Happy St. Nicholas Day to you Desert Survivor! You kids really got excited to find goodies in your shoes. Hope you keep this tradition up with your children.
December 6, 2009 at 10:07 AM
A said...
That's a great website. We often use one the other stories from it for our 2nd week Advent celebration....
Ah, this explains why Lola wanted me to put her shoes outside her room last night (so I took them and put them in the shoe box in the entryway) and then, when she found them in the shoe box this morning, told me that they were supposed to go just outside her room door. In school they have been learning about holiday stories and practices from many different countries and cultures. She must have missed the Dec 6th part.
December 11, 2009 at 1:13 PM
December 6 is Saint Nicholas' Day. Do you celebrate it? Ever heard of it? When we were kids, my parents had us put out our shoes the night before, and when we woke up in the morning they were filled with fruit and candy. Why? They were remembering Saint Nicholas. Saint Nicholas is the original Santa Claus. He was a real person, but he didn't live at the North Pole, he lived along what is today the southern coast of Turkey in the third century AD. His wealthy parents died while he was a young child, and he used his inheritance to help the poor, the sick, and the suffering. He became a Bishop while he was young, but then under a Roman Emperor was imprisoned for his beliefs. He was eventually released and went on to continue to help people. Even after his death in 343 AD, people continued to remember his good deeds. One story involved a poor man who had three daughters. In order for them to marry they needed dowries, but he had no money, so the daughters were destined to be sold into slavery. On three different occasions, bags of gold mysteriously appeared, providing the needed dowries. The bags were reportedly thrown though an open window and landed in stockings or shoes laid out before the fire to dry. And thus was born the custom of hanging Christmas stockings so that Santa Claus could fill them. St. Nicholas is also known as a protector of children, the patron of sailors and voyagers, and friend or protector of all in trouble or need. In parts of Europe, Saint Nicholas' Day is the main gift-giving day of the Christmas season, reserving Christmas day for more focus on the birth of Jesus Christ. For more information about Saint Nicholas, and how he was transformed by writers, artists, and companies into the modern day Santa Claus, see this informative website.
posted by Desert Survivor at 5:55 AM on Dec 6, 2009
4 Comments
Close this window Jump to comment formHappy St. Nicholas Day to you Desert Survivor! You kids really got excited to find goodies in your shoes. Hope you keep this tradition up with your children.
December 6, 2009 at 10:07 AM
That's a great website. We often use one the other stories from it for our 2nd week Advent celebration....
December 7, 2009 at 9:09 AM
Happy St. Nick's day---late!! LOL
December 8, 2009 at 5:42 AM
Ah, this explains why Lola wanted me to put her shoes outside her room last night (so I took them and put them in the shoe box in the entryway) and then, when she found them in the shoe box this morning, told me that they were supposed to go just outside her room door. In school they have been learning about holiday stories and practices from many different countries and cultures. She must have missed the Dec 6th part.
December 11, 2009 at 1:13 PM