Hanging stockings by the fireplace is one of my favorite decorations for Christmas. Mine is a quilted red and white patterned one, the same stocking I used to hang as a child. I made my husband’s the first Christmas after we got engaged. I made stockings for each of my children- red, white and green. You can see I got better with each one I sewed. The last one was actually pretty good.
Did you know that we hang stockings by the fire because of a Storymaker of the Past? One who lived over a thousand years ago? Today’s story is about Saint Nicholas of Myra, the real life inspiration for many of our Christmas traditions.
Nicholas was born in 270 in modern-day Turkey to Greek parents who taught him God’s story. His parents died during an epidemic and Nicholas, inspired by the words of Jesus, “Sell what you own and give the money to the poor,” joined the church as a priest and gave his entire inheritance to those in need and those who are sick or suffering.
One of the most important legends of Nick’s life begins when a father with three daughters in his town did not have enough money for a dowry. The bigger the dowry, the more likely the daughters were to marry. Women in those times could not work or earn money so marriage was the only way to guarantee they would be provided for. If these three young women could not afford dowries, they would most likely be sold into slavery. But when Nick heard this, he snuck down to their house at night and threw sacks of gold coins in through the window. The sacks landed in shoes that were left out by the fire to dry, which is why we still put our stockings up the night before Christmas. Some people also have a tradition of putting gold coins in shoes left outside the door on Christmas Eve, probably because of Nick’s great throwing of gold through the window. Because of his reputation for generosity, Saint Nick was the inspiration for giving gifts at Christmas.
Nicholas became the Bishop of Myra and continued to minister to the needy, the sick and the suffering. Under the Roman Emperor Diocletian, he was sent away and then imprisoned for sharing God’s story. He died on December 6, 343. Nick is the patron saint of sailors, merchants, archers, children, brewers, pawnbrokers, unmarried people and students. Because he is the patron saint of sailors, there are many St. Nicholas chapels in ports all over the world.
So this year, when you hang up your stockings by the chimney with care, or when you wrap a gift to give to someone, or leave your shoes by the door hoping for some coins, you can remember Saint Nicholas and his rescue of those three young women, giving his riches to save another.
