St. Nicholas Day

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

Ok, so this blog was inspired by a debate between my cousin, Kristen and I. Every year, our family not only celebrates Christmas, but a few weeks before, St. Nicholas Day (December 6th).

Insert very brief background: St. Nicholas was known as Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, back in the day and is now known as the inspiration for Santa Claus all throughout Europe. The most popular legend about him says that a poor peasant had 3 daughters and no way to pay for their dowries. During that time, that basically meant the women were out of luck and would remain unmarried their entire lives. Furthermore, without proper employment, they would probably starve after their father passed. Upon hearing this story, Nicholas, who was of a wealthy family, left three bags of gold coins on their windowsill one night—one for each girl. Thus, through Christianity, the popular tradition of presents from Santa Claus was born.

But if we celebrate Christmas already on December 25th, why celebrate St. Nicholas Day and also exchange presents? December 25th was chosen not only because it coincided with the winter solstice but because many pagan religions’ savior-gods happened to be born on that day too: Attis (Roman), Dionysus (Greek), Osiris (Egyptian) and Mithra (Persian). That’s all fine and dandy for the birth of the Christian Savior/God, Jesus, but what about gift-giving? The Feast of St. Nicholas makes a lot more sense or even the Epiphany (January 6th) which celebrated the gifts of the Magi to baby Jesus. Anyhow, it is popular tradition in America to exchange presents on December 25th. The argument is then made that it seems pointless to exchange small presents to commemorate this ancient tradition (and also family custom in this instance) when we will exchange presents a few weeks later anyway.

I personally feel America is an excellent example of inter-mixing cultures. St. Nicholas’ Day is an instance of European traditions immigrating to the U.S. as well. It is these seemingly unnecessary or outdated customs that make a culture a culture. In a lot of my International Studies classes, we debate about cultural homogenization. For example, technology and modern education has caused many distinct and isolated peoples to come into contact with the Western World, however, it also threatens to destroy the uniqueness of those peoples. Think of how many traditions your ancestors took part in that we only talk about, or mention in history papers today. Over time, many customs are lost in favor of whatever is popular or convenient at that time. I, for one, want to take part in the customs that defined my heritage and fight against complete homogenization, even if it means sticking to something as small an exchanging ornaments or a bag of pistachios every December 6th. I believe it is the history, language, and customs of a people that create a culture. I want to take part in it, not ignore it.

Plus it’s kind of fun to have something unique from other families during the holiday season.

Things you may not have known about St. Nick:

*He is the patron saint of sailors, merchants, archers, the falsely accused, repentant thieves, prostitutes, pharmacists and pawnbrokers.

*He was Turkish (it was a Greek colony at the time, however) and in Turkey today, there is a museum specifically dedicated to him and the different adaptations of him around the globe. It is also a highly sought after destination for couples getting married.

*He is also known as “Nicholas the WonderWorker”.

*His relics were moved to Bari, Italy during the 11th century, but in 2009, the Turkish government formally requested that they be returned to Nicholas’ homeland.