So, I got the idea for this post because my husband and I have very different views of St. Nick and how we celebrated it as children. When I was younger, we put our shoes in front of the fireplace on December 5 evening and we would awake to have them full of candy. Then, for Christmas, we would hang our stockings up and awake to have them full of all kind of goodies Christmas morning. My husband celebrated by only putting his stocking up on December 5 to have it full of goodies. He would not do anything with the stockings for Christmas. That, to me, just felt wrong. However, we have celebrated it his way every year that we have been together...Well, now that I have the proof I need, I think we will be going back to my childhood ways! Here is some information I dug out about the tradition of St. Nick.
I pulled some information from Wikpedia.
"While feasts of Saint Nicholas are not observed nationally, cities with strong German influences like Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Louisville, and St. Louis celebrate St. Nick's Day on a scale similar to the German custom. On the day after Thanksgiving or sometime in December, children and their families put up a Christmas tree. A Christmas tree is a medium-sized pine tree that they put in their family rooms and decorate with ornaments and garlands of all sorts. They also normally put a star or angel on the top, as a symbol of Christ's birth. On the 24 of December, Christmas Eve, each child puts one empty stocking/sock on their fireplace. The following morning of 25 of December, the children awake to find that St. Nick has filled their stockings with candy and small presents (if the children have been good) or coal (if not). Gifts often include chocolate gold coins to represent the gold St. Nick gave to the poor and small trinkets. They also awake to find presents under the tree, wrapped in Christmas-themed paper. For these children, the relationship between St. Nick and Santa Claus is not clearly defined, although St. Nick is usually explained to be a helper of Santa (as opposed to being Santa himself, another option). The tradition of St. Nick's Day is firmly established in the Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Cleveland and St. Louis communities, with parents often continuing to observe the day with their adult children. Widespread adoption of observing the tradition has spread among the German, Polish, Belgian and Dutch communities throughout Iowa and Wisconsin, and is carried out through modern times. Saint Nicholas day is not widely known or celebrated in the United States, except by people with strong Catholic or European roots.
Many people in the United states celebrate a separate St Nicholas Day as in other countries by putting their shoes outside their bedroom doors on Dec 5th. St Nicholas then comes in the night leaving gifts and sugary treats for children and adults alike."
I found this on http://www.wf-f.org/st.nicholas.html:
"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 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 or lumps of coal. Sometimes coins were left in the shoes, reminiscent of the the life-saving doweries the saint provided. Today - especially in families of German extraction - children still put a shoe outside their bedroom doors on the eve of Saint Nicholas Day, and expect to find candy and coins or small gifts in their shoe on December 6th.
In some households the father of the family may dress up as Saint Nicholas on the eve of his feast. He comes in, sometimes with his sidekick, Krampus or Black Peter, and helps each child examine his conscience. He admonishes the bad and rewards the good. If your family enjoys theatrics, this is a wonderful opportunity early in Advent to inspire children to amend their ways in preparation for the coming King. (Your family might get together with other families with young children and celebrate together.)"
Okay, so I found some information to support my cause. Now, I just have to get my husband to read my blog...getting him to read ANYTHING would be a Christmas miracle in itself!
So, how do you celebrate St. Nick's...or don't you? What tradition might you and your families have?
Don't miss the freebies, coupons, and discounts! Subscribe Now!
