St. Nicholas Day in Slovenia

St. Nicholas day, December 6th is celebrated across Europe. (“Bavarian Nikolaus” by photographed & edited by Michael Schönitzer – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons) It sounds like great fun to be Celebrating St. Nick in Slovenia. In Slovenia the bishop Sveti Miklavz (St. Nicholas) brings gifts to the good children. The bad children a frightened that the parkelj (the devil) who accompanies Sveti Miklavz will put them in a sack and take them away. When Sveti Miklavz is visiting the parkelj can be heard rattling chains and trying the front door. However, when the children who haven’t been so good apologize and promise to try more in the coming year he relents and gives them gifts too.

Saint Nicholas was a real person. (By Ilustraca [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons) He was born during the third century in Patara which was in Greece at the time and is now in Southern Turkey. As a Catholic bishop was persecuted for his faith by the Romans. There are various stories about his generosity, especially to children, and usually anonymously. He was one of the few saints who was not martyred, but died in his old age and in buried in Myra. On his saint’s day a healing fluid, called manna,  flows from his bones. His generosity and the stories of healing from his relics has caused widespread popularity for his saint day.

My mother says that when I realized that Santa was really my parents I asked if I could ‘believe in the spirit of Santa’. So while I don’t believe that a big man in a red suit comes down chimneys to reward good children, I do believe in generosity of spirit. In this season I give, not only things, but my time, attention and love. In this way Santa is more than the man in the suit and enriches my life.