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Once upon a time, there was a gentleman
who lost his wife, money and home and was left with no dowry for his 3
daughters. He was very depressed by this fact and didn't know what he would
do. One night, the daughters washed their stockings and hung them over
the fireplace to dry as they often did and went to bed. St Nicholas, aware
of the family's plight, threw three small bags of gold down the chimney
into the stockings. When the girls took the stockings down, they contained
gold enough for them to marry.
This begun a tradition that spread all over the world. Stockings aren't the only thing that children leave out. In Holland, shoes are filled with hay and carrots for Sintirklass horse. Hungarian children leave shoes near the door, French children leave shoes by the fireplace.
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Putting up a tree for the holidays is a longstanding tradition.
Pagans honored their gods with trees, Vikings saw evergreens as a symbol
of spring and Druids adorned oaks with candles and fruit for the harvest.
Saturnalia, the Roman celebration of Winter Solstice (which Christmas was
timed to replace) had trees decorated with candles and trinkets.
There are many stories to explain how the tree became associated with Christmas. St. Boniface was said to have flattened an oak tree with a blow of his fist to stop a child being sacrificed by pagans. A small fir tree sprang up which St. Boniface said was the Tree of Life which represented the life of Christ. Martin Luther, founder of Protestantism, was said to have been so inspired by stars twinkling through the branches of an evergreen that he cut down a small one and placed it outside his home with candles twinkling on the branches. In Germany, Christians brought trees inside to decorate. When evergreens couldn't be found, they built a pyramid to decorate. English Royalty decorated the first Christmas tree at Windsor Castle in 1841. Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, decorated it with candles, fruits, and gingerbread which popularized the tradition in Britain. German immigrants brought the tradition to America where it became widespread by the late 1800's.
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Saint Nicholas was well known for his kindness
and generous acts. He grew up in a monastery and was one of the youngest
monks ever. He became a bishop, which accounts for Santa being depicted
in red and white as a Bishop wears red trimmed in white fur. Saint Nicholas
name became synonymous with gift giving because of his own act of giving,
especially to poor children. When Catholics celebrated Christmas, he was
naturally included in the season but reform and the desire to break with
Catholocism saw different countries giving their own name to "Father Christmas".
He became Pere Noel in France, Russians called him Father Frost and in
Holland, Sinterklaas filled the wooden shoes of good children.
In North America, Sinterklaas was changed to Santa Claus and the story "A Visit from St. Nicholas" by Clement C. Moore written in 1823 gave him the shape we know now; "chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf". It was advertising that placed him in a red and white suit.....Coca Cola ads which ran from the 30's to the 60's show him in the Santa suit and boots that we're so familiar with today.
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The 12 days of Christmas separate Christmas day
on December 25 from Epiphany, which is celebrated on January 6. Depending
on the church, January 6th may mark Christ's baptism (the Catholic tradition).
The tradition of giving gifts for christmas springs from the gifts that
the three wise men brought to Christ.
In the past, gifts were given on each of the 12 days of Christmas. The song, which we are all so familiar with has roots which might surprise you. It was written during a time in England when it was illegal to be Catholic and each of the gifts are representative of teachings of the Catholic faith to make it a safe religious song that people could sing. The meanings of each of the 12 gifts can be found here.
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