Ripon is looking very Christmasy tonight. The shops are full of people getting stuff. In Aldi there are things you never know you needed - but I did leave pigs in blankets in mac and cheese on the shelves! Trollies were being loaded with more than enough to have a good Christmas. Getting more than enough maybe over giving.
Today is the feast day of St Nicholas. We know he was a bishop of Myra in modern day Turkey, who cared for the poor and vulnerable in his diocese. There are many early accounts of how he did this. The most famous is his provision of three bags of coins to ensure that three young women were not sold into slavery. From this the tradition of giving presents has developed.
This ensuring the safety of the young was developed in another account of him rescuing some boys who were being boiled alive. There are other accounts to do with his assisting of sailors in peril of their boat sinking. For these reasons Nicholas is the patron saint of children, of seafarers, of pawnbrokers and those who use them, and of various cities and countries.
It is salutary that it was the original St Nicholas’s care for young women and men at risk that has led to the various modern celebrations that stem from him. His active ensuring of the safeguarding of the young and vulnerable being at the heart of everything a church is stems from our response to Jesus. As it did his. The tradition of the giving of gifts partially coming from his intervention to ensure the welfare of children. (The other origin being the Magi giving gifts to Jesus.)
One of the old Christian traditions surrounding St. Nicholas's feast day is for children to leave their shoes out overnight in front of the fireplace, on the windowsill, or outside their bedroom door so that St. Nicholas can fill them with special fruits, sweets, and other small gifts and treats.
Some would leave carrots or hay in their shoes overnight for St. Nicholas's donkey to eat. St. Nicholas takes the hay and carrots for his donkey, and replaces them with small gifts and treats for the children in the morning.
St. Thérèse of Lisieux describes this tradition in her home in France as a small child and recounts how much she loved it. However, for her family this happened not on St. Nicholas's Day but on Christmas Eve.
"I knew that when we reached home after Midnight Mass I should find my shoes in the chimney-corner, filled with presents, just as when I was a little child...Papa, too, liked to watch my enjoyment and hear my cries of delight at each fresh surprise that came from the magic shoes, and his pleasure added to mine."
In Advent we need to stop and ask whether we give or we grab. Is this a season to ask how grateful we are? In the middle of our troubles we are still blessed. The good things we enjoy in this season are to be savoured gratefully. I love this poem by Mary Oliver.
We need to be grateful that the gift has been given. God sends us himself. An indescribable gift. Never take the grace of God for granted. May I suggest we get as excited over being gifted it as Alice, below seeing an empty box?!?!
Here’s a Roman Catholic prayer for today. Enjoy!
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