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St. Nicholas
Feast Day: December 6
We know little about many people who lived long ago, in the far distant past. So storytellers have created legends about these people, based on memories. If a man loved money, the legends tell a story of greed. If a woman loved animals, the legends tell about talking to them. If a child loved to give gifts, the legends tell wonderful stories of gift-giving.
The legends about Nicholas show that he loved to give gifts! He was born to a rich family at the end of the third century. When he grew up, he became the bishop of Myra in Asia Minor. As bishop, Nicholas used his money to give gifts!
In one legend he gives wonderful gifts to three sisters who lived in Myra. Because they were poor, their father was going to make them do bad things. So Nicholas, in the dark of night, rode by their home on a lovely silver donkey. He threw three bulging sacks of money through their open window. With this money, the girls could leave home and get married!
The Church honors Nicholas as the patron saint of children because he gave them gifts too. Every year on his feast day, parents in Holland give gifts to their children. Among the gifts are chocolate letters for the initials of their children’s names. Nicholas’s gifts not only make the children feel good; these gifts taste good too!
