As we begin the season of Advent today, I thought it would interesting to look at some of the traditions associated with this liturgical season. And one is coming up this week, which is not as popular in the United States as it is in Europe, but still one that many Catholics still celebrate – St. Nicholas Day, December 6.

First we should talk about who St. Nicholas was. St. Nicholas was born in 270 AD in the maritime town of Myra, which is in present day Turkey. We do not know a lot about him, but it is said that his parents were wealthy, but sadly they died when Nicholas was a teenager. His uncle, who was the Bishop of Myra, took care of Nicholas until he was an adult, and it was his uncle who first recognized in Nicholas a generous heart and encourage him to become a priest. Nicholas did become a priest, gave most of the money he inherited to the poor, and eventually became the Bishop of Myra like his uncle had been.

St. Nicholas is the patron saint of quite a few groups, among them children, sailors, merchants, and archers. But there are two groups of which he is the patron saint that have interesting stories attached to them: prostitutes and prisoners. For the first, the story goes that there was a poor man who had three daughters. In order to pay off his debts, he was going to make his daughters work as prostitutes. St. Nicholas heard about this, and on three consecutive nights threw a bag of gold coins down the chimney, one bag for each daughter. Not only did the girls not have to work as prostitutes, after paying his debts, the father had enough money left over for dowries to get his daughters married.

So why would a kind, generous man like St. Nicholas be the patron saint of prisoners? It is not because of his ministry to them, rather it was because he was one. During the Council of Nicea, the heretic Arius was defending his position that Jesus was not divine. Such an insult to our Lord’s being so upset St. Nicholas that he went up to Arius and slapped him. The Emperor’s representative did not find that proper behavior and had Nicholas imprisoned for a few days.

St. Nicholas Day is much more celebrated in northern European countries. It usually starts with a special dinner the night before. Then before going to bed, the children will place their shoes out in front of the fireplace. In the morning they will find small presents, candy and other goodies in their shoes. Traditionally they would get chocolate shaped and wrapped in gold foil to look like coins, like the real gold coins St. Nicholas dropped down the chimney. Oranges are also given since they kind of look like gold. The day’s celebration is then completed with the St. Nicholas Day Parade, at the end of which St. Nicholas, dressed in bishop’s vestments comes riding in on a sleigh or wagon, depending if there is snow on the ground. 

Oh, one last tradition associated with St. Nicholas, the candy cane. The shape of the candy cane is that of a crosier, the shepherd staff that bishops carry. St. Nicholas is the inspiration for Santa Claus.