CHRISTMAS  SEASON  IS  COMING

SAINT NICHOLAS   *    SINTERKLASS     *   SANTA CLAUS


           December 6 marks Saint Nicholas Day, and we thought we'd mark the beginning of the Christmas season by telling the story of Santa Claus's namesake.Saint Nicholas lived in the country of Greece, just a couple hundred years after the birth of Christ. This day is in honor of Saint Nicholas and his life.
Saint Nicholas became a priest, and later, a Bishop of the early Catholic Church. True to the Christian concept of giving up belongings and following Christ, St. Nicholas gave up all of his belongings. He was well known for giving to needy people, especially children. There are many stories and tales of him helping out children in need.
The practice of hanging up stockings originated with Saint Nicholas. As the ancient legend goes, Saint Nicholas was known to throw small bags of gold coins into the open windows of poor homes. After one bag of gold fell into the stocking of a child, news got around. Children soon began hanging their stocking by their chimneys "in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there".

It wasn't until the 1800's that the spirit of St. Nicholas' life evolved into the creation of Santa Claus. And, this happened  in America. Santa Claus emerged (or evolved) from the stories and legends of St. Nicholas. Santa Claus was kind and generous to children. Unlike "St. Nick", Santa Claus is largely a non-religious character.
As the fame of St. Nicholas spread throughout Europe, he began to be known as Sinterklaas--especially in Dutch tradition. The celebration would consist of parades in the streets, plenty of food, dancing, and singing, and the tradition of gift-giving--all in the name of Christianity.



SAINT NICHOLAS  arrives from… SPAIN!!!

In the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, tradition holds that Saint Nicholas (Sinterklaas) and his aides arrive each year by steam boat from Spain in mid November. Black Peter carries with him the book of Saint Nicholas. The rest of the entourage carries gifts, chocolate letters and spice nuts to be handed to the well-behaved children. During the subsequent three weeks, Saint Nicholas is believed to ride a white-grey horse over the rooftops at night, delivering gifts through the chimney to the well-behaved children, while the naughty children risk being caught by Saint Nicholas's aides that carry jute bags and willow canes for that purpose.