OT St. Nicholas Day

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ST. NICHOLAS DAY

 

DEC. 6TH IS ST. NICHOLAS DAY

St Nicholas, also known as Santa Claus, is patron saint of

children. As a result, the tradition developed of electing a choir

boy as " bishop " to rule the Christmas festivities.

 

As practiced in many European countries, the celebration of St.

Nicholas is separate from the Christmas holidays, and occurs during

the 2 weeks prior to December 6th, which is St. Nicholas's day. In

some European countries, St. Nicholas Day is the main holiday for

gift giving, and not Christmas. The real St.Nicholas lived round

about 300 A.D. in an area of Turkey. He came from a wealthy family,

but he was orphaned when his parents died of the plague that swept

across Europe. Monks took him to their monastery where he studied

and became a priest at the very young age of 17. Later, Nicholas

became a bishop. He was known for being a very good and a generous

person who gave away all of his wealth and after his

death he was called a Saint.

 

Because the Saint Day for Nicholas is on December 6th it has been

closely linked to Christmas celebrations. In some countries

children receive their Christmas presents on St.Nicholas' Day

rather than Christmas day. The story of St.Nicholas quickly spread

around Europe and many different fables were told about how kind he

was - especially to children. One story tells how Nicholas saved

three girls from being sold by their father by giving them each a

ball of gold which allowed them to leave home and get married. Many

stories are based on the idea of Saint Nicholas giving away his

money

 

In the Netherlands, St. Nicholas arrives in Amsterdam from Spain by

ship three weeks before his feast day. He leads a parade to the

city's main square, where he is greeted by the royal family and

talks over the children's behavior during the year with the mayor.

Zwarte Piet, or " Black Peter, " accompanies him. This stern

character carries a big red book, in which reports on the children

are kept, and he is said to carry birch rods to punish the bad

children and even to stuff the naughtiest into his bag to be

carried back to Spain for punishment. St. Nicholas Eve is greeted

with festive family dinners, after which Sinterklaas himself often

makes a personal appearance. He may toss candies and toys through

the door, or come in with Zwarte Piet to give a mock lecture on

good behavior and to open his bag of sweets to the children.

Later that night, Nicholas takes to the skies on a white horse, on

which he is said to jump from roof to roof and down the chimney of

each house. There he finds children's shoes or baskets filled with

hay for his horse. He exchanges the hay for candy and toys and gold

chocolate coins. Early on the morning of the sixth, children awake

to search eagerly for their baskets (which Sinterklaas takes

delight in hiding) and to enjoy the treasures the good saint has

left. For families with older children and adults, different twists

are added to the gift giving and may include gag gifts or the

drawing of gift ideas or names, and most times are accompanied by

poems with a " personal touch " that poke fun at the recipient in a

gentle way . Wrapping the presents up in odd packages and planting

a trail of clues is also part of the general fun, and can sometimes

be pretty tricky to get to, depending on the squeamishness of the

recipients.

 

 

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