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JennGM
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I'd love to hear some ideas for the feast of St. Nicholas. I have some family traditions, but I really want to introduce St. Nicholas as a saint and inspirational but real person to my young son.
One area I need immediate help: I'm filling up my Amazon cart with Advent books, and am having to make a decision on one or two ONLY on St. Nicholas for children. So, can I have some recommendations for picture books on St. Nicholas. The text doesn't have to be oversimplified...I just want great pictures and a good story (like dePaola stories). I change up the text at this age if it's too much...
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Jennifer G. Miller
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MacBeth
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I like The Real Santa Claus. Beautiful!
And St. Nicholas The Wonder Worker, but it might be better for older kids.
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MacBeth in NY
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Mary G
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Jenn:
I agree with MacBeth (as per usual  ) -- the Marianna Mayer book The REal Santa Claus is a great read -- my little ones loved it last year! I had found about 5 books at our library, but this one was their favorite -- I think we had to read it 3 or 4 times that week!
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Bridget
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My stuff is stored away right now and I'm drawing a blank on the title. ... Russian village, hid the St Nicholas church's sacred objects from invading soldiers and through the oppression, little boy cleans up the abandoned church on Christmas eve. One by one the villagers bring the things out of hiding including the St. NIcholas icon. Then one of the old villagers turns out to be the priest hidden all these years. Always makes me cry.
Someone must know what this title is.
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Mary G
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I don't, but when you find out tell me too  -- this sounds excellent!
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MaryG
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JennGM
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I'm browsing through St. Nicholas Center. There is so much information here! I've got my printer working overtime on the coloring pages and activities.
Bridget, do any of these books ring a bell?
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Jennifer G. Miller
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alicegunther
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The Miracle of St. Nicholas is one of the most beautiful and moving religious picture books of all time.
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JennGM
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I've been eyeing Whelan's book for a while. And Mayer's book looks fabulous. Thanks for the recommendations. I'm just sorry I can't break the bank.
Aaron Shepard who wrote The Baker's Dozen has a website with little extras online.
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alicegunther
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jenngm67 wrote:
| I've been eyeing Whelan's book for a while. And Mayer's book looks fabulous. |
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This might be a good year to buy it. I tried to find it on Amazon, but it appeared to be unavailable (unless I did something wrong in my search, which is entirely possible). I hope it isnt' going out of print.
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Bridget
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thats it!! thanks, alice.
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Mary G
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alicegunther wrote:
jenngm67 wrote:
| I've been eyeing Whelan's book for a while. And Mayer's book looks fabulous. |
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This might be a good year to buy it. I tried to find it on Amazon, but it appeared to be unavailable (unless I did something wrong in my search, which is entirely possible). I hope it isnt' going out of print. |
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Here's the Amazon link: The Miracle of St. Nicholas -- it was way down and didn't come up the first time I searched for it.... 
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MacBeth
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alicegunther wrote:
| I hope it isnt' going out of print. |
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It has been occasionally available for a while (maybe 2 years?) but not regularly, so it may indeed be OOP. Some would say that's how you can tell a good book these days  .
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Wendi DeGrandpr
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I found the Mayer book on Amazon - available for shipping. There were also a lot in the used book department - that's what I chose - much cheaper even with shipping.
God Bless,
Wendi
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krgammel
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It is also available at Overstock and
this week is $1 shipping!
+Kristen
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Caryn
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Barnes & Noble also has the Whelan book available, new and used:
The Miracle of St. Nicholas
My 'little one" is now 16, but I really want to read this story now, so I have ordered it ILL from our library
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Kelly
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We LOVE St. Nicholas and celebrate his feast day every year. My mother-in-law is Dutch, as in REAL Dutch (she wanted to name my dd Clothilde...hope I'm not stepping on any toes, but is that not a REALLY Dutch name!!), complete with cleaning impulses and thick accent. She loves coming over to our house on St. Nicholas Eve, because the good bishop visits in the flesh. She says it always reminds her of growing up in Holland Over the years, she has taught us Dutch songs for the feast day, and usually sings a song or two for St. Nicholas when he arrives! It's great.
Anyway, in preparation for the arrival of the good bishop, we started a tradition (thanks to suggestions on the CCE loop) of having a St. Nicholas Cookie Baking Day the week before St. Nicholas Eve. Otherwise, the feast day crept up on us before we knew it, and it was crazy trying to bake a la St. Nicholas AND prepare for his arrival. This alternative, a baking day ahead of time, has worked out so well. We ordered St. Nicholas cookie cutters from the St. Nicholas Center (and had some from House on the Hill, as well as St. Nicholas molds my mother had collected), whipped up several batches of dough the day before, went to the Dollar Store and bought a bunch of paintbrushees, and green plastic sleds that we filled with different colored sugar paint for cookie painting. We decorated the house with Advent colors, made up little bags for our guests that included cookie recipes, a bookmark from the St. Nicholas center, a blurb about the REAL St. Nicholas (composed by my children...a little CM writing exercise that incorporated language arts and religion) and a ST. Nicholas holy card. Then our guests got to put the cookies they made into their bag, along with their goodies...voila, instant evangelization! We tend to have a mix of Catholics and non, so it always sparks good discussion about the Real Meaning of Christmas, Advent, and the real St. Nicholas...eating cookies, the while. Yummy. We make an exception about eating sweets for this and St. Nick's feast day! Oh, and we play our cds of Advent music and "Legends of St. NIcholas" by the Anonymous 4. But NO Christmas music, naughty naughty
St. Nicholas himself comes on the Eve of the feast, Dec. 5th. We have a kindly old actor who has been our St. Nicholas for years, he really knows the score by now, and LOOKS like a St. Nicholas, so it helps make the costume that much more believable. The buildup until his arrival around 7:00 (after sundown, in any event) is incredible. Such anticipation. The children start watching at the window as soon as dinner is over. We adults sip gluwein, hot mulled wine, and everyone snacks on our St. Nicholas cookies while we wait. The kids watch for St. Nick, while also watching for Grampus-a big black monstery guy (in Holland known as Schwartze Peter) who lurks around the background shaking chains. He's kind of scary. Some years he shows (when my brother is available) and some years, not, but we always keep an eye out for him, and quickly lock the door AFTER St. Nicholas arrives. One year my brother/Grampus got very creative and started going around and rattling the windows. 'Bout scared the kids to death. Thank goodness for the calming influence of our good St. Nicholas! Another year, the children got even and let our two 150 pound dogs out. You should have seen Grampus hightailing it across the yard, chains and all!
St. Nicholas' arrival. He arrives carrying a lantern, and a bag (hopefully with presents ...or onions  )and a large book (usually an encyclopedia covered up) in which we have a list of family members' names and a couple of sins they've committed over the year. But before St. Nicholas checks out our sins, he gives a little talk about Advent and the real meaning of Christmas, asks the children a few questions, then gets down to business. No one likes hearing their dirty laundry aired, but it's funny, too (QUESTION: Nicholas, it says here you say "No!" an awful lot to your parents and don't mind. Is that true??? Answer from Nicholas : "No!") After St. Nicholas has gone down the list, he deliberates whether they merit a gift (they usually get something, tho there IS the occasional onion) then hands out a small present to each person and some candy, the kids usually sing a song, then, with a blessing, he's off. One year, as he walked down our front steps, an elderly neighbor happened to be walking by with her dog. We thought she was going to have a heart attack. St. Nicholas jauntily tipped his mitre and said, "Good evening". "WHO are YOU?" she stammered. "Why, St. Nicholas, of course..." he answered, and walked on down the road into the darkness, swinging his lantern.
Over the years, our costume has grown from a discarded choir robe, to a really lovely bishop's outfit, pieced together over time with custom-made parts as well as pre-fab bits. The mitre is the toughest part. Even though I had the kids convinced with my hot-glued jeweled mitre when they were little, the got wise to that, so I ended up renting a very realistic one from the local costumery. I bought a really nice beard years ago, too, so we don't have to rent that. The crosier is a bit demanding, too. I had a plastic one, but they began to look skeptical about that, so I'm working on a real wooden one, now. So, it's all a works in progress, but a rewarding one.
Over the years, our St. Nicholas portrayers have ranged from the aforementioned actor, to a babysitter's boyfriend, a university student, our neighbor-a Lutheran pastor (!)(he was great, and borrowed the costume to wear at his church to discuss the real St. Nicholas!)...to our building contractor (whose name I can never divulge, per our agreement!). Our children, who range in age from 3 to 15, stay "believers" until they're about 12, then they enjoy getting into the act, too, and being part of the program.
Kelly in FL
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Jamberry77
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Kelly, that's a great story. Thanks for sharing your traditions!
Bethlehem Books carries The Miracle of St. Nicholas, by the way.
Love,
Kelly in NC
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JennGM
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Mary G. wrote:
| I agree with MacBeth (as per usual ) -- the Marianna Mayer book The REal Santa Claus is a great read -- my little ones loved it last year! I had found about 5 books at our library, but this one was their favorite -- I think we had to read it 3 or 4 times that week! |
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Just got my copy today. But I wanted to know if I need to return it. Not sure which printing I have, but two pages of an illustration are blurry. Is it just my book? It's pages 8 and 10. Opposite pages have a Leading Gold Uppercase O and W.
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Kelly
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Well, Jenn, as usual we're ordering the same books... I checked my copy of "The Real Santa Claus"-which just arrived-and noticed the same slight blur. Probably in all the printings, I expect.
It's a beautiful book, though.
Kelly in FL
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JennGM
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I don't have the Dutch heritage, but I thought I'd share our St. Nicholas celebrations. My family ALWAYS makes these speculaus cookies or Dutch spice cookies for St. Nicholas day. We incorporate the actual making of the cookies into a Cookie Making Party.
It always seems life speeds up near St. Nicholas' feast day, so we do our traditions, but they are a little laid back.
Our family doesn't usually focus on gifts from St. Nicholas, some years yes, some no. Our celebration is around the making of speculaas cookies. We use Cooking for Christ version, which is also in Family Advent Customs by Helen Mcloughlin and the same recipe is also in Around the Year with the Trapp Family. We just use all butter, instead of lard. See above for link.
The dough must chill overnight, so it's made before December 5. On December 5th my family has a St. Nicholas Cookie making party. We cut out cookies and bake them, and have a simple dinner. I've done this with a young adult gathering, and at Franciscan University living off campus I had a few parties with grad and non-trad students. While we're rolling and cutting there is music in the background, and we talk about St. Nick and the traditions, and everyone has fun. I'm always on the lookout for new Christmas ornaments, statues, pictures of St. Nicholas, the real Santa Claus, and they are displayed for the party.
We serve simple foods, like baked ham, or chili, have some appetizers (veggies, deviled eggs). No dessert is necessary since we sneak a bite or two of the cookies. Apple cider, mulled or not, bishopswyn (mulled wine) are nice to have as accompaniment. I also think the new wine Beaujolais is nice with this party!
At the end, bags are made of the baked cookies and sent home. One year I found St. Nicholas statues at the Dollar store, so each guest received that as a favor. Also St. Nicholas holy cards are distributed.
Each family makes small bags of the cookies at home and "St. Nick" comes and leaves them in each person's shoes. Sometimes he leaves additional candy and holycards but the cookies are always a must.
It hasn't been until lately that I've gotten actual cutters for St. Nicholas (mostly from St. Nicholas Center). We mainly used Christmas nativity cookie cutters from Cookie Cutters ...and each family member has gotten their own set. We pretended the wiseman was the bishop Nicholas. And sometimes we would try to cut out our own designs. We never decorated the cookies. They are delicious as they are.
And it's such a yummy dough...with no eggs to worry about. The "evangelical" part has really worked...I've had all sorts of people get a glimmer of this, and it opens the door to Catholic living, closer with the saints and family traditions.
Our family did not have a stand mixer when I was growing up, so making the dough was part of the family tradition. The cookies are actually two nights' work. We mix the dough one night, which means everyone getting a hand into the action, mixing and kneading by hand -- a great tactile experience, feeling the different textures of the butter, sugar, sour cream and flour. We make a lot of this dough -- it's good to taste before cooking (no eggs or baking powder) and use them for the shoes on St. Nicholas morning, also as little gifts to teachers and co-workers, friends, etc.
I actually used these cookies for my wedding favors. I got special molds from House on the Hill, put a cookie in cellophane bag with the recipe and explanation of St. Nicholas and the tradition in our family. Everyone loved it, and I'm hearing comments years later of people who started it in their family.
It takes a bit to work the dough and not let it stick. There are instructions on this page , but House on the Hill has other suggestions on how to make the imprint the best.
Go with smaller molds from HOTH, unless you plan on giving one cookie each to a person, because some of the molds make a BIG cookie!
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Jennifer G. Miller
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4Real Forums : Domestic Church
Topic: St. Nicholas -- December 6
