St. Nicholas
The Feast of St. Nicholas is a super beautiful day for Byzantine Catholics. He is actually one of the most popular saints in the Eastern Churches. Today on TheByzantineLife.com we talk about the history of St. Nicholas, traditions, and what our family is doing with Santa Claus.
Who is St. Nicholas?
Google lists “Is St. Nicholas a real person” as common question this time of year. Indeed, he is! He lived and breathed in the early 4th century. St. Nicholas was born to a wealthy family. When he received his inheritance, he passed it on to charitable causes. Then he chose to pursue a religious vocation, eventually becoming the Archbishop of Myra. He is known for being a strong defender of the faith and orthodoxy. During the Nicene Council he is remembered for speaking out against the Arian heresy.
St. Nicholas is sometimes called the Wonderworker, as he performed many miracles during his lifetime. He is honoured in both the Eastern and Western Churches. In fact, he is so highly honoured in the East that he is featured in my triptychs with Jesus on one panel, the Theotokos on another, and St. Nicholas on the third. The cover photo for this post shows one such triptych. At some point, in translating St. Nicholas’ name, Saint Nicholas became Santa Claus. His image became further corrupted when Coca Cola came into the picture and changed his beautiful bishop’s garments to a red coat and pants. But I digress…
St. Nicholas’ Day
St. Nicholas Day takes place on December 6th. The night before, Children leave their shoes outside. Then parents fill the shoes with fruits and candies and coins by the morning. This tradition stems from one of St. Nicholas’ miracles. God asked St. Nicholas to save three daughters from being sold by leaving three bags of gold coins outside their home as their dowries. This is also probably the origin of stockings used at Christmas.
How to Celebrate
One thing you can add to this shoe tradition, is to write letters for St. Nicholas to read to Jesus. Instead of a traditional “letter to Santa,” children write about people or intentions they want to pray for. I like this focus – rather than just “this is what I want.” If you want to do the shoes thing, leave the letters in the shoes, and in the morning the letters will be gone but the fruits and coins will be there!
There are often large events at Byzantine Churches or in the community on this day. I’ve seen many visits from Saint Nicholas. And I’m talking dressed in gold bishop’s vestments, not a Santa suit!
We take this time to remind children of the real St. Nicholas’ life. You may want to check your local Catholic store for a St. Nicholas picture book. Find some St. Nicholas books and icons.
Another great way to celebrate St. Nicholas’ day is by doing what he would do: caring for the poor and children! Perhaps your family could donate gifts, time, or money to your local crisis nursery, pregnancy options, or homeless shelter. You can find extra ideas for how your family can celebrate St. Nicholas’ Day at home at http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/celebrate-at-home/
Books
St. Nicholas and the Nine Gold Coins: How St. Nicholas is more than just the generous giver we know him as – he spent his life becoming a true icon of Jesus Christ! And The Legend of St. Nicholas: This picture book goes through the life of St. Nicholas and includes a prayer for the saint’s intercession at the end. Very child friendly versions of the miracles.
What Our Family is Doing About Santa Claus
First of all, we do our “Christmas gifts” on St. Nicholas day. I grew up with gifts on Christmas day, but honestly love doing it on St. Nicholas day now. Especially because it takes away some of the commercialism and materialism of Christmas! My husband and I both grew up taught to believe in Santa Claus. I think that was probably fine, and finding out there was no man riding around on a sleigh every year didn’t ruin our lives. Although I remember being bothered about having been “hoodwinked” for so long. Also, I see how it can be a lot of fun planing Easter egg hunts, partially eaten Santa cookies, and sparkly tooth fairy money.
However, we decided that as a family we don’t want to lie to our children. Sure, we will try and shield them from the news and other traumatizing information while they are young – they don’t need to know the full truth about everything. But we believe Christmas, Easter, and other holidays can be special and magical without us lying to our kids. We aren’t going to judge other parents, or you, if you want to keep the Santa Claus tradition going. It just isn’t for our family.
Matt Fradd has a thoughtful podcast available on YouTube called 84: Is it okay to lie to my kids about Santa Claus.
The Byzantine Life
So I hope you enjoyed this week’s article. You may also be interested in reading about The Nativity Fast, or on How to Make Your Own Icon Corner! Let me know in the comments if your family celebrates the Feast of St. Nicholas!
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