Christmas: St. Nicholas

[Guest guest]

Hi y'all,

 

I reckon its time we oughta mebbe consider gitting into a Christmas

Spirit if'n you ain't already there. Matters not a lot (methinks)

whether one observes this holiday for religious reasons or just because

its a traditional time for the gathering of friends and family and being

cheerful and such. One thing fer'shur is that if'n they live in the

U.S. of A. they can't escape the commercial activity. ;-)

 

If this post or any that follow upsets the delicate feelings of any

person they might wanna ask Santa Claus to bring'em some skin toughening

cream or whatever. ;-)

 

The REAL Saint Nicholas was born in what is now Turkey but Santa Claus

was originally hatched out in Holland.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Nicholas

http://www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix?pageID=569

 

Interesting at the above URL are the customs of various countries.

 

I've been to St. Nicholas' church (one of many in the world) many times

over the years. The statute outside the church actually resembles Santa

Claus .. it has no resemblance to the real St. Nicholas.

 

The below information will be old hat to some .. but interesting trivia

it is .. methinks.

 

St. Nicholas was born in 280 AD, in Patara, a city of Lycia, in Asia

Minor (now Demre, in the Republic of Turkey). He was known as the Gift

Giver of Myra .. gifts were given late at night, so the gift giver's

identity would remain a secret. St. Nicholas was eventually named the

patron saint of children, sailors, Russia and Greece.

 

St. Nicholas, a Christian priest, who later became a bishop, was a rich

person who traveled the country helping people, giving gifts of money

and other presents. The custom caught on .. and as he didn't like to be

seen when he gave away presents, children of the day were told to go to

sleep quickly or he would not come!

 

Nothing has changed for the children .. and I plan to wait up and have a

toddy or three with Santa Claus on Christmas Eve.

 

One story about St. Nicholas tells of a poor man who had no money to

give to his three daughters as dowries on their wedding day. St. Nick

dropped bags of gold into the stockings which the girls had left to dry

by the fire. The sisters found the gold and ever since then, children

have hung up stockings on Christmas Eve hoping that they will be filled

with presents by Christmas morning.

 

Despite being a young man, St. Nicholas quickly earned a reputation for

kindliness and wisdom and that information quickly got back to Rome. In

the year 303, the Roman Emperor Diocletian commanded all the citizens of

the Roman Empire, which included Asia Minor, to worship him as a god.

 

Christians believed in one god so their conscience wouldn't allow them

to obey the Emperor's order. Angered by their stubbornness, Diocletian

warned the Christians that they would be imprisoned. The Emperor carried

out the threat and St. Nicholas, who also resisted, was imprisoned. For

more than five years he was confined to a small cell and suffered from

cold, hunger, and thirst, but he never wavered in his beliefs.

 

In 313, when Diocletian resigned and Emperor Constantine came to power,

Nicholas was released and returned to his post as Bishop of Myra. He

continued his good works and became even wiser, more understanding and

more famous by the time of his death on December 6, 343.

 

By 450, churches in Asia Minor and Greece were being named in honor of

St. Nicholas. By 800, he was officially recognized as the a Saint by

the Eastern Catholic Church.

 

In the 1200s, December sixth began to be celebrated as Bishop Nicholas

Day in France.

 

By end of the 1400s, St. Nicholas was the third most beloved religious

figure, after Jesus and Mary. There were more than 2000 chapels and

monasteries named after him. (One on the Southern coast of Turkey)

 

In the 1500s people in England stopped worshipping St. Nicholas and

began to favor another gift giving figure .. Father Christmas. But over

the centuries, St. Nicholas' popularity grew, and many people in Europe

made up new stories that showed his concern for children.

 

The name Santa Claus was derived from the Dutch pronunciation of St.

Nicholas (Sinter Klass). Early Dutch settlers in New York brought their

traditions of St. Nicholas. As children from other countries tried to

pronounce Sinter Klass, this soon became Santa Klass, which was settled

as Santa Claus. The old bishop's cloak with mitre, jeweled gloves and

crozier were soon replaced with his red suit and clothing seen in other

modern images.

 

A bit more trivia .. the Virgin Mary and birth of Jesus Christ is

accepted as factual by Moslems .. in fact, there is more written about

the Virgin Mary in the Koran than we find in the New Testament. And

the last home of the Virgin Mary is just outside the ancient city of

Ephesus .. in Turkey. Its staffed year around by Protestant, Catholic

and Moslem religious persons from around the world. A laundry list of

factual events regarding healings following prayer and drinking of the

water from the natural spring (said to be the one Mary drank from) is

posted in the chapel. I say these are factual events because most of

them are newspaper articles from around the world. Matters not to me

others think .. the articles and crutches and such are there for us

to see and we can take them as we want to.

 

Generally speaking, Turks (except Turkish Christians) don't celebrate

Christmas .. though they consider Jesus Christ as a Holy Prophet and his

mother, Mary, as a Divine person of great power .. they honor her.

 

Turks have adopted the habit of putting up Christmas Trees identical to

the ones we find in the West. They like the idea of a Santa Claus (Noel

Baba) .. we can find them outside shops giving small gifts and trying to

entice shoppers to come in and buy something.

 

In the Turkish town of Demre, the birth of Santa Claus, or St. Nicholas

is celebrated each year during a three-day festival in early December.

St. Nicholas is still remembered and admired as a famous Turkish

archbishop, and also for his piety and kindness to children. Kindness

to children is demanded and practiced here in Turkey .. in fact, they

spoil the little yonkers. ;-)

 

Hope all the good folks on the list had a Very Merry Christmas .. and

hoping Noel Baba is good to you.

 

Y'all keep smiling. :-) Butch .. in Ankara .. http://www.AV-AT.com

 

Wholesale/Retail GC Tested EO, Tested Hydrosols, Rose Products and other

nice things sent from our store in Downtown Friendsville, MD. Pop: 597

[Guest guest]

Sint Nicholas Eve, or Sinterklaas (Dec 5) is the one

and only day of the whole year that I would rather

be in Holland.

 

The tradition is apparently fading a bit, with

the jolly American impostor making some inroads

and more people doing the gift-giving at Christmas.

But most Dutch kids still wait with great anticipation

for the evening.

 

The season starts at the end of November, when

The SteamBoat bearing the saint, horse, servants

and all, arrives from Spain.

 

I remember standing in line for hours to watch

the parade, these days it is apparently televised.

 

During the lead-up weeks to the big night we got

to put out our shoes, sometimes with some treat

for the horse, like carrots or a bit of hay.

 

We'd find some special candy in the morning,

or sometimes even a small toy.

There are lots of special treats only seen at this

time of year.

 

On the special night Sinterklaas rides over the rooftops

on his white horse, accompanied by his faithful sidekick

Zwarte Piet (Black Peter)

 

Sinterklaas himself is always portrayed in traditional

bishop's outfit, with miter and staff.

Zwarte Piet is dressed in sixteenth century style, with

short puffy pants and tights and wears exaggerated

blackface.

 

He may be one, or many, but his name never varies.

 

He carries a big switch with which he will whip

kids who have been bad, and if you have been

really bad you might get stuffed into the big empty

toy bag and taken to Spain.

 

The obsession with Spain comes from the long-ago

time when the Low Countries were part of the

Spanish empire. The eighty-year war (1568-1648)

was the equivalent of the US war of independence.

 

On the night itself, in a family that does a good

Sinterklaas, there is a lot more going on than

mere gift giving.

 

Each adult is expected to provide at least one

gift wrapped up in some original way, and/or

accompanied by a doggerel poem that has to

be read out loud by the recipient.

 

In its present form, Sinterklaas is about as old

as the Victorian style Christmas. Mid nineteenth

century. It will undoubtedly change again.

 

Thanks, Butch, for the inspiration to waste a pleasant

hour Googling (at google.nl) history of Sinterklaas!

 

Ien in the Kootenays, formerly from Amsterdam

*************************

" Never mind what the book says.

God gave you a brain. "

~A.T. Still, founder of Osteopathy

Who is this Kootenay person anyway?

http://greatestnetworker.com/ien

**************************

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Thanks for that Ien, Reminded me of How the Finns celebrate and the Swedes

as well... but as I was married to the Finn, is THOSE memories that are

stronger as after the divorce, I celebrated xmas alone for many years. Funny

the things one forgets ;-)

 

K

 

 

On 12/22/05, Ieneke van Houten <ienvan wrote:

>

> Sint Nicholas Eve, or Sinterklaas (Dec 5) is the one

> and only day of the whole year that I would rather

> be in Holland.

>

> --

> Cheers!

> Kathleen Petrides

> The Woobey Queen

> Http://www.woobeyworld.com