In Poland and large part Eurasia (Catholic and Orthodox Christians) we are observing Saint Nicholas Day (in Polish: Święty Mikołaj) . It always falls on December 6.
In a nutshell: Nicholas is an original St.Claus . He lived in 4th century in modern day Turkey. He was a bishop and he used his entire inheritance and powers to help people in need. He was doing it secretly.
"Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." (Matthew 6:34)
The traditions and many legends vary from country to country but the spirit of love and giving is the main theme.
These days on December 5 before going to bed, children clean and put their shoes out hoping that St.Nick will bring them little gifts (small toys or sweets). In some homes St.Nicholas is putting gifts under the pillow. This is also a good time to leave in the shoe or under the pillow the christmas wish list:-)
Because St. Nicholas is a symbol of giving and helping poor - many parents use his story to teach kids that it is better to give than to receive. Some parents help their kids to look through their toys and pick one good toy or use the allowance to buy one and to donate to less privileged. I am thinking about doing that with Lucy this year. We are reading now the
Rainbow Fish story by Marcus Pfister that should nicely reinforce the idea of giving. My mom read to us
The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen to help us understand tragedy of poor but I think I was older.
Once Saint Nicholas was portrayed as a bishop wearing mitre on his head, dressed in bishop's robes and holding the pastoral staff. Now more and more is morphing to the American version of Santa Claus. Here is a pretty good website about the St. Nicholas, although the description of celebration in Poland is rather dated and not quite right.
http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/home/
Tomorrow I am going to tell the story of Święty Mikołaj to Lucy's group at Child Development Center.
image wikimedia
