My Perfect Christmas Treats

On December 6, all children waited anxiously the arrival of Saint Nicholas, the old, bearded man with ragged clothes. Everyone put their shoes outside the door in hope that they would be filled with candy and chocolate.

Many do not know the story of Saint Nicholas, the Bishop of Myra from Turkey. The story goes that he had become the symbol of anonymous gift giving when he donated three sacks of gold to an old man whose daughters could not marry because he was so poor, he could not afford their dowries. St. Nicholas threw a bag of gold each night into the old man’s house through an open window. When the story was told in colder climates, St. Nicholas dropped the gold through the chimney instead of an open window.

Thus St. Nicholas came to represent the secret gift giving. He was portrayed in meager clothes with three round discs, the three sacks of gold. In the town of Bari, Italy, where the bishop was buried, pawnbrokers hung three gold disks in front of their shops in remembrance of St. Nicholas’ gift of gold.

Eastern Orthodox churches celebrate services on the night before December 6 when St. Nicholas appears as a bishop, not in a red suit. Parishioners leave their shoes outside the door and, upon departure, find gold disks of chocolate wrapped in foil inside their shoes, in remembrance of the three gold dowries that St. Nicholas provided to the poor man.

My childhood friends in Romania left their galoshes outside the door. The one pair of leather boots each of us owned in winter was too precious to leave out in the elements. We wore galoshes over boots in order to protect them from rain and the dirty slosh when snow mixed with salt began to melt. We trusted that nobody was interested in taking our rubber galoshes.

Every morning on December 6, I would find an exquisite orange, a banana, a large chocolate bar filled with raisins, and a small bag of hard candy. I felt very special and was always curious why I could never catch St. Nicholas bringing the delicious treats.

The communist economy we lived under never delivered enough basic and decent food for everyone, much less luxuries such as fresh fruit in winter. A banana or an orange were exquisite gifts that we dreamed about all year long.

People waited in long lines for the lone salami in the window of a butcher shop. Unlike the privileged elite that shopped at their own stores, we had to contend with empty shelves and long lines. To pacify the masses at Christmas time, the communist party leaders would order extra food, fresh fruits, and the lines were shorter.

December 25 was a secular holiday with “Mos Craciun,” Santa Claus, who was dressed in red with a fake cotton beard. We still believed, however, that he had the power to place a small gift by our pillows the night before. I would wake up to find a small rag doll with a porcelain head, a book, or a small puzzle.

Although the communist party did not allow people to go to church, we always went to my grandmother’s village for Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, circling the church with lit candles three times for the Holy Trinity.

Groups went caroling from house to house at night and were received with gifts of food, hard pretzels, or a warm cup of plum brandy. No matter how hard the communists tried to suppress our traditions, faith survived.

Magically, a tree decorated with real candles, colorful handmade crepe paper baskets filled with candy, hanging apples, cookies, and a few ornaments appeared. The glass ornaments must have cost my dad a fortune since they were hard to find. The Christmas tree did not have electric lights, but we would light up candles carefully for a short while on Christmas Eve. The scent of the blue spruce filled our small home and made me happy. I was walking on air, oblivious to my parents’ financial sacrifice.

Nobody exchanged presents, the holiday was about our faith in God, children, togetherness with the extended family, visiting each other’s homes, eating and drinking whatever we had. Villagers slaughtered pigs for Christmas and shared them with family members. The leftovers were preserved in a cellar or smoked to feed them throughout the year when meat was hard to find. 

Eating chocolate was an acquired taste. Grandpa convinced me to try the gooey confection I melted on the heater to spread on my doll’s face. I was playing house and feeding my doll chocolate. Grandpa never told me how many bars of chocolate I ruined this way. Once hooked, chocolate became a favorite treat for special occasions.

My Christmas banana was always green, and I had to wait until it turned golden and sweet. I placed both fruits in the middle of the table so I could see them from every angle in the room. The orange was wrapped in white onionskin paper. I kept it for days admiring its perfect orange color and the fragrant smell emanating from its pores. It came from a faraway place, Israel, whose language I could not read.

I wondered what exotic place grew such perfect fruits and how long it took to travel to me. Will I ever journey to see the tree and pick this perfect orange myself? The wind was always howling outside, and the snow was coming down very hard, but I was dreaming of the tropical location that grew my perfect Christmas orange.

Why Do We Give Gifts on Saint Nicholas Day and on Christmas?

Thomas Nast Santa Claus, Wikipedia photo

The Christmas tradition of gift-giving is tied by many to the Wise Men who gave Jesus Frankincense, Gold, and Myrrh. Frankincense was a perfume used in Jewish rituals of worship. Gold was the symbol of Kings, and myrrh was a perfume used on dead bodies.

The historical Saint Nikolaos of Myra was a fourth century Greek Bishop of Lycia. He is said to have given secret gifts of coins to those who left their shoes outside, a practice celebrated on his feast day, St. Nicholas Day on December 6 in the West and December 19 in the East. He is the model for Santa Claus. The patron saint of sailors, merchants, archers, repentant thieves, children, brewers, pawnbrokers, and students, he is revered by Anglicans, Catholics, Lutherans, Orthodox, and by some Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Reformed churches.

Saint Nicholas comes in Europe on December 6. Children put their boots outside the door, polished and presentable, in hopes that St. Nick will fill them with candy, not switches. In some parts of Germany children are “kidnapped” in a jute sack and given a pretend “spanking” for their bad behavior or poor school performance during the year.

On Christmas Eve, French children leave their boots in front of the fireplace, to be filled with gifts of candy, nuts, and small toys hung in the tree by Pere Noel.

Romanian kids find small gifts under their pillows, candy, chocolate, oranges, flannel pajamas, or a small toy brought by Mos Craciun (Old Man Christmas) or Mos Gerila (Old Man Frost), the communists’ version.

The Italian La Befana tradition dates back to 13^th century. A benevolent old woman with magical powers, she travels on her magical broom to bring gifts on January 5, on Epiphany Eve. The custom of Babbo Natale (Santa Claus) has not been around that long in Italy, only since WWII.

La Befana travels throughout Italy in search of Baby Jesus, bringing gifts to children. The three Wise Men had asked her to go with them to find Baby Jesus but Befana refused at first. She changed her mind and tried to find the Three Wise Men in search of Jesus but was not successful.

La Befana goes down chimneys all over Italy to bring “caramele” (candy) or fruit to good children and “carbone” (coal), onions, and garlic to naughty children. Children leave their stockings and shoes out in hopes to find candy on January 6. To appease La Befana, children leave out notes, food, wine, sausages, and even broccoli.

Russian children receive their gifts under the New Year’s tree from Father Frost (Ded Moroz) accompanied by Snow Maiden (Snegurochka). Father Frost carries a staff, wears valenki (felt boots) and travels in a troika (sleigh pulled by three horses). Christmas is celebrated on January 7 because the Russian Orthodox Church lives by the old Julian calendar which is 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar.

Sinterklaas is the Nordic version of the historical Greek bishop and gift-giver of Myra. An 1881 drawing by Thomas Nast solidified the modern image of Santa Claus in our culture, along with Clement Clarke Moore’s poem, “A Visit from St. Nicholas.”

Hanukkah or the “Festival of Lights” is celebrated by Jewish people for eight days in remembrance of their military victory and the miracle of the oil supply for the Temple. Family and friends eat holiday treats, give gifts to children, and play the dreidel game. Last year Christmas and Hanukkah overlapped for the fourth time in 100 years.

We give gifts for many other reasons at Christmas time. We are obligated by family customs, job duties, commercialism, consumerism, and societal expectations to overwhelm children with the latest toys, gadgets, and games. A few more traditional parents give books, food, and candy.

Compensation for a job well done is an opportunity for gift-giving, thanking a person for their hard work, for the long hours, dedication and exceptional effort all year long. Some gifts are for bravery in the line of duty or selfless sacrifice in saving another human being.

Exhibition is my least favorite reason to give a gift. It is a well-to do person asserting their wealth by giving away vast amounts of money publicly. Some prefer to remain anonymous but most choose the venue of all-out publicity for their generous gifts.

Compassion is the anonymous way of giving to a person you don’t know and cannot ever thank you for their gift, a person in need who has prayed for a miracle to save them from the abject poverty or the difficult situation in their lives. Gift-giving is always more rewarding in such a charitable circumstance.

Appreciation for someone you know or love who has overcome a professional hurdle after years of difficult effort is a wonderful opportunity for a gift. Reminding someone in your life that they matter and you care about them.

Duty is giving thoughtless gifts to family members, a boss, or colleagues, usually re-gifting  unwanted items received in previous years from relatives and colleagues who also felt a sense of duty to send a present to someone they did not care that much about nor did they put much thought into their generosity.

Love is the gift of togetherness, a symbol of the union of two souls who have found each other after years of searching. It is also the gift to beloved family members.

Tradition is the gift on December 6 when children in Europe put out their boots to receive switches or candy from Saint Nicholas.

The guilt of something from the past, the fundamental belief that wealth and good fortune should be shared at Christmas time is gift-giving driven by the need to share.

Giving a gift in the expectation of receiving one in return, a favor for your gift, a quid pro quo of sorts, is buying benevolence and acceptance into a group.

And then there are those Christians who would like to celebrate Christmas but are too poor and oppressed by their totalitarian governments who forbid them faith-based public displays and celebrations. They are just happy to be alive, to enjoy a good meal with their families, to have food, electricity and heat, and to be able to go to church on Christmas Eve.  Those are priceless gifts.