Santa Claus Activities

I stress that families have Christmas Traditions and if you don’t have any please start some to keep. The best memories of Christmas past is the traditions adults use to have but have been lost. We need to bring back those traditions or start new ones to create memories for our families and friends.

If you need help finding a tradition, here is the history of one that I have heard a few people do to start their family into the Christmas Spirit.

The Feast of St. Nicholas : Dec. 6th ( also called St. Nicholas Day ) of every year.

On December 6th, Saint Nicholas Day recognizes the third-century saint who became an inspiration for the modern-day Santa Claus. 

St. Nicholas is known for selling all his possessions and giving his money to the poor. Raised as a devout Christian, St. Nicholas dedicated his whole life to serving the sick and suffering.

Legendary stories about St. Nicholas later become part of the inspiration for the modern-day Santa Claus. For example, during the third century, a daughter’s chances of marriage increased when her father offered a large dowry to prospective husbands. One story tells of a poor father with three daughters. He had no dowry to offer.

Traditionally, families left their shoes by the fires at night so that they could dry. On three separate occasions, Ol’ St. Nicholas provided a dowry for each girl. Legend says he made gold appear in their shoes, drying by the fire.

While St. Nicholas Day is not to be confused with Christmas, some similarities do exist. Traditions include leaving gifts in shoes (or stockings) or the exchange of small gifts. Another tradition suggests leaving treats for good boys and girls. However, the naughty ones receive a twig or chunk of coal.

Interesting facts associated with St. Nicholas:

• He is the patron saint of a great many causes. Some of the causes include sailors, travelers, clergy, school children, and thieves, to name a few.
• He was born in the village of Patar, located on the southeastern coast of modern-day Turkey.
• Buried in a tomb in Myra, water believed to have healing powers formed in his grave. It is called the Manna of Saint Nicholas.
• December 6th is also known as The Feast of St. Nicholas, widely celebrated in Europe.

How to Observe #StNicholasDay

Incorporate some Saint Nicholas Day traditions into your holiday season. Slip a gift or surprise into someone’s shoe. It doesn’t have to be anything elaborate.

• You could leave a special note or a small wrapped piece of chocolate.
• Leave a coin or an ornament for the tree.
• Tuck a stress ball or a new pair of socks into a loved one’s pair of shoes.
• A fun air freshener or small bath bomb are two more fun gifts to sneak into a pair of shoes.

Share the story of St. Nicholas. Use #StNicholasDay to post on social media.

St. Nicholas Day is celebrated worldwide on the anniversary of his death, December 6th.

Once in a small Russian town, there lived a women called Babushka. Babushka always had work to do sweeping, polishing, dusting and cleaning. Her house was the best kept, most tidy house in the whole village. Her garden was beautiful, and her cooking was wonderful. One evening she was busy dusting and cleaning, so busy that she didn’t hear all the villagers outside in the village square talking about and looking at the new star in sky.

She had heard about the new star but thought, “All this fuss about a star! I don’t even have the time to look because I’m so behind with my work. I must work all night!” So, she missed the star as it shone brightly, high overhead. She also missed the little line of twinkling lights coming down towards the village at dawn. She didn’t hear the sounds of the pipes and drums. She missed the voices and whispers of the villagers wondering whether the lights were an army or a procession of some sort. She missed the sudden quiet of the villagers and even the footsteps coming up the path to her door. But the one thing that she couldn’t miss was the loud knocking on her front door!

“Now what is that?” she wondered, opening the door. Babushka gaped in amazement. There were three kings at her door with one of their servants! “My masters need a place to rest,” the servant said, “and yours is the best house in the village.” “You want to stay here?” asked Babushka. “Yes, it would only be until night falls and the star appears again.” the servant replied. Babushka gulped. “Come in, then.” she said.

The kings were very pleased when they saw all of the of the home-baked bread, pies and cakes. She dashed about, serving them, asking lots of questions. “Have you come a long way?” “A very long way.” sighed Caspar. “Where are you going?” “We’re following the new star.” said Melchior. “But where?” The kings didn’t know, but they believed that it would lead the to a new-born king, a King of Earth and Heaven. “Why don’t you come with us?” asked Balthasar. “You could bring him a gift like we do. I bring gold, and my colleagues bring spices and perfumes.” “Oh, I’m not sure that he would welcome me,” said Babushka, “and what could I bring for a gift? Toys! I know I could bring a toy. I’ve got a cupboard full of toys.” she said sadly. “My baby son, died when he was small.” Balthasar stopped her as she went to tidy the kitchen up. “This new king could be your king too. Come with us when the star appears tonight.” he said. “I’ll think about it.” sighed Babushka.

As the kings slept, Babushka tidied up as quietly as she could. “What a lot of extra work there was!” she thought, “and this new king, what a funny idea, to go off with the kings to find him.”

Babushka shook herself. There was no time for dreaming, all this washing-up and putting away had to be done. “Anyway,” she thought, “how long would she be away? What would she wear? What about the gift?” She sighed. “There is so much to do. The house will have to be cleaned when they’ve gone. I couldn’t just leave it.” Suddenly it was night-time again and the star was in the sky. “Are you ready, Babushka?” asked Balthasar. “I’ll come tomorrow,” Babushka called, “I must just tidy here first and find a gift.”

The kings went away sadly. Babushka ran back into her house, keen to get on with her work.

Finally, she went to the small cupboard, opened the door and gazed at all the toys. But they were very dusty. They weren’t fit for a baby king. They would all need to be cleaned. She cleaned all of the toys until each one shined. Babushka looked through the window. It was morning! The star had come and gone. The kings would have found somewhere else to rest by now. She could easily catch them up, but she felt so tired. She had to sleep. The next thing she knew, she was awake, and it was dark outside. She had slept all day! She quickly pulled on her cloak, packed the toys in a basket and ran down the path the kings had taken.

Everywhere she asked, “Have you seen the kings?” “Oh yes,” everyone told her, “We saw them. They went that way.” For a day Babushka followed the trail of the kings and the villages got bigger and became towns. But Babushka never stopped. Then she came to a city. “The palace,” she thought. “That’s where the royal baby would be born.” “No, there is no royal baby here,” said the palace guard when she asked him. “What about three kings?” asked Babushka. “Oh yes, they came here, but they didn’t stay long. They were soon on their journey.” “But where to?” asked Babushka. “Bethlehem, that was the place. I can’t imagine why. It’s a very poor place. But that’s where they went.” replied the guard. She set off towards Bethlehem. It was evening when Babushka arrived at Bethlehem, and she had been traveling for a long time. She went into the local inn and asked about the kings. “Oh yes,” said the landlord, “the kings were here two days ago. They were very excited, but they didn’t even stay the night.” “And what about a baby?” Babushka cried. “Yes, there was.” Said the landlord. “The kings asked about a baby, too.” When he saw the disappointment in Babushka’s eyes, he stopped. “If you’d like to see where the baby was,” he said quickly, “it was across the yard there. I couldn’t offer the couple anything better at the time. My inn was really full, so they had to go in the stable.”

Babushka followed him across the yard. “Here’s the stable.” he said. He left her in the stable. “Babushka?” Someone was calling her from the doorway. He looked kindly at her. She wondered if he knew where the family had gone. She knew now that the baby king was the most important thing in the world to her. “They have gone to Egypt, and safety,” he told Babushka. “And the kings have returned to their countries. But one of them told me about you. I am sorry but you are too late. It was Jesus that they found, the world’s Savior.”

Babushka was very sad that she had missed Jesus and it is said that Babushka is still looking for him.

It is said that Babushka travels the earth on Christmas Eve leaving toys on the doorsteps of homes of children in hopes that the Christ child is there.

Detail: The Life & Miracles of Saint Nicholas
Artist: Alexander Boguslawski
St. Nicholas Center Collection

In AD 325 Emperor Constantine convened the Council of Nicaea, the very first ecumenical council. More than 300 bishops came from all over the Christian world to debate the nature of the Holy Trinity. It was one of the early church’s most intense theological questions. Arius, from Egypt, was teaching that Jesus the Son was not equal to God the Father. Arius forcefully argued his position at length. The bishops listened respectfully.

As Arius vigorously continued, Nicholas became more and more agitated. Finally, he could no longer bear what he believed was essential being attacked. The outraged Nicholas got up, crossed the room, and slapped Arius across the face! The bishops were shocked. It was unbelievable that a bishop would lose control and be so hotheaded in such a solemn assembly. They brought Nicholas to Constantine. Constantine said even though it was illegal for anyone to strike another in his presence, in this case, the bishops themselves must determine the punishment.

The bishops stripped Nicholas of his bishop’s garments, chained him, and threw him into jail. That would keep Nicholas away from the meeting. When the Council ended a final decision would be made about his future.

Nicholas was ashamed and prayed for forgiveness, though he did not waver in his belief. During the night, Jesus and Mary his Mother, appeared,* asking, “Why are you in jail?” “Because of my love for you,” Nicholas replied. Jesus then gave the Book of the Gospels to Nicholas. Mary gave him an omophorion, so Nicholas would again be dressed as a bishop. Now at peace, Nicholas studied the Scriptures for the rest of the night.

When the jailer came in the morning, he found the chains loose on the floor and Nicholas dressed in bishop’s robes, quietly reading the Scriptures. When Constantine was told of this, the emperor asked that Nicholas be freed. Nicholas was then fully reinstated as the Bishop of Myra.

The Council of Nicaea agreed with Nicholas’ views, deciding the question against Arius. The work of the Council produced the Nicene Creed which to this day many Christians repeat weekly when they stand to say what they believe.

Kissing Under the Mistletoe

Norse
The legend behind kissing under the mistletoe comes from Norse mythology. It is said that there was a god named Baldr. He had a premonition about his death, and he knew he was going to be murdered. His mother Frigg was worried about this and made every living thing promise that they would not kill her son. The only thing that she left out was the mistletoe. Loki, an evil God who knew about this, wanting to exploit this opportunity, attended an assembly in Valhalla, where all the Gods were taking turns in shooting arrows at Baldr for fun; they were in awe when they saw that nothing could harm him. Loki handed Holder, Baldr’s blind brother, an arrow made from mistletoe and asked him to take a shot at Loki too. This arrow killed Baldr. For three days after his death, every living thing came to revive him but failed. Finally, he was revived by Frigg and the mistletoe itself. Frigg’s tears became little white berries on the mistletoe plant, and she said that anyone who stood under the mistletoe would never be harmed and would be entitled to a kiss. There are many different endings to the legend.

These are all printable or go to the link.

Email Santa at santapatrick@hotmail.com for the answers.