December 6 is Saint Nicholas Day! In Germany, children put out their stockings (or shoes) on the eve of Saint Nicholas and he fills them with fruits & candies (or coal). In my house we celebrate Saint Nicholas Day because we have our own Saint Nicholas (our twelve-year-old). I usually just wish him a happy Saint Nicholas Day and buy him some chocolate. Lately I’ve taken him out for lunch to celebrate his saint’s day.
Another “tradition” that we’ve had on Saint Nicholas Day is to wake up to the radio reminding us that it is the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women in Canada. December 6 marks the anniversary of the murders in 1989 of 14 young women at l'École Polytechnique de Montréal. I’ve always had troubles reconciling the fun celebration of the patron saint of children with the remembrance of that terrible crime.
Today, as Matt Galloway reminded me of the memorial this morning, it seemed to make more sense. Saint Nicholas isn’t the Santa Claus of Coca-Cola ads, nor is he even Father Christmas. He was a real person living in the early fourth century A.D. As Bishop of Myra, located in modern day Turkey, he attended the Council of Nicea from which we have the Nicene Creed. Nicholas was a great protector of women. A story is told of a poor old widower with three daughters for whom he had no dowry. Without a dowry, the girls were destined to be sold into prostitution. In order to save the girls, and retain the widower’s dignity, Nicholas secretly provided the dowries by throwing bags of gold through the family’s window. (The gold supposedly landed in stockings or shoes drying by the fire.) You may have never thought of Santa Claus as someone doing what he could to stop the trafficking of vulnerable women, but Saint Nicholas surely did. He followed the example of his saviour Jesus in protecting vulnerable women and honouring them.
So, we can celebrate Saint Nicholas Day and remember and take action on violence against women on the same day. You can remember Saint Nicholas and wear the white ribbon in his honour; and like Saint Nicholas, you can take action to protect women who are some of the most vulnerable to violence: those who are trafficked, especially in the sex trade. One place to start is where many people at Runnymede Community Church help out: supporting Vancouver-based Ratanak International in their work to restore and rehabilitate Cambodian women and children from slavery in the brothels in Cambodia.
Another “tradition” that we’ve had on Saint Nicholas Day is to wake up to the radio reminding us that it is the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women in Canada. December 6 marks the anniversary of the murders in 1989 of 14 young women at l'École Polytechnique de Montréal. I’ve always had troubles reconciling the fun celebration of the patron saint of children with the remembrance of that terrible crime.
Today, as Matt Galloway reminded me of the memorial this morning, it seemed to make more sense. Saint Nicholas isn’t the Santa Claus of Coca-Cola ads, nor is he even Father Christmas. He was a real person living in the early fourth century A.D. As Bishop of Myra, located in modern day Turkey, he attended the Council of Nicea from which we have the Nicene Creed. Nicholas was a great protector of women. A story is told of a poor old widower with three daughters for whom he had no dowry. Without a dowry, the girls were destined to be sold into prostitution. In order to save the girls, and retain the widower’s dignity, Nicholas secretly provided the dowries by throwing bags of gold through the family’s window. (The gold supposedly landed in stockings or shoes drying by the fire.) You may have never thought of Santa Claus as someone doing what he could to stop the trafficking of vulnerable women, but Saint Nicholas surely did. He followed the example of his saviour Jesus in protecting vulnerable women and honouring them.
So, we can celebrate Saint Nicholas Day and remember and take action on violence against women on the same day. You can remember Saint Nicholas and wear the white ribbon in his honour; and like Saint Nicholas, you can take action to protect women who are some of the most vulnerable to violence: those who are trafficked, especially in the sex trade. One place to start is where many people at Runnymede Community Church help out: supporting Vancouver-based Ratanak International in their work to restore and rehabilitate Cambodian women and children from slavery in the brothels in Cambodia.
Saint Nicholas protecting vulnerable women and children - a great role model for men!
ReplyDeleteThat's what the saints are for LR!
ReplyDelete