In the past, Advent started on St Nicholas day....6th December. St Nicholas was the Bishop of Myra in Turkey and was very popular in the middle ages.
One legend tells how he revived three young boys that had been murdered and salted down, ready to put into pies.....
Another tells of him throwing three bags of gold through the window of a poor mans house, so that his daughters would have dowries.
Saint Nicholas is of course, is linked to children, and on this night in England, children received presents in his honor....
This is also the date on which ' Boy Bishops ' were chosen by the Church to oversee the choir that ruled over the Christmas celebrations.
In some countries it is still celebrated. My neighbour is Dutch and yesterday afternoon he asked if we could pretend to be St Nicholas and bring a bag of presents round to his house in the evening. My husband had to leave the bag on his doorstep at 8:30pm and knock loudly at the door before running off.
:-))
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Hi Danielah.....it's wonderful to experience other peoples traditions and celebrations......here,s a link to a few more;
Kewl