Gollnick
Musical Director
- Joined
- Mar 22, 1999
- Messages
- 29,258
"The stockings were hung by the chimney with care in hopes that Saint Nicholas soon would be there..."
It's a familiar line, especially this time of year. But where does it come from? What does it mean?
A long time ago, there was a man, a widower, who had three daughters of marrying age. He had fallen on hard times and hadn't a penny to pay a dowry for even one of them. In those days, one way a couple provided for their retirement was through they dowry payment they received from the parents of the bride when one of their sons was married. The parents of a boy who was at all desirable, who had any prospects, would not consent to marriage without a dowry and, without the groom's parent's consent, there could be no marriage. So, the plight of these three girls was fixed. With their father unable to afford a penny of dowry, they could not hope to marry any respectible young man with any prospects.
And so it was on Christmas Eve one year that they washed out their stockings in preparations for the Christmas Mass the next morning. They hung them in front of the fireplace so that the last heat from the embers would help them dry.
The local priest, Father Nicholas, happened to walk by late that night and, through the window, saw the stockings hanging. He was familiar with the family's fate. He felt sorry for them and realize that he was carrying three bags of gold coins, possibly the offering from Christmas Eve services. So, he climbed to the roof of the house and dropped the first bag down the chimney thinking it would land on the hearth. But it miraculously bounded off the hearth and landed in one of the first pair of the stockings. He dropped the second and it bounced and landed in one of the second pair. And he dropped the third and it bounded and landed in one of the third pair of stockings. And thus each of the three daughters had her dowry.
Father Nicholas was later sainted for his many charitable deeds, Saint Nicholas or St. Nick, or Santa Clause if you like.
And thus began the tradition of hanging stockings with care in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there to fill them with gifts.
Eventually, the tradition expanded and the gifts one could expect to find in one's stockings were to be proportional to the good he had done that year. Eventaully, the tradition even provided for a lump of cold, hard coal for someone who was undeserving. There is, however, no reason to believe that the three girls who received their dowry payments were especially deserving nor was anyone else whom Father Nicholas gave to. And there's no record of Father Nicholas every giving anyone a lump of coal.
This brings us to the difference between exchanging gifts and bestowing gifts. They're not the same thing. Hopefully, we all do some of each. A gift exchange comes when you expect that the other person will also give you a gift. We all have people with whom we exchange gifts this time each year. But bestowing... well... bestowing is when you haven't received anything and don't expect anything back.
And so the tradition came to be that when one found one's stocking full of candies and fruits and nuts... good things bestowed upon you -- not earned by you -- by St. Nicholas -- bestowed, not exchanged -- in his goodness... one would bestow a few of those things on others.
We all know people in our lives who are cold and bitter, whose stockings are full of coal... at least they think so. And so when they reach into their stockings to bestow upon someone else, what they find is coldness and bitterness, anger and hate and bitterness. That's what they bestow upon others. We all know these people.
My friends, what is in your stocking? What did St. Nicholas leave you? When you reach into that stocking to bestow something on someone else in the coming year, what will you find there? What will you bestow in the coming year?
If you're reading this, I suspect that if you were to turn your stocking inside out, you might find a few shards of coal, but you'd have to look hard to see them amidst the candies and fruits.
It's a familiar line, especially this time of year. But where does it come from? What does it mean?
A long time ago, there was a man, a widower, who had three daughters of marrying age. He had fallen on hard times and hadn't a penny to pay a dowry for even one of them. In those days, one way a couple provided for their retirement was through they dowry payment they received from the parents of the bride when one of their sons was married. The parents of a boy who was at all desirable, who had any prospects, would not consent to marriage without a dowry and, without the groom's parent's consent, there could be no marriage. So, the plight of these three girls was fixed. With their father unable to afford a penny of dowry, they could not hope to marry any respectible young man with any prospects.
And so it was on Christmas Eve one year that they washed out their stockings in preparations for the Christmas Mass the next morning. They hung them in front of the fireplace so that the last heat from the embers would help them dry.
The local priest, Father Nicholas, happened to walk by late that night and, through the window, saw the stockings hanging. He was familiar with the family's fate. He felt sorry for them and realize that he was carrying three bags of gold coins, possibly the offering from Christmas Eve services. So, he climbed to the roof of the house and dropped the first bag down the chimney thinking it would land on the hearth. But it miraculously bounded off the hearth and landed in one of the first pair of the stockings. He dropped the second and it bounced and landed in one of the second pair. And he dropped the third and it bounded and landed in one of the third pair of stockings. And thus each of the three daughters had her dowry.
Father Nicholas was later sainted for his many charitable deeds, Saint Nicholas or St. Nick, or Santa Clause if you like.
And thus began the tradition of hanging stockings with care in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there to fill them with gifts.
Eventually, the tradition expanded and the gifts one could expect to find in one's stockings were to be proportional to the good he had done that year. Eventaully, the tradition even provided for a lump of cold, hard coal for someone who was undeserving. There is, however, no reason to believe that the three girls who received their dowry payments were especially deserving nor was anyone else whom Father Nicholas gave to. And there's no record of Father Nicholas every giving anyone a lump of coal.
This brings us to the difference between exchanging gifts and bestowing gifts. They're not the same thing. Hopefully, we all do some of each. A gift exchange comes when you expect that the other person will also give you a gift. We all have people with whom we exchange gifts this time each year. But bestowing... well... bestowing is when you haven't received anything and don't expect anything back.
And so the tradition came to be that when one found one's stocking full of candies and fruits and nuts... good things bestowed upon you -- not earned by you -- by St. Nicholas -- bestowed, not exchanged -- in his goodness... one would bestow a few of those things on others.
We all know people in our lives who are cold and bitter, whose stockings are full of coal... at least they think so. And so when they reach into their stockings to bestow upon someone else, what they find is coldness and bitterness, anger and hate and bitterness. That's what they bestow upon others. We all know these people.
My friends, what is in your stocking? What did St. Nicholas leave you? When you reach into that stocking to bestow something on someone else in the coming year, what will you find there? What will you bestow in the coming year?
If you're reading this, I suspect that if you were to turn your stocking inside out, you might find a few shards of coal, but you'd have to look hard to see them amidst the candies and fruits.
