St . Nicholas Day

The 6th of December is the feast of St. Nicholas. He was the bishop of Myra,in Asia Minor, early in the fourth century. He is well known for his generosity. As legend goes, he wanted to anonymously help a very poor man who had three daughters. Nicholas went during the night to the house of the poor family and tossed a bag of money through the window. The man used the money as the dowry for his eldest daughter. Nicholas returned again and left money for the next daughter. The father was determined to find out who was leaving the generous gifts and so resolved to stay awake and see if the late night visitor returned. After Nicholas threw a third bag of gold through the window, the poor father chased after him and thanked him for saving him from turning to evil means of acquiring money and so saving him from ruin. As centuries went by, devotion to this Saint spread and the tradition of leaving a shoe or stocking out on the eve of his feast day (the anniversary of his death) in hopes that one would find it filled with goodies and treats, became widespread in Asia Minor and throughout all of Europe.
To carry on this tradition, we put out our stockings before going to bed on Dec. 5th. Connor and Laura had SO much fun finding the gifts in the morning. They tried to get Sophie excited but she just wanted to smile at the camera.