Tag: Stockings

December 6th St. Nicholas Day

December holidays

St. Nicholas was a real person, a Catholic Bishop in Greece about two hundred years after Christ’s death. Naturally, being a Bishop, he wore red and did have a long white beard. He so loved children, and the poor, that he was known to put gold coins in socks and spread them out among the needy. After a while, children began to hang socks out for St. Nicholas hoping he would get to them. Santa Claus was introduced by Americans hundreds of years later. While St. Nicholas was a religious character, Santa Claus wasn’t designed to be so. Still, we think that anyone who promotes welfare and happiness can’t be all bad!

How to celebrate – Hang your stocking in hopes that St. Nick will come to you. Visit Greece. Enjoy your holidays.

Advertisement

December 6th St. Nicholas Day

December holidays, Unboxing the Bizarre

Santa Claus hasn’t always been Santa Claus…Santa Claus hasn’t always been Santa Claus… well he has but originally he was St. Nicholas. Well, he wasn’t a Saint until he died  in either 345 or 352 A.D.. But he did get around to it eventually. And he didn’t come from the North Pole, he came from Greece.

hc-romania-saint

He started as a Priest and then became a Bishop. He tried to help people and loved to help children. At times he was noted for throwing small bags of coins out to the streets and when some accidentally ended up in a child’s stocking we got the tradition of hanging stockings on Christmas Eve.

St

And he wasn’t fat back then. In fact he was rather skinny but sometimes all the robes and clothing he wore made him look larger than he was. He did not become Santa Claus until sometime in the 1800’s. And even then he wasn’t the chunky hunk we all know and love today.

santasack

When Coke decided to put him on a soda bottle he appeared as we know him today, maybe because he started drinking the Coke! Anyway, he has become one of the most beloved characters in history. And the next time tells you that Santa Claus isn’t real… you tell them about St. Nicolas.

St-Nicholas-Day-Illustration

How to celebrate – Read about St. Nicholas. Be Santa Claus in your neighborhood. Remember what Christmas is really all about.