This
special day is celebrated in many European nations on December 6 and
often features gift giving—including St. Nick leaving toys and
sweets in children's shoes. However, in the Ukraine and some other
nations, this holiday is often celebrated today, December 19!
Why
this later date? It is because people in the Ukrainian Church (and
Greek and Russian Orthodox Christians, also) typically use the Julian
calendar for holidays, and the Julian calendar is 13 days behind the
Gregorian calendar. Christmas isn't celebrated on the Julian calendar
until January 7, and New Year's Eve is on January 13.
However,
the world is shrinking. Many people move to or visit other countries,
people share information globally, and to some extent our customs are
evolving as we exchange ideas. It is harder, these days, to try to do
business if many others are closed for the day because of a
holiday—and it's also hard to close for a holiday on a day when
most of the world is still doing business. These things put pressure
on Ukrainians to conform to the rest of the world. Most Ukrainian
families now exchange gifts on Christmas Eve or morning rather than
on St. Nicholas Day, and some families celebrate Christmas twice—on
December 25 and January 7!
Saint
Nicholas lived in the 4th century in Myra, Asia Minor,
which is now part of Turkey. Nicholas entered a monastery as youth
and eventually became a bishop. He was mistreated and imprisoned by
some powerful people, but then he was freed by Emperor Constantine.
He was generous with others, and there are some stories about him
leaving gifts secretly, in the middle of the night. Hmm...does that
sound familiar?
 |
| Try making Ukrainian Saint Nicholas Cookies. Here is a recipe (you'll have to scroll down). |
To
find out more about St. Nicholas Day, check
out this earlier post.
To
find out more about Ukraine, check
out this, that, and this other earlier post.
Also
on this date...
It's
still time for Las Posadas!
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