In pre-revolutionary Ukraine and in the south of Russia, the night from 18 to 19 December, children waited impatiently, because gifts from St. Nicholas were to appear under their pillows. Now this custom is almost forgotten, and children find their gifts under the New Year or Christmas tree.
At the turn of the 3rd-4th centuries, Saint Nicholas, Archbishop of Mirlikia, was the shepherd of Antioch Christians. He went down in history as one of the participants in the First Council of Nicaea, which consolidated the basic dogmas of Christian doctrine. However, Archbishop Mirlikisy did not leave behind any theological works. He is revered for his mercy and charity, as well as for the gift of miracles that he received from God.
St. Nicholas Day became a children's holiday in the lands of Germany several centuries after the death of the Archbishop of Mirliki. Previously, he was the patron saint of travelers, fishermen and sailors. In some countries in southern Europe (especially in Bulgaria and Greece) and in Ukraine, they still pray to him before a long journey and at the consecration of ships. Saint Nicholas was considered the protector of the unjustly convicted, offended and poor. One of his first miracles is considered to be the salvation of the three dowry sisters from shame and fornication. Saint Nicholas planted three bags with gold in their house.
With the emergence of schools at churches and monasteries, Nicholas the Wonderworker became the guardian of the students: from the life of the saint it is known that in childhood he was easily taught sciences. In the 11th century, on the feast day of the saint (December 19), in the Cologne Cathedral, the pupils of the church school were given sweets, as there are corresponding records in the documents of the cathedral.
Saint Nicholas often does not come alone. In Western Europe, a donkey helps him deliver gifts, for which children leave a treat on the floor by their beds - a carrot or a cabbage stump. In Bohemia, the saint is accompanied by an angel and an imp. Each of them has a book, which lists all the good and evil deeds of this or that child. Saint Nicholas comes to Ukrainian children in a golden sleigh pulled by golden-maned horses, enters the house invisible and leaves his gifts under the pillow in the bed of a sleeping child. Disobedient children will find only a rod instead of gifts in the morning.
