Saint Nicholas Day

What it is

Saint Nicholas Day is a Christian feast in honour of Nicholas, a bishop who served in Myra, a city of Asia Minor. It belongs to Advent, the weeks of waiting before Christmas. Western churches keep it on 6 December, or on the evening of 5 December; Eastern churches that follow the older calendar keep it on 19 December. Anglicans, Catholics, Orthodox, Lutherans, Methodists and Reformed congregations all mark it. The day has two sides. One is worship: people go to Mass or another service. The other is the memory of a saint who gave to the poor, which is why gifts, sweets and coins are so closely tied to it.

Origins and history

Christian tradition holds that Nicholas was born at Patar in Asia Minor. He travelled to Egypt to study theology with the Desert Fathers and later became Bishop of Myra. He was jailed during the persecution under Diocletian and freed after Constantine's Edict of Milan in 313 allowed Christians to worship openly. A famous story tells of a poor father whose daughters risked being sold; Nicholas threw money through the family's window, and it landed in shoes drying by the fire. He died on 6 December 346. His remains, first kept at Demre, were taken to Bari in Italy in 1087.

How it is kept

In many homes the day begins the night before. Children clean their boots or shoes and set them on a windowsill, or hang up stockings, and by morning they find sweets, coins or a small toy. In the Netherlands and Belgium the shoe is packed with hay and a carrot for the saint's horse. German and Polish boys traditionally dressed as bishops and asked for alms for the poor. Presents are often tagged with funny rhymes written by the giver. In the Netherlands Sinterklaas arrives by boat from Spain, and in Belgium he sails in around mid-November, landing at Antwerp. Slovenia's Miklavž walks with an angel and a devil.

Food and drink

Several countries mark the feast with a particular meal. Bulgarian families gather relatives, sponsors and neighbours for fish, most often carp baked inside dough, together with two loaves of ceremonial bread. These are blessed in church or at home. Before eating, one person carries incense around the table, then raises the loaves and breaks them. Serbs who keep Nikoljdan on 19 December eat freshwater fish, and hosts serve smoked carp, because the day falls in the fast before Christmas and no meat, dairy or eggs may be eaten. Albanian Catholics light a candle, stay away from meat, and lay out roast lamb and pork for guests after midnight.

Today and change

Santa Claus and Britain's Father Christmas both grew out of Saint Nicholas, and the name Santa Claus comes partly from Sinterklaas, the Dutch form. Their gift-giving belongs to Christmas Day rather than to this feast. In the Netherlands a long argument continues about Zwarte Piet, the saint's helper. Some Dutch people with African roots connect the figure to the country's slavery past and call it racist; others say the blackened face simply comes from the helper's work as a chimney sweep. In Ukraine the figure of Sviatyi Mykolai is being revived, with charity drives for orphans and school lessons on writing him a letter.

How Saint Nicholas Day is kept

Children take part first: on the eve they clean a boot or shoe, leave it by the window, the chimney or the door, and sometimes add hay and a carrot. Singing comes with it in the Netherlands. In the morning the shoe holds sweets, coins, marbles or a small toy, and gifts carry comic verses. Adults go to Mass or another service. In Germany and Poland boys traditionally dressed as bishops and asked for alms for the poor. Bulgaria, Serbia and Albania keep the day with a family meal, and Albanians greet one another with blessings.

When and where

The feast is fixed to the date of the saint's death, 6 December, and always falls inside Advent. Western churches keep it then, or on the evening before. Eastern churches that still use the old calendar keep it on 19 December instead, a date Serbian families call Nikoljdan. Albanians also mark the evening before 9 May, recalling the move of his bones to Bari.

The day is kept across Europe and wherever European Christians settled. It is strongest in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece and Albania. Portugal's city of Guimarães holds the Nicolinas every year. In the United States children hang up stockings, and Ukrainian cities such as Lviv run charity collections for orphans.

What Saint Nicholas Day means

For the churches that keep it, the day points to a bishop who used his wealth to rescue the poor, and to Advent, the season when Christians prepare for Christmas. Nicholas is asked to watch over children, sailors and people in financial trouble, and over those harmed by fire. Greek sailors hold him as their patron and speak of him calming storms at sea. The oil said to flow from his tomb is carried home by pilgrims and used when they pray.

Days Saint Nicholas Day is marked

Saint Nicholas Day dates: 2026, 2027, 2028

Questions people ask about Saint Nicholas Day

See also

Good FridayA solemn Christian holy day commemorating the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ.Kol NidreAn Aramaic declaration of vow annulment that opens the Yom Kippur evening service in Jewish synagogues.Camino de SantiagoA Christian walking pilgrimage across Europe to the shrine of Saint James in SpainTisha B'AvA solemn fast day in July or August to mourn the destruction of the Jerusalem Temples and other Jewish tragedies.

Good reading and sources

• Saint Nicholas Day on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-05.