Did you know that the tradition of gift-giving at Christmas time came from Holland?
In Holland, they celebrate St. Nicholas’ (my predecessor) Feast Day on December 6. Children leave their shoes out overnight and the next morning they wake up to find that St. Nicholas had left them gifts in their shoes.
According to legend, hanging stockings came from the tale of a poor man who had three daughters. The man was so worried that he could not afford to make sure they had good marriages. St. Nicholas heard about the man’s plight and that evening he dropped a bag of gold down their chimney. It fell into a stocking that was hung to dry by the fire, and the rest was history!
What will you find in your stocking this Christmas?
