Maria was mentioning that at Holy Nativity during the Vesperal Liturgy last night, she noticed that some of the kids didn't have their shoes on and was puzzled until she remembered that they put their shoes by the door so that St. Nicholas (actually their Matushka) could put chocolate in them! She goes on to say, "they also leave carrot tops in the shoes for St. Nicholas's horse and when they wake up on December 6th there are treats in place of the carrot tops."
We did something quite similar as kids, and in fact if we're out visiting my folks around this time of year, my mom will fill our shoes left inside the front door with candy unbeknowst to us, during our visit. It makes perfect sense to do this as a parish family. I like this tradition very much.
"You appeared before your flock as a rule of faith,
An example of humility and a teacher of self-denial
Because of your lowliness heaven was opened too you,
Because of your poverty riches were granted to you,
O Holy bishop Nicholas pray to Christ our God to save our souls"
2 comments:
Coooool! I'm gonna steal that idea (the shoes). . .
When I was about 7 or 8 I was obsessed with all things Dutch because I had this great book called The Dutch Twins, where it described the Dutch Christmas -- skating on the canals and stopping for hot chocolate in shops that you could SKATE INTO!!! Anyway, it mentioned putting beans in the wooden shoes for the horse of Father Christmas ans I thought they meant pouring tins of baked beans in there and thought it would be pretty messy. . .
ah i would have loved The Dutch Twins. (my collection was the californian Wakefield Twins, of SVH fame. I think Krista was a fan of that series too. But the skating into shops for hot chocolate....reminds me of the skating birthdays I'd have in Ontario till I was about 10. My mom and dad would flood the big flower beds, each year.
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