Comments on: The Tradition of St. Nicholas Day Around the World (December 6th)

By: Kristen

Kristen — Mon, 04 Dec 2023 03:28:56 +0000

Great article! We also celebrate by leaving shoes out and they get filled with a few small treats and maybe a gift or two, usually with a more religious theme (Tiny Saints charms are a cool one). I love your idea of blessing others with the traveling St. Nicholas and encouraging them to pass it on.

By: Lynda Landgraf

Lynda Landgraf — Mon, 29 Nov 2021 21:15:57 +0000

We celebrate by giving of a small gift from st. Nicholas , to the kids, and a reminder that Christmas is coming so they should try hard to behave. I have a box that is shaped like st. nick , so it is filled with the surprises.

By: Donna Mosher

Donna Mosher — Mon, 07 Dec 2020 14:54:43 +0000

In reply to Laura. Just what I was going to say!

By: Tima

Tima — Sun, 06 Dec 2020 15:51:11 +0000

I come from a town in the Veneto region bordering Friuli, as a child I used to put my shoes out on the evening on Dec 5th and then find small gifts the morning after. We called him San Nicolo’ he will come with his donkey late that night.
I celebrated the same tradition here in the States with my son when he was little.
Such great memories

By: Kristi

Kristi — Fri, 06 Dec 2019 18:07:17 +0000

Yes! My family has always celebrated this tradition. My husband did not and thought I made up a holiday. It wasn’t until I moved away from home that I learned I was in the minority. We always received candy and a small toy at home and a new ornament and Grandma and Grandpa’s house. My mom also let my brother and I pick out our own wrapping paper for our Christmas gifts and we would leave it for St. Nick to take back to Santa!

By: Ann Stokman

Ann Stokman — Thu, 06 Dec 2018 10:52:15 +0000

Lovely article detailing all about St. Nick’s day..I always celebrate the day with my parents..

By: Tija

Tija — Mon, 03 Dec 2018 00:27:21 +0000

Hi,
I really like the post about St Nicolas. People in North America, at least the one I know, are not very familiar with the story of St. Nicolas. However, there are few things here that are not correct. Serbian Orthodox and Macedonian Orthodox celebrate St. Nicolas day on December 18th, and it is a patron saint of many Orthodox families there. Greeks and Bulgarian have accepted a new calendar, thus they celebrate on Dec 5th, and they have a village or a city St. celebration. Romanian Orthodox are also celebrating on Dec 18, but I don’t think they do it as a patron day.
Albania is a Muslim country, and if someone celebrates St. Nicolas there, it would be Orthodox or some other Christian group.
Orthodox don’t fast for St. Nicolas deliberately, they have a Great Fast of 40 days that last till January 7t or December 25th, depending on following old or a new Callander. St. Nicolas always falls on a fasting day, since it is during the Great Lent, and you can eat fish, but no meat, eggs, dairy products or anything from an animal rather than fish.
So St. Nicolas has nothing to do with the Great Fast itself, it is vice verse.

By: Jenny

Jenny — Fri, 08 Dec 2017 13:44:07 +0000

Thank you for sharing this info, I was curious about the 6th December traditions! We are expats living in France and today my son will receive a gift from Saint Nic in his slipper at school under the Christmas Tree (it’s a lovely Montessori school).

By: Rachel

Rachel — Fri, 08 Dec 2017 06:34:45 +0000

In reply to Beth. If I'm understanding your description correctly, Wise Men's Day sounds like it's Epiphany.

By: Min

Min — Thu, 07 Dec 2017 09:35:06 +0000

Yes, the Fest of the Three Kings (Heilige Drei Könige) is still alive and well in the Catholic parts of Germany. It’s celebrated on the 6th of January, and normally childreen dress up like the three kings and go door to door in groups singing songs and collecting money for different charities. They also mark your door with chalk to show that you have been visited by the three kings.

By: Ninon

Ninon — Wed, 06 Dec 2017 22:30:08 +0000

In reply to Nine. Yes! Also, Sinterklaas only has one horse here in The Netherlands: Amerigo is his name. Love that you made an article for this tradition! :-)

By: Rochelle

Rochelle — Wed, 06 Dec 2017 19:27:05 +0000

I just have to say that I love that your blog is becoming more and more Catholic! Thank you for your family’s beautiful witness and for sharing the beauty of our faith, homeschooling, and intentional natural living. 🙂

By: Maggie

Maggie — Wed, 06 Dec 2017 17:13:03 +0000

We love St. Nicholas and love celebrating his feast day! Kids (and adults!) enjoy receiving small gifts and chocolate in their stockings today; I really like how you tie in the random acts of kindness as well. Great article, thanks for sharing this wonderful information, Katie 🙂

By: Beth

Beth — Wed, 06 Dec 2017 05:56:53 +0000

What an informative article! I really inspired me to look into St Nicolas Day. As a note, however, one of your subtitles reads “St. Nicholas Day Around the World” and you went into details about how various regions and countries in Europe celebrate the day. I know you mean well, but Europe is not the whole world.

But now that we are talking about obscure holidays, have you ever heard of Wise Men’s day? I am not sure what the Low German word is actually, but my Mennonite husband claims his family used to celebrate a day int he First week of January commemorating the coming of the Wise Men and the gifts they brought Jesus. This was the day of merry making, and Christmas, which they held weeks before was a solemn holy day of church going and hymn singing all day long.

By: Jane

Jane — Mon, 04 Dec 2017 22:23:21 +0000

My mom is German/Austrian and my father is Polish. Our family of nine kids celebrated St. Nicolas when I was growing up and I continue this tradition with my kids. We set our stockings out the night before St. Nicolas comes and the kids receive small gifts and treats. It’s a fun way to start the Christmas season!

By: Laura

Laura — Mon, 04 Dec 2017 18:13:09 +0000

Oranges actually are in season in December!

By: Doina

Doina — Mon, 04 Dec 2017 17:54:48 +0000

I love how you have started it with Greece and all of the translation is in Albanian. 🙂 Made my day.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Sun, 03 Dec 2017 14:30:20 +0000

Thanks – this is a really great summary of various St. Nicholas traditions and I like your ideas of how how to celebrate with the kids and friends. We live in Germany, and Nikolaustag is really a lot of fun. Even the Krampus part. They usually run around town on the 6th causing mischief, and some of the costumes are amazing. And don’t forget to polish your boots before you put them out 🙂

By: Rosemary

Rosemary — Sun, 03 Dec 2017 14:04:45 +0000

I was born in Germany and grew up in Belgium but unfortunately I’m not sure I have any happy memories about this day. In belgium as you may not know… this tradition has created heated conversations about Blackface ” Black Piet” who in most people’s eyes represents a slave… Belgium and The Netherlands have fought hard to keep this tradition with Black piet alive although it has racists undertone. As a mom now, I struggle with the idea that I should celebrate this day when my child could be associated negatively with it. I love the way you have made it your own and it reminded me that traditions were created by us humans and we should not feel forced to celebrate it like others. Thank you

By: Rosanna

Rosanna — Sat, 02 Dec 2017 18:44:47 +0000

Yes, it’s changing slowly, but before the racist elements are completely eradicated? Still ongoing, especially in the debates of some of the conservative ‘opposition’.