erasers from dollar store and black licorice altoids from TJ's for me.) What did you put in your shoe for you? Elizabeth was so cute. She told the boys "go to sleep, or St. Nicholas won't come." At Joy School today, no one else had heard of St. Nicholas. Poor people. Happy St. Nicholas day!
Wasn't it the greatest feeling to put out a tiny baby shoe? What did Shayla get? Cash got some bubbles and a bath toy. Looks like St. Nick knew just what to get you ;)
FYI - I got chocolate, a shirt, an ornament and nuts. Jon got a mug, nuts and jalapeno cheese! Shayla got books, hair things, and ornaments.
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