Today, December 6, is St. Nicholas Day. Growing up, I never knew much about St. Nicholas Day — I never heard it mentioned by my parents, and obviously, it was never “celebrated.” When Claire was growing up, her family always celebrated the day. I think we tried it a few times with out kids, but it really never became a “tradition.”
So, as you may have guessed, today’s topic is Saint Nicholas Day. St Nicholas was a bishop who was known for his good deeds, especially for the needy and children. He regularly gave generously and anonymously. Nicholas was officially recognized as a saint in the 800s and in the 1200s Catholics in France began celebrating Bishop Nicholas Day — on December 6.
In the 3rd century, in the village of Patara in Turkey (part of Greece in those days,) a wealthy couple gave birth to a boy they named Nicholas. Tragically, while Nicholas was young, an epidemic took the lives of both of his parents. Having been raised a Christian, he dedicated his life to service, sold all of his belongings, and used his inheritance to help the poor and infirm. Eventually, Nicholas became a bishop, and his reputation for helping children, sailors, and other people in need spread far and wide. For this, the Roman emperor Diocletian persecuted and imprisoned him (and other religious men) — but only until the Romans realized that they had so filled their prisons with clergy that they had no place to put the thieves and murderers. So the Romans let the religious men go free. Upon his release, Nicholas continued his charity work until he died on December 6, 343 A.D. It was said that a liquid that formed in his grave had healing powers. This and other legends about Nicholas fostered devotion to him and inspired traditions still practiced today.
The most common way to celebrate St. Nicholas Day is to leave shoes out for St. Nicholas to place small gifts in — socks work, too. Traditionally, the gifts are simply small candies or coins — small items that bring joy to children. The candy cane is also a symbol of St. Nicholas, representing his staff. A traditional treat on St. Nicholas Day is Spicy Sinterklaas Cake, known as Speculaas. These are spicy, ginger cookies, often baked in a mold the shape of St. Nicholas. Some traditions equate St. Nicholas with Sant Claus, which means that St. Nicholas comes on the night of December 24 — not December 5.
So is St. Nicholas really Santa Claus? Some people say yes, others disagree…. but there are a few legends of St. Nicholas that relate to the story of Santa Claus — some about gift-giving and some about children.
In one tale, a poor man had three daughters and no dowry for any of them, thus eliminating their chance at marriage and risking their being sold into slavery. Mysteriously, as each girl came of marriageable age, a bag of gold was lobbed through a window and landed in a sock or shoe near the hearth. The unknown gift-giver was presumed to have been Nicholas, and the situation inspired the placement by the fireplace of stockings or shoes, into which gifts were placed.
Another legend, from long after Nicholas’s passing says in his home village, during a celebration on the anniversary of Nicholas’s death, a young boy was kidnapped to become a slave to a neighboring region’s emir. The family grieved for a year, and on the anniversary of the boy’s disappearance, they refused to leave their home. Good thing — as the story goes, Nicholas appeared, spirited the boy away from his captors, and deposited him in his house, along with the gold cup from which he was serving the emir still in his hand.
Today, St. Nicholas is venerated as the patron not only of children but also of sailors, captives, travelers, marriageable maidens, laborers — even thieves and murderers.
Happy St. Nicholas Day.
— 30 —