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La légende du Saint Nicolas. lunadeltounette | November 29, 2007 le 06 décembre on fête st nicolasPlus
La légende du Saint Nicolas.

lunadeltounette | November 29, 2007 le 06 décembre on fête st nicolas
Irapuato
St. Nicholas, a popular saint in Spain, has many churches dedicated to him. As a special devotion people make a Caminata in honor of Saint Nicolas of Bari. This long walk, or promenade, is made to a St. Nicholas church on three successive Mondays. Before or after the daily Mass (or at another time on the Mondays) special prayers are offered by a person seeking help. The prayers begin with an …Plus
St. Nicholas, a popular saint in Spain, has many churches dedicated to him. As a special devotion people make a Caminata in honor of Saint Nicolas of Bari. This long walk, or promenade, is made to a St. Nicholas church on three successive Mondays. Before or after the daily Mass (or at another time on the Mondays) special prayers are offered by a person seeking help. The prayers begin with an invocation, followed by a hymn, a Psalm, and a scripture reading.www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix
The devotion concludes with a Saint Nicholas litany, the Our Father, another prayer, and final hymn (hymns are said, not sung). It is mostly women who seek this intercession, particularly in times of financial difficulty. Traditionally, if healthy enough, women walked from home to a church dedicated to St Nicholas, though it may also be to another church that has a St. Nicholas statue.In some places, the person asks St. Nicholas a question and the answer comes through the others that are present. The person asking doesn't intervene or talk to the others while waiting for an answer. The answer may come by bowing of the head, or saying, "yes" or "no."
There are many accounts of the assistance and protection experienced through the St. Nicholas Caminata of Three Mondays.
Basque country San Nicolas traditions include very young boy bishops—usually between three- and six-years-old, as well as groups of men, auroros, who sing and give orations. The men collect alms to be distributed by the teacher, priest. or boy bishop himself. As customs varies from place to place, the boy may be escorted by classmates, ride a small horse, or preside over a meal with priest and teacher. The traditional treats are dried ruit, nuts, and small cakes. Peanuts have replaced chestnuts in Legazpia, saving the work of roasting. The young bishop figure is no longer found in Arrasate, though townspeople still retain vestiges of the celebration by gathering under the City Council balcony to sing and demand treats of caramels and dry fruits that rain down from above.
St. Nicholas traditions have also been preserved in Catalonia, where it is said that "St. Nicholas opens the Christmas holidays." Here, too, young boy bishops are selected in a number of monasteries and religious communities: Montserrat, Girona, Lleida, Vic, and Palma de Mallorca. Along with two attendants, the young bishop keeps alive this once-widespread medieval custom.
www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix
Irapuato
The big Italian San Nicola festival commemorates the 1087 arrival of St. Nicholas' remains in Bari, Italy. When Turks conquered Asia Minor, many Christians were afraid they would no longer be permitted to visit the popular pilgrimage site of Nicholas' tomb in Myra. So Italian sailors spirited the relics away to Bari where a huge basilica was built in honor of the saint. At the festival every …Plus
The big Italian San Nicola festival commemorates the 1087 arrival of St. Nicholas' remains in Bari, Italy. When Turks conquered Asia Minor, many Christians were afraid they would no longer be permitted to visit the popular pilgrimage site of Nicholas' tomb in Myra. So Italian sailors spirited the relics away to Bari where a huge basilica was built in honor of the saint. At the festival every May, Nicola's statue is taken out to sea for a day. Thousands welcome it back to Bari with a lighted procession winding from the harbor to a public square. The mayor and other dignitaries greet the statue and address the crowds. The week-long celebration includes a solemn high mass in the basilica which is filled to over-flowing with devout worshipers.

Vintage Italian Postcard
St Nicholas Center Collection

On St. Nicholas Eve in December, children in Molfetta, a city on the Adriatic Sea, put a plate on the table with a letter asking for gifts and promising to be good in the coming year. During the night, San Nicola fills most of the requests and piles the plates with chocolates, candies, and other good things. It is a magical night for children; the surprises make a joyous morning for everyone.

Festival of the Translation of the Relics in Bari, Italy
Patronal Festival, Basilica di San Nicola in Carcere, Rome
An Italian St. Nicholas Folk Tale
www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix
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In Roman Catholic areas of southern Germany, such as Bavaria, Sankt Nikolaus still comes as a bishop with flowing beard and a bishop's miter and staff. Houses are thoroughly cleaned and children clean and polish their shoes or boots in preparation for the saint's visit. On the evening before St. Nicholas Day
, children put letters to the good saint along with carrots or other food for his white …Plus
In Roman Catholic areas of southern Germany, such as Bavaria, Sankt Nikolaus still comes as a bishop with flowing beard and a bishop's miter and staff. Houses are thoroughly cleaned and children clean and polish their shoes or boots in preparation for the saint's visit. On the evening before St. Nicholas Day
, children put letters to the good saint along with carrots or other food for his white horse or donkey on a plate or in their shoes. These are left outside, under the bed, beside a radiator, or on a windowsill in hopes of finding goodies from St. Nicholas the next morning. During the night Sankt Nikolaus goes from house to house carrying a book in which all the children's deeds are written. If they have been good, he fills their plate, shoe or boot with delicious fruits, nuts and candies. If not, they may find potatoes, coal, or twigs.Children practice poems and songs for Sankt Nikolaus and make little presents for him. Friends and neighbors come to share in the fun. Candles on the Advent wreath and the big Christmas pyramid with a nativity scene in the center are lit. Stories are read or songs sung as everyone waits for a knock on the door. When it comes, they all know it is Sankt Nikolaus, who comes in with his big book, golden crozier, and a big heavy sack. One of the children gets to hold the golden staff. Each child (and sometimes adults, too) stand in front of the saint. Nikolaus asks each child, "Have you behaved yourself?" "Do you do your homework?" "Do you keep your room tidy?" "Do you help your parents?" Then he opens his big sack and gives presents and candies and treats for all to share. And they give him the little surprises. Nikolaus leaves quickly as he has many places to visit. He travels with a white horse or a donkey and sometimes Ruprecht, his most common German companion, is with him.
Some areas have local customs. In Stuttgart, for example, kids dress up as Nikolaus and go door-to-door asking for sweets—much like trick-or-treating in the United States.
In some parts of Germany Nikolaus has come to look more like Santa and Father Christmas and comes at Christmas, not St. Nicholas Day. The influence of other countries, television, and large department stores makes it more difficult to find holy Bishop Nicholas. Even when he comes on December 5th, his appearance sometimes shows that Germany's long-standing gift-givers, Sankt Nikolaus and the Christkindl, are being transformed.
Link
Weihnachtsmannfreie Zone
Campaign for "Santa Claus Free Zone" to preserve Bishop Nikolaus
St. Nikolaus images in the churches of Landkreis Dachau
www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix
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Bishop St. Nicholas is celebrated by many churches and by communities which have a Dutch, German, or Ukrainian heritage. On the Advent Sunday closest to St. Nicholas Day, December 6, churches may have St. Nicholas festivals, large or small, with the good saint
himself appearing to greet children, give instruction and encouragement, and hand out treats for children of all ages. In some places he …Plus
Bishop St. Nicholas is celebrated by many churches and by communities which have a Dutch, German, or Ukrainian heritage. On the Advent Sunday closest to St. Nicholas Day, December 6, churches may have St. Nicholas festivals, large or small, with the good saint
himself appearing to greet children, give instruction and encouragement, and hand out treats for children of all ages. In some places he is a focus in worship and in others he is part of a special fellowship event.
St. Nicholas may also be the inspiration for a special Advent project—one which shows his concern for justice and relief of suffering.
These observances are most prevalent in Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Episcopal churches, though not uncommon in many others, as well.

St. Nicholas, as Sinterklaas, makes his appearance in towns and cities founded by Dutch settlers. There he usually comes in a parade, accompanied by Zwarte Pieten, as he does in the Netherlands. The Piets toss candy to bystanders along the parade route. After the parade, Sinterklaas greets children and gives them sweet treats. Some of the places where Sinterklaas is part of the season are Holland, Michigan; Pella and Orange City, Iowa; Fulton, Illinois. The German Sankt Nikolaus appears in New Ulm, Miinnesota, and places in Pennsylvania. The tradition is also said to be established in Wisconsin, particularly Milwaukee, Cincinnati and Cleveland, Ohio, and St. Louis, Missouri.
www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix
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Switzerland is a country of several languages so it is not surprising there are several different St. Nicholas traditions. In German-speaking areas Saint Nicholas is known as Samichlaus. On December 5th, the eve of St. Nicolas Day, villages around Lake Lucerne glow with the light of hundreds of enormous, heavy paper-cut bishops' miter/hats, iffele, paraded through the streets by men and boys in …Plus
Switzerland is a country of several languages so it is not surprising there are several different St. Nicholas traditions. In German-speaking areas Saint Nicholas is known as Samichlaus. On December 5th, the eve of St. Nicolas Day, villages around Lake Lucerne glow with the light of hundreds of enormous, heavy paper-cut bishops' miter/hats, iffele, paraded through the streets by men and boys in white robes. The headpieces are artistically designed, intricately cut out of cardboard, and lit by a candle within. The iffelen, from three to six feet tall, have been made for over 100 years. Each is a unique piece of art with a figure of St. Nicholas on the front and a cross and the insignia IHS
for Jesus Christ on the back. When the candle is lit they are transformed into "stained glass" because there are many colors of transparent paper applied inside.
Each town has its own way to celebrate. The well-known parade in Küssnacht am Rigi begins when a cannon shot signals the start. First come men skillfully cracking long sheep whips. Next are the lighted iffelen, 180 young men dancing and swaying as they pass in their lighted headdresses. Surrounded by torchbearers, the bishop St. Nicholas himself comes with his two Schmutzlis. Trumpeters, playing a three tone melody, are followed by 700 Klausjäger, men in white farmer's shirts swinging huge cow bells from heavy straps. The 700 bells ring as one. The procession ends with 200 men blowing cow horns in a repeated rhythm of two short blows and one long one. The streets resound with all these sounds of horns blowing, brass bands playing, whips cracking, and bells clanging. The parade is repeated in the early hours of morning, finishing up by 7 am. This solemn procession with whips, bells, and horns is rooted in pre-Christian times when noise was used to banish darkness and evil. Today's whip-cracking heralds the arrival of St. Nicholas.
Children wear their owniffelenin an afternoon children's parade with St. Nicholas. The Schmutzlis have small gifts for all the children. Afterward at home, the customary meal of the day is sausage and sauerkraut.
All of the 1700 men in the main parade belong to the St. Niklausengesellschaft, which is responsible for the parade. This group also makes Christmas baskets for children and older folks who are lonely or in need, thus carrying out the true spirit of St. Nicholas.

There are also other St. Nicholas customs in German-speaking Switzerland. In Unteraegeri children make Chlausesel, carrying them through the village asking for small treats. In the evening the adults and teenagers keep the old customs alive while collecting donations for charity (more about Unteraegeri). All through the month of December, St. Nicholas rides on the "fairy tale tram" that takes children up and down the Bahnhofstrasse during the month-long Christkindli Markt in Zurich. On December 6th, the feast of Sankt Nikolaus, school children in Glarnerland parade through villages ringing and jingling bells to tell neighbors that a gift of something good to eat or drink is expected.
In the French-speaking area of Bulle, Saint Nicolas arrives at the begining of December. He comes with a great colorful parade of cherubs and Père Fouettards. After St. Nicolas greets the people, honey cookies are given to everyone. At nightfall St. Nicholas leads a torch-lit procession in a grand horse-drawn carriage, or sleigh. As it has been done for centuries, brass bands, the donkey carrying children's gifts, and the sound of Père Fouettard's chains accompany the saint. All during the week the good Saint visits children in their homes, encouraging them as he listens to recitations of religious poetry and little songs. St. Nicolas also visits hospitals, schools, and destitute families. When he is finished, he goes back up to Heaven. Both young and old alike await the saint's next arrival again the next year.
St. Nicholas and the Chlauseslä in Unterägeri
On December 6th, Samichlaus and Schmutzli, and maybe even a donkey, visit children's homes, giving the children tangerines, peanuts and cookies. Many towns have a roster for Samichlaus, so all the children are visited by a Samichlaus, but he isn't their own dad.
The Christmas season ends in Basel with the Coursing of St Nicholas on December 30. The streets are filled with children, who are given peanuts, tangerines and small lumps of coal. A fully-dressed Bishop St. Nicholas, with miter and crozier, races through the streets, chased by forty-four men. These men wear boughs of holly and sprigs of mistletow to represent the new year. Children throw their lumps of coal at Nicholas, trying to knock off his miter. If it is knocked off he has to stand still and is beaten with the holly boughs. Poor St. Nicholas usually gets lacerated before he reaches the Rhine where he blesses the crowds and boards a boat to Spain. Men do compete to be Nicholas, who then receives a year and a day's supply of Basel biscuits and wine.
www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix
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Nikulden—St. Nicholas Day—December 6th, is a great winter festival. Bulgarians celebrate St. Nicholas as the protector of sailors and fishermen. Stories are told of St. Nikolay, the commander of the sea, calming wind and storms and saving ships in danger. Like Greek sailors, Bulgarians keep icons of St. Nicholas on shipboard, seeking protection from storms. Sailors' wives put icons of Nicholas into …Plus
Nikulden—St. Nicholas Day—December 6th, is a great winter festival. Bulgarians celebrate St. Nicholas as the protector of sailors and fishermen. Stories are told of St. Nikolay, the commander of the sea, calming wind and storms and saving ships in danger. Like Greek sailors, Bulgarians keep icons of St. Nicholas on shipboard, seeking protection from storms. Sailors' wives put icons of Nicholas into the sea, praying to St. Nicolay to bring their husbands safely back to shore.
The autumn fishing season ends on Nikulden. The day's catch is to be offered to the saint; fishermen eat the first fish caught right on the shore, before bringing the rest home.
Crowds of People go to church on Nikulden to light candles, pray, and receive the antidoron. Festive concerts, fish fiestas, and fireworks are all part of civic observances.
Carp is the special food for the day, as legend tells how, when a ship was sinking because of a hole in the hull, St. Nicholas stuffed a live carp in the hole, saving the ship. The special fish dish, ribnik, is carp wrapped in dough or baked with rice. Ribnik is baked in the oven along with two special loaves of bread. Other meatless dishes are also served. The food is blessed at church or at home before being served. Carp is regarded as Nicholas' servant.
After wafting incense over the food, the host raises the bread high, and breaks it in half. One half he keeps, the other is left on the table. The cross-shaped crown bone from the fish head (the krakhche) is also kept—it may be buried as a protection for the house or grandmothers used to sew it in children's caps to protect them from evil.
The food is kept out on the table all day to be shared with neighbors and other guests. It is a great festival day which ends with songs and fun.
Recipes and instructions to make Ribnik with dough and a fish dish with rice
www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix