Romanians are celebrating one of the most anticipated saint days of the year on Wednesday_ especially for children.
St Nicholas is a Christian saint celebrated by Orthodox, Catholics and Anglicans and associated with gift-giving.
It’s also a name day for more than 800,000 Romanians who are called Nicholas or variations of the name, according to an interior ministry database.
St. Nicholas is also the protector of sailors in Greece. The day is generally seen as a precursor to the bigger feast of Christmas.
Children put their boots out the night before. They are expected to be clean, polished and neatly arranged. Other European countries use socks.
It is sometimes seen as the official start to winter and the Christmas season. Saint Nicholas is often depicted as a bearded man on a white horse.
It is said that if it snows on 6th December, Saint Nicholas shook his beard. According to rural tradition, people make a snowball on that day and put it in a bowl inside and when it melts, water plants with the melted snow.
If it doesn’t snow on December 6th, it is said that Saint Nicholas got younger.
Saint Nicholas Day is also called the Feast of Saint Nicholas and falls within the season of Advent.
The American Santa Claus and British Father Christmas have their origins in Saint Nicholas. „Santa Claus” comes from the Dutch Sinterklaas, the saint’s name in that language.
