Celebrating St. Nicholas Day- Dec. 6th!

St Nicholas Day (Dec. 6th) is just around the corner!

St. Nicholas must have been one incredible man, of course he is a Saint, but also there are just so many legends surrounding his life! It's no wonder he is so celebrated world-wide! 

SimplyCatholic.com tells us, "The most famous legend tells of a widowed merchant whose business went bankrupt. He and his three unmarried daughters survived by pawning their valuables, one by one. At last there was nothing left to sell and no hope that any man would ask for the hand of a young woman who was a pauper; the father feared that his daughters would be forced to become prostitutes.

St. Nicholas heard about the family’s desperate situation, and, so, after dark one evening he walked to the merchant’s house and tossed a bag of gold coins through an open window. Now the eldest daughter had enough for a respectable dowry. The next night, he went again to the merchant’s house and threw in a second bag of gold for the second daughter. Finally, on third night, the merchant and his daughters were waiting for him. As the third bag of coins sailed through the window, the grateful family flung open the door and rushed outside to thank their benefactor.

The story of the three bags of gold is the origin of giving gifts on St. Nicholas Day (Dec. 6)."

In my family, since we didn't grow up with this tradition, we have kept it pretty simple, but I absolutely love celebrating this day, as it keeps the focus on Christ and His Saints and takes away some of the mass-hysteria of commercialized Christmas that comes along with this time of year. It is also a good distraction from the Elves, etc...

In our family we tend to bake or decorate some St. Nicholas cookies. Here is a link using Nutter Butters, though I have also decorated Milano cookies in the past and they turn out just as cute. 

For the legend with the shoes, the traditional celebration of St. Nicholas Day, have your children leave out their shoes the night before, filled with carrots for St. Nicholas's donkey. Overnight St. Nicholas trades the carrots for treats: traditionally chocolate coins, (reminiscent of the coins left in the legend) candy canes, (representative of St. Nicholas's Bishop's Crosier, mandarin oranges and little tiny toys, etc... The point is to have fun, so don't worry if you can't find everything. Santa chocolates also are great additions. Lindt usually has some. 

Have a great time! Happy Feast Day of St. Nicholas! 

Pax,

Cristina

Nutter Butter Cookies: https://catholiccuisine.blogspot.com/2012/12/saint-nicholas-cookies.html

History of St. Nicholas Day: https://www.simplycatholic.com/the-real-st-nicholas/