I pray for peace in 2004.


What an awful year 2003 has been...

.... the year began with horrendous bushfires, both in Australia and the USA,
the Challenger disaster, the threat of war in Iraq, floods, tornados, earthquakes.
Then... the reality of war in Iraq, the loss of hundreds of young lives and even
though the war is 'over' more precious lives are still being lost. The capture of
Saddam Hussein has been one bright light along the way.

Here in Australia... Pauline Hanson and David Ettridge being jailed when they
were proven innocent months later. The Governor General finally being thrown
out of office for his part in sympathising with paedophile priests instead of their
victims.

Personally, it's been a tough year.... with Jason missing Chantal, working his butt
off to try to get to Holland... and finally succeeding. Though in his success I've
lost my family. Where there were six of us in what seems like only a couple of
years ago, now there are only two, my mother and myself. Anyone who knows my
mother...knows that IS tough *S* I love her dearly but everything has to be her
way and when she wants it done. Jared and Jason were a diversion, giving me
time to myself... that's gone now.

This is the first Christmas EVER when we haven't had family around us. We haven't
even put up decorations this year. I hope Chantal is worth it and that Jason finally
finds happiness and a good job.

To all my friends... I wish you a VERY happy holiday season and good health, happiness
and peace for 2004

Since they (Jason and Jared) went to Holland, I thought I'd include a couple of
stories about Dutch Christmas traditions.



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Christmas in Holland

For most children in Holland, the most important day in the Christmas Celebration is 6th December, St. Nicholas’ day. St. Nicholas, called ‘Sinter Klaas’ in Holland, is where Santa Claus comes from. On the morning of St. Nicholas’ Day, Sinter Klaas travels to Amsterdam in a boat, wearing his red bishop’s robes. He travels with his servant called Black Peter. When Sinter Klaas and Black Peter come ashore from the boat, all of the local church bells ring in celebration. Sinter Klaas then leads a procession through Amsterdam, riding a white horse, to meet the Queen of Amsterdam in the Palace.

On St. Nicholas Eve, (5th December) children leave clogs or shoes out to be filled with presents. They also believe that if they leave some hay and carrots in their shoes for Sinter Klaas’s horse, they will be left some sweets. Children are told that Black Peter keeps a record of all the things they have done in the past year in a book and that good children will get presents from Sinter Klaas, but bad children will get chased by Black Peter with a stick!! Dutch tradition says that he lives in Madrid and every year he chooses a different harbour to arrive in Holland, so as many children as possible get a chance to see him. Every town in Holland has a few Sinter Klaas helpers, dressed the same as Sinter Klaas who help give the presents out.

Sinter Klaas parties are often held on St. Nicholas Eve, where treasure hunt games are played with poems and riddles giving the clues. Children follow the clues to find little presents left by Sinter Klaas. Special biscuits and sweets are also eaten at the party. One type of biscuit is called ‘letter blanket’ or letter cake, which is made from marzipan or pastry. The biscuits are made in the shapes of the first letter of the peoples names who are at the party. Another sweet biscuit that is eaten at the parties are ‘peper noot’ which are made with cinnamon and spices in the pastry biscuit mix.

Surprise presents are also given at St. Nicholas Day. This is a custom at the Sinter Klaas parties and often within classes at schools. The custom is that everyone’s name in put into a hat and everyone picks another person’s name — then they have to make a surprise present for that person. The presents are often things that the person would find useful with their favourite hobby. The presents come with a poem inside that gives a clue to who might have sent the present, but it is all meant to be a mystery!

Christmas Day itself is a much quieter day in Holland, with a Church Service and family meal. Sometimes there is a special Christmas Day ‘Sunday School’ in the afternoon at the church, where the Christmas Story and other traditional stories are told. Children may be given fruit and biscuits.These are often the only presents children will get on Christmas Day because they have already received most of their presents on St. Nicholas Day.

On Christmas Eve night, Dutch Children believe that Santa Claus, (who is also call Christmas man to avoid confusion with Sinter Klass!) comes from Lapland in Finland to deliver more presents!

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The Man Behind the Story of Father Christmas

St. Nicholas was a Bishop who lived in the fourth century AD in a place called Myra in Asia Minor (now called Turkey). He was a very rich man because his parents died when he was young and left him a lot of money. He was also a very kind man and had a reputation for helping the poor and giving secret gifts to people who needed it. There are several legends about St. Nicholas, although we don’t know if any of them are true!

The most famous story about St. Nicholas tells how the custom of hanging up stockings to get presents in first started! It goes like this…

There was a poor man who had three daughters. He was so poor, he did not have enough money for a dowry, so his daughters couldn’t get married. (A dowry is a sum of money paid to the bridegroom by the bride’s parents on the wedding day. This still happens in some countries, even today.) One night, Nicholas secretly dropped a bag of gold down the chimney and into the house. The oldest daughter was then able to be married. This was repeated later with the second daughter. Finally, determined to discover the person who had given him the money, the father secretly hid by the fire every evening until he caught Nicholas dropping in a bag of gold. Nicholas begged the man to not tell anyone what he had done, because he did not want to bring attention to himself. But soon the news got out and when anyone received a secret gift, it was thought that maybe it was from Nicholas.

Because of his kindness Nicholas was made a Saint. St. Nicholas is not only the saint of children but also of sailors! One story tells of him helping some sailors that were caught in a dreadful storm off the coast of Turkey. The storm was raging around them and all the men were terrified that their ship would sink beneath the giant waves. They prayed to St. Nicholas to help them. Suddenly, he was standing on the deck before them. He ordered the sea to be calm, the storm died away, and they were able to sail their ship safely to port.

St. Nicholas was exiled from Myra and later put in prison during the persecution of his Emperor, Diocletian. No one is really knows when he died, but it was on 6th December in either 345 or 352 AD. In 1807, his bones were stolen from Turkey by some Italian merchant sailors. The bones are now kept in the Church named after him in the Italian port of Bari. On St. Nicholas’ feast day (6th December), the sailors of Bari still carry his statue from the Cathedral out to sea, so that he can bless the waters and so give them safe voyages throughout the year.

May God Bless And Keep Each And Everyone Of You Safe