Getting Ready For Saint Nicholas Day!

The Feast Day of St. Nicholas is one of our favorite days to celebrate as a family!  While we don't decorate much for Christmas during the season of Advent, St. Nicholas Day is a great "teaser" of what will come at Christmas which is only a few weeks away!  

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How We Celebrate
In the days and weeks leading up to St. Nicholas Day, I make sure that our festivities will be simple enough to continue to remain in spirit of Advent yet fun and educational enough that it will (hopefully) leave a lasting impression on our son.  Here are some ways to celebrate the original Santa Claus: Saint Nicholas! 

1. Book about St. Nicholas
We LOVE this book about Saint Nicholas by Ann Tompert.  While we usually borrow it from the library, our son loves it so much that I bought it as one of his Christmas presents for this year! Click here to get your copy!
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2.  Leaving Out Shoes
My son can smell chocolate a mile away! I have to hide his chocolate coins really well in our house.   Trader Joe's has yummy chocolate coins but if you're in a pinch, you can grab some from Amazon as well.   We leave his chocolate coins and other treats like candy canes, oranges and trail mix in his shoes the night before!  While we do tell him that mommy and daddy fill his shoes with the treats, he knows that it is because it is St. Nicholas day!
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This year, I found this amazing and FREE printable on Instagram.  Shower of Roses to make your chocolate coins more festive!  Click here to get your free printable and make sure you check her out on Instagram, too!

3.  Mass
This is the most important part of our yearly tradition!  We try extra hard to get to daily Mass on the Feast of Saint Nicholas.  If for some reason we can't make it, I read the daily readings to our son (who usually runs around or plays while I do so) and make sure to spend some extra time in reflective prayer during the day.
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St. Nicholas (Jaroslav Čermák (1831 - 1878) - Sv. Mikuláš, Galerie Art Praha)

4. St. Nick Cookies!
My son and I will take any excuse to bake a delicious dessert!  While I am not the best baker, my son and I love to bake together and our entire family loves to eat what we bake!  I got this awesome Saint Nicholas cookie cutter online (okay, it's Santa!)  We use this recipe for ‘Super Soft Sugar Cookies’ by Six Sisters’ Stuff.  Easy to follow and delicious!

5. Coloring Pages
St. Nicholas Center's website offers some awesome and free pictures to download and print.   They are many to choose from!  The website has a plethora of information, stories, activities and other fun and educational tools for the entire family to enjoy.   If you don't have time to get to the library to read an actual book about Saint Nicholas, the center put together this great story of "Who is Saint Nicholas."

Fun and Fast Facts About St. Nicholas:
 
-Saint Nicholas was born during the third century in a small village called Patara which is now a city in southern Turkey. 
 
-Nicholas was the only son of two wealthy, Christian parents but they passed away when he was young. 
 
-Nicholas learned much of his pious, generous ways from his devout parents and after they passed away, he gave away his inherited fortune in gifts to orphan children and others in need. 
 
-His uncle, a Bishop, raised him after his parents passed and continued to guide Nicholas on a Christian path.  
 
-By the time he was 19, Nicholas was ordained a priest and then eventually became Bishop of Myra. 
 
-Due to his young age when he became Bishop, Saint Nicholas was called the “Boy Bishop.”

-Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of sailors, merchants, children, students and more!
 
-There are many legends attributed to this great Saint.  To read more, please visit the Saint Nicholas Center’s website, here.

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How are you celebrating Saint Nicholas’s Feast Day?  Please share with us on Facebook!
 
As always, thank you for reading.  God bless you and may the Blessed Virgin Mary be with you always!
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