As a kid, I truly knew the holiday season had begun when we placed our shoes by the door on St Nicks Eve (Dec 5) and the next morning our shoes were full of goodies and treats. December 6th celebrates Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of Children! He (called "Sinterklaas") is actually a real man that Santa Claus is patterned after and where many of our Christmas traditions come from. It is a holiday traditionally celebrated in Netherlands, Belgium and surrounding areas. As mentioned in a prior post, my mom came from a Catholic family in Wisconsin and this tradition is strong in Catholic countries and Catholic Cities in the U.S. Milwaukee, St Louis, etc. So she started this tradition for us and it is one I carried into my own family first with just Jon and I (me filling my own shoe of course!) and then with Shayla. So each Dec 5th our shoes get placed by the door to be filled! Anyway, here is a bit more background on the tradition since lots of 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/
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