Christmas Traditions Box: The Legend of Saint Nicholas

Between my husband and me, we have a lot of European blood running through our veins. One of the things we like to do at Christmastime and other holidays is to research some of the traditions of our ancestors' cultures. We have incorporated Saint Nicholas Day into our Christmas traditions in the past couple of years.

Many European countries celebrate Saint Nicholas on December 6th. For our family, we read Saint Nicholas: The Real Story of the Christmas Legend on December 5th and then on the morning of the 6th our kids are in for a surprise.

In this story St. Nicholas, who was the pastor of a town, found a little boy crying. St. Nicholas asked why he was crying. The boy explained that his sisters couldn't marry because they couldn't afford a dowry. St. Nicholas encouraged the boy to have faith and reassured him that everything would work out.

That night St. Nicholas went to the home of the boy, quietly opened the shutter of the window and dropped little bags filled with gold onto the floor. In the morning the girls found the gold and were able to be married.


The story explains how St. Nicholas was known as Father Christmas and how his love was shared with those around him. It also talks about how God is even more generous and gave us the best gift of all- the Savior, Jesus Christ.

Our kids leave their shoes out in front of their bedroom door on the night of the 5th. In the morning their shoes are filled with gold chocolate coins for them to enjoy. There is also a bag filled with "gold" $1 coins. They are instructed to use these coins on someone else outside the family whom they can help or cheer up. They are to do this act in secret without being seen or heard like Saint Nicholas. This helps them to be thoughtful and get outside themselves without being praised by the world.

We talk about how we have received many blessings like the girls in the story. But we can also bless other people's lives like Saint Nicholas did. We also talk about the best gift of all- Jesus Christ- and how we can be more like him. He is our perfect example of love, kindness, and service. It gets us into the Christmas spirit.