For the first time in our parish we gathered with some of our Polish families and celebrated St Nicholas Day. 
The 6th of December, the day of Saint Nicholas’ death in the year 343, is celebrated in many European cultures, to remember the good deeds of the Bishop of Myra, who have been recorded in numerous legends. In Germany, Saint Nicholas leaves nuts, sweets, and fruits in children’s shoes overnight or arrives in person with a big sack of gifts and a book about from which he draws all necessary information about the child and its good or bad behaviour. In Luxemburg, children receive most of their gifts not on Christmas Day, but on Saint Nicholas Day.
The legend that forms the basis for the celebrations of the Nicholas Day tells the story of a poor man and his three daughters. The poor man was lacking the money for the dowry of his daughters. Unmarried, his daughters would be to earn their lives by working as prostitutes. Bishop Nicholas heard of the man and his daughters and rescued them of the bitter fate: At night, he secretly dropped a lump of gold through the girls’ bedroom window. He repeated his action three nights in a row so that in the end, each of the sisters had a significant dowry. Only in the last night, the father managed to follow the charitable bishop and managed to thank him for his positive intervention and generosity. We don’t know whether the women had happy lives and found husbands they loved. And probably we would help the family to find a different solution nowadays. But Saint Nicholas’s goodwill and the fact that he wanted to help anonymously rather than drawing attention to his generosity is a nice thing to remember.
My thanks go to those who helped organise this event.
I hope that we can build on this in the future.
Dziękuję
bardzo i Bóg zapłać!
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