Less than two weeks from today, we will celebrate the birth of the Son of Man. In
honor of this Holy Day, I wanted to pay tribute to a disciple of Jesus
whose name we speak on a regular basis at this time of year, but how
much do we really know about this man, a true Son of God? This wonderful
and great man was born into a wealthy family, yet with the death of his
parents, he did not use his wealth for himself to gain power and
influence, instead he became a priest and did with his fortune that
which would please and glorify God. He traveled all over the country of
his birth, helping the needy, especially children. This man, being a
priest, never married and had children of his own, but he loved them all
as if he was the father of each one, much as Jesus did.
I found a very good story on the life of this servant of the Lord, and I
wanted to share it with you, in hopes that you'll, in turn, share it
with someone else, maybe a child. You see, this man was later canonized
as the Patron Saint of Children and Sailors (because of his concern for
ships and sailors). Without further delay, I present to you....
The Story of St. Nicholas
A Christmas stocking refers to an empty sock or sock-shaped bag
that children hang on Christmas Eve in the belief that it is to be
filled with presents by Santa Claus. The gifts are generally of a
small nature, consisting generally of small toys, goodies like
candies and fruits, coins or other such items that are often
referred to as stocking stuffers or stocking fillers. The bigger
gifts are wrapped in present papers and placed near the Christmas
tree.
The tradition of Christmas
stockings
is said to have originated from the actions of a kind noble man
named Nicholas, who was born in 280 AD, in Patara, a city of
Lycia, in Asia Minor. While still young, his wealthy parents died
in an epidemic. A true follower of Jesus Christ's principles,
Nicholas became a Christian priest and used all his riches to help
the poor, the needy, the sick, and the suffering. He
dedicated his life in the service of God and was made Bishop of
Myra at a young age. Bishop Nicholas became known throughout the
land for his kindness and generosity. A true celibate, Nicholas
never married and had no children of his own. But he loved
children greatly and often gave gifts to the kids of his hometown.
This is why, he became known as the gift giver of Myra. A rich
man, he traveled across the country helping people, giving gifts
of money and other presents. However, Nicholas always gave his
gifts late at night, so that his identity would remain a secret.
He did not like to be seen when he gave away presents, so the
children of the day were told to go to sleep quickly or he would
not come! Nicholas was eventually named the patron saint of
children and sailors (because of his concern for sailors and
ships) and came to be known as Saint Nicholas.
Through the centuries many stories and legends have been told of
Saint Nicholas' life and deeds. One popular account tells us of a
poor peasant who lived happily in a small cottage in Patara, Saint
Nicholas' hometown, with his wife and three daughters. But their
happiness was short-lived when the wife suddenly died of an
illness one day, leaving the poor man and his three daughters in
despair. All the burden of household chores now fell upon the
daughters while their father trudged on with his life with a heavy
heart.
When the daughters reached a marriageable age, the poor father
became even more depressed for he knew he could in no way marry
them off to good men. In those days a young woman's father had to
offer prospective
husbands
something of value - a dowry. Without a dowry, this poor man's
daughters were unlikely to marry. The helpless father looked
around desperately for some solution while her daughters did their
own cooking, sewing and cleaning.
Meanwhile, Saint Nicholas had come to know of the poor peasant and
his daughters. Knowing the financial condition of the father, the
kindly saint decided to help him. But he wanted to do this
secretly. So he went to the peasant's house one night with a bag
of gold and waited for the family to go to bed before he could
throw the bag through the open cottage window.
That night, after finishing their washing for the day, the
daughters had hung their stockings by the fireplace to dry. Little
did they know that their benefactor was hiding nearby, waiting
for them to go to sleep. A little later, as they turned of the
lamps and fell asleep, St. Nicholas tiptoed to the cottage window
and peeked inside. In the light of the moon, he saw the daughters'
stockings hanging close to his reach. He carefully put in his bag
of gold in one of the stockings and went away as stealthily as he
came.
When the father found the bag the next morning and opened it, he
was ecstatic. There was enough gold in the stocking to pay for the
dowry of one daughter. It seemed like a godsend to him. Who could
have sent it, he wondered. With this timely gift the father was
able to provide for his eldest daughter and saw that she got
married to a nice
groom.
On another night Saint Nicholas set off with one more bag of gold,
and threw it carefully into another stocking, so that the second
daughter was provided for.
When his daughters excitedly brought the bag to their father the
following morning and opened it, he could not believe his
eyes. With this gift the father was able to marry off his second daughter too.
But by this time, the father had grown eager to discover his
mysterious benefactor, and next night he kept on the lookout.
Then, for the third time Saint Nicholas came with a bag of gold
upon his back and walked on to the window. The old lord at once
recognized his fellow townsman. He fell on his knees before the
kindly Bishop, cried out in joy and gratitude and thanked him with
all his heart. With his blessings of Saint Nicholas, the poor
father was able to see his three daughters get married. He lived a
long and happy life thereafter.
And this is how the tradition of Christmas stockings is said to
have started in the European countries. It is also believed that
Santa Claus is actually an alteration of this same Saint Nicholas,
Santa standing for Saint and Claus for Nicholas.
Since then children have been hanging Christmas stockings or
putting out shoes, eagerly awaiting for gifts from Santa Claus.
Originally, children simply used one of their everyday socks, but
with time special Christmas stockings were created for this
purpose. Today, Christmas stockings of a wide variety of styles
and sizes can be found in gift stores across countries. There are
also special Christmas stockings available in the market.
In modern culture, Christmas stockings are also a popular homemade craft. Some families
design
unique stockings for each family member. Many families create
their own Christmas stockings stitching the name of each family
member to the stocking so that Santa knows which stocking belongs
to which family member.
In some countries, the contents of the Christmas stocking are the only gifts that a
child
receives at Christmas from Santa Claus. Western Christmas
tradition dictates that a child who behaves badly during the year
will not get a gift in their Christmas stocking and will receive a
piece of coal instead.
In many places, the Christmas stocking is to be stuffed by a gift
that will stimulate the five sensory organs. Traditional
celebrations of Christmas demand that the stocking be hung on the
fireplace mantel. However, since many contemporary homes do not
have fireplaces, stockings are hung in almost any location.
Today, children all over the world continue the tradition of
hanging Christmas stockings. Kids of all nations look forward to
Christmas and when the stockings are hung, they know the most
anticipated time of the year is not far behind.
