Every year in late May or early June, I start growing my beard out so I can play St. Nicholas on December 6 and Santa the rest of the month. This year I did somewhat more for St. Nicholas Day than usual, much to the delight of the students at our monastery's high school.
St. Nicholas of Myra was a bishop in Asia Minor. His parents were wealthy, but died in an epidemic when he was a young priest. He used his inheritance to help the poor and the sick. He was exiled and imprisoned during the persecution under Emperor Diocletian, but after Constantine legalized Christianity, he was released and later attended the Council of Nicea. He died in 343 A.D. Many stories and legends are told of his generosity to the poor, one of which is the origin of the legend of Santa Claus coming down the chimney to leave gifts. You can learn more HERE at the "Saint Nicholas Center" website, which has a wealth of information about the traditions surrounding the saint.
St. Nicholas of Myra was a bishop in Asia Minor. His parents were wealthy, but died in an epidemic when he was a young priest. He used his inheritance to help the poor and the sick. He was exiled and imprisoned during the persecution under Emperor Diocletian, but after Constantine legalized Christianity, he was released and later attended the Council of Nicea. He died in 343 A.D. Many stories and legends are told of his generosity to the poor, one of which is the origin of the legend of Santa Claus coming down the chimney to leave gifts. You can learn more HERE at the "Saint Nicholas Center" website, which has a wealth of information about the traditions surrounding the saint.
One of my favorite St. Nicholas Day traditions is making speculaas, a crisp spice cookie often made in molds in the shape of the saint. The recipe may be found in a previous blog from several years ago. I spent the last two nights making them for my three religion classes. I also had a free period just before lunch on the saint's day, so I made big batches of cinnamon sugar donut holes to share with even more students as they entered the student refectory. It's not hard to make a LOT of donut holes when your school kitchen has an industrial-sized fryer that can fry 80 donut holes at a time! In case you're wondering what recipe I used for the dough, I have no shame in admitting that I used canned biscuits cut into bite-sized pieces. My mom used to make these sweet treats for parish potlucks and they're a favorite with my Stage Rats. You can find instructions HERE.
It was a lot of work to get ready for my stint as the saintly bishop who inspired the legend of Santa Claus, but it gave me an opportunity to teach some valuable lessons. My students learned about an important holy man from church history, and (one hopes) were inspired by his example of courage, compassion and generosity. I was able to model that generous spirit and spread joy by handing out treats--you should have seen the kids' eyes light up when they saw me with that basket of goodies! Above all, the day was an example of our school's mission "to educate the whole student", mind, body, and spirit; not just book knowledge but creativity and culture and Christian values made real in something as simple as a smile and cookie.
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