CELEBRATING ST NICHOLAS!!

December 6 is the Feast of St. Nicholas. 
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Nicholas was born long, long ago in a small town in what is now Turkey. Nicholas decided to become a priest and later became a Bishop. At one time Nicholas was even put in prison for being a Christian. 
      Nicholas was a kind and generous man and many stories were told about him. This is the most famous of these stories: There once was a man who lived alone with his three daughters. The oldest daughter was ready to be married. But this man was so poor that he had no money for the marriage. In those days the father had to give a bag of money to the husband when his daughter got married. Without it a wedding could not happen. The man and his daughters were very sad. Nicholas heard of their trouble. In the middle of the night, he went to the house and tossed gold coins through an open window near the fireplace. In the morning, the family discovered the gold coins on the floor and some which had landed in the stockings hung by the fire to dry. Now the eldest daughter could be married. What a celebration! When time came for the next daughter to marry, again, in the middle of the night Nicholas threw gold coins into the house. By now the family was getting very curious about who the kind and generous person was. When it came time for the third daughter to marry, the father stayed up all night to try to find out who was helping them. Just as Nicholas was about to drop the gold through the window, the father caught him. The man was surprised to find that it was the Bishop! Nicholas asked the man not to tell anyone, but it didn’t work because we have the story to this very day.
     St. Nicholas is known by many different names around the world. In France he is called Père Noël. In England he is called Father Christmas. In Holland he is called Sinterklaas. Do you know what we call St. Nicholas? (Santa Claus.) St. Nicholas died on December 6 in the year 342. On December 6 each year, children in Russia and Holland and Germany and many other countries in Europe celebrate St. Nicholas’ Day, and remember all the kind and generous things he did as a follower of Jesus. They also hope that the spirit of St. Nicholas might visit their home and leave some gifts for them.  As a congregation, since our community breakfast began, we give to Christmas Outreach above and beyond our regular offerings to buy Target and Safeway gift cards for the families of the breakfast and Subway gift cards for the homeless.  It’s a wonderful way to share the spirit of Christ with our fellow sisters and brothers in need, just like St Nicholas. 

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