Thursday the 6th- As always, we set out our shoes the night before in anticipation of St Nicholas' visit. The children got chocolate coins and other goodies. Daughter #1 received some lavender lotion, and Daughter #2 got an assortment of mustards. Dad got a six-pack of O'Douls (he is on-call 24/7 with his hospital, so any alcohol really is not advisable) and he likes the taste- many people do not! Since I am not on-call, St Nicholas gave me a bottle of Ventura Limoncello. It is the best I have ever had.
Friday the 7th- We went to our monthly home school park day and Saint Nicholas visited. Some of the children brought crafts and goodies to sell, using a percentage of their proceeds to donate to food baskets in the community. It was a wonderful time, but Baby Girl was terrified of Saint Nicholas and refused to greet him. Perhaps it was his Roman-rite style bishop's mitre ;)
Saturday the 8th- Saint Nicholas visited us after our Divine Liturgy on Saturday evening. It was a special surprise for the Latino community who were there as well to celebrate the end of their novena to the Blessed Virgin Mary. They liked the idea of a feast day for Saint Nicholas, but this time of year is busy with Our Lady of Guadalupe. And Baby Girl started to warm up to St Nicholas...
Sunday the 9th- We had a combined Divine Liturgy with the 'big' community and us (the smaller jurisdiction that rents space). Then we sat down to a breakfast in the large hall and waited for saint Nicholas to arrive. Finally, Baby Girl went up to St Nicholas. A friend of mine took some photos. Baby Girl was very serious and refused to smile, but she did look in the camera.
Monday the 10th- While waiting at the door for their kindergarten morning ritual to begin, Boy was talking to his friends about St Nicholas. I don't think they really got the concept. Then, their teacher hinted that a man "in a red suit" would be visiting that day. They still didn't get it. I whispered to Boy, "I think Santa's helper might visit your class today." Boy told his friends and they cheered with delight. I suppose the 'spirit of Christmas' never gets tiresome.
and yes, Saint Nicholas/Santa Claus will come back and fill our stockings on Christmas Eve!
Hi PW, I've included you on my list of Food for Thought recipients (part blog-award, part chain letter!) ... hope you don't mind!
ReplyDeletehi Fr Levi- I'll go check it out
DeleteWhile reading about St. Nicholas on aquinasandmore.com, I was surprised he's a patron of many things and several European towns/cities.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, your catholic profile from yesterday was featured on "National Catholic Register" blog roundup feature today!
NCRegister is very generous, linking away from 'itself'
DeleteSt Nicholas is really cool- wonder worker and fighter of heresy!