December 6th is the Feast Day of St. Nicholas. Many families have “Christmas Traditions” that are particular to the private family. When I was growing up it was a tradition to decorate the house on December 6th for Christmas. Of course, this is the Feast of St. Nicholas or St. Nicholas Day. Below, please enjoy learning about the real St. Nicholas from which we get our 19th century: Santa Claus.

St. Nicholas is honored in both Western and Eastern churches. Most especially, he is honored in the Eastern Churches and in particular the Russian and Greek Orthodox Churches. He was the Bishop of Myra (now Lycia) in Turkey. In the Eastern Rite Churches, he is called: “The wonder worker.”

The liturgy of the Eastern (Byzantine)Church praises St. Nicholas as a model Bishop of Myra, Turkey. The notion of gift-giving concerning St. Nicholas as legend would have it, came from the fact that there were three young ladies in his Diocese that needed a dowery in order to marry. Being poor, they didn’t have a dowery. Hearing of their plight he arranged for a dowery to be given to them.

The dowery came as an anonymous, secret gift. In those days, a dowery was a gift of a small parcel of land given by the girl and her father before the marriage. From this, grew the notion of gift-giving by example of the Three Kings; and in the German speaking world Sinter Klaus. Klaus is the German for Nicholas, from which the English-speaking world derives the name: Santa Claus.

The truth of the matter is that St. Nicholas was in attendance at The Council of Nicea in the year 325, which gave us the Nicene Creed recited at Mass every Sunday and Solemnities throughout the year. In the Middle Ages four hundred churches were named in honor of St. Nicholas. At one time, after the Middle Ages approximately 2000 churches throughout the world bore his name.

Here is an old prayer in honor of St. Nicholas from the Eastern Church:

“O Father and Pontiff Nicholas, the holiness
of your life was set before your flock as a rule of
faith, an example of meekness and a teaching of
temperance; wherefore you acquired greatness
through humility and spiritual wealth through poverty.
Pray to Christ God that he may save our souls.”

Feast of The Immaculate Conception

Usually, the Feast of The Immaculate Conception falls on December 8th. Since in 2024 December 8th is a Sunday, the Feast is celebrated on December 9, 2024,
Masses on that day will be as follows: 9am and 12:10pm. The Masses will be celebrated at St. Catherine Church. It is important to note that since this Feast Day falls on a Monday, Archbishop Coyne has removed the title: Holy Day of Obligation. This year it is not a Holy Day of Obligation!! However, Archbishop and the priests of the Archdiocese wish to offer the Masses as so many people love, Our Blessed Lady. The Immaculate Conception is the Patroness of The United States of America.