Happy Feast of Sinterklaas!

Willem Hooykaas of Ontario, Canada, sent us this question: We are coming on the Nov. 29 sailing [on Eurodam] with our daughter. Will St. Nicholaas Day be celebrated on Dec 5, our last day on board? If so what are the plans?

Eurodam’s Dutch Hotel Manager Stan Kuppens (who should know) took the time to explain the intricacies of the Christmas season in Holland:

The official Dutch name is Sinterklaas. As the U.S. guests don’t really know and understand this celebration, we normally keep it to the crew. We do have the “sint” and “piet” costumes on board and will have our evening get-together on December 5 in the crew area. On that day, we also present a little surprise plate to our Dutch guests.

The Feast of Sinterklaas, or St. Nicholas, is an annual event which has been uniquely Dutch and Flemish for centuries. St. Nicholas’ Feast Day, December 6, is observed in most Roman Catholic countries primarily as a feast for small children. But it is only in the Low Countries — especially in the Netherlands — that the eve of his feast day (December 5) is celebrated nationwide by young and old, Christian and non-Christian, and without any religious overtones.

Although Sinterklaas is always portrayed in the vestments of the bishop he once was, his status as a canonized saint has had little to do with the way the Dutch think of him. Rather, he is a kind of benevolent old man, whose feast day is observed by exchanging gifts and making good-natured fun of each other.

The legend of St. Nicholas actually is based on historical fact. He lived from 271 A.D. to December 6, 342 or 343. His fourth-century tomb in the town of Myra, near the city of Anatolia in present-day Turkey, has even been excavated by archaeologists.

This is his story:
Born of a wealthy family, Nicholas was brought up as a devout Christian. When his parents died during an epidemic, he distributed his wealth among the poor and became a priest.

Later he became Archbishop of Myra, and the fame of his good deeds began to spread across the Mediterranean. Desperate sailors who called upon the Good Bishop to calm stormy seas were heard; prison walls crumbled when victims of persecution prayed to him. He saved young children from the butcher’s knife and dropped dowries into the shoes of penniless maidens.

Over time St. Nicholas became the patron saint of sailors and merchants, and especially of children. After his death, the cult of St. Nicholas spread rapidly via southern Italy, throughout the rest of the Mediterranean and eventually to coastal towns along the Atlantic Ocean and North Sea.

In the 12th and 13th centuries, Holland built 23 churches dedicated to St. Nicholas, many of which still stand. Amsterdam adopted St. Nicholas as its patron saint, and Rome decreed that December 6, the anniversary of his death, should be his official Feast Day.

St. Nicholas’ strong influence in the Low Countries — a region heavily engaged in trade and navigation — was due to his role as patron of sailors and merchants. However, his fame as protector of children eventually took precedence.

In the 14th century, choir boys of St. Nicholas churches were given some money and the day off on December 6. Somewhat later, the pupils of convent schools would be rewarded or punished by a monk dressed up as the Good Bishop, with his long white beard, his red mantle and mitre (bishop’s hat) and his golden crosier (bishop’s staff) — just as he is still presented today.

All Dutch children know that Sinterklaas (the name is a corruption of Sint Nikolaas) lives in Spain. Exactly why is a mystery, but that is what all the old songs and nursery rhymes say. Whatever the case, in Spain he spends most of the year recording the behavior of all children in a big red book, while his helper Black Peter stocks up on presents for December 5.

In the first weeks of November, Sinterklaas gets on his white horse, Peter (”Piet”) swings a huge sack full of gifts over his shoulder, and the three of them board a steamship headed for the Netherlands. Around mid-November they arrive in a harbor town — a different one every year — where they are formally greeted by the mayor and a delegation of citizens. Their parade through town is watched live on television by the whole country and marks the beginning of the “Sinterklaas Season.”

The old bishop and his helpmate are suddenly everywhere at once. At night they ride across Holland’s rooftops and Sinterklaas listens through the chimneys to check on children’s behavior. Piet jumps down the chimney flues and makes sure that the carrot or hay the children have left for the horse in their shoes by the fireplace is exchanged for a small gift or some candy. During the day, Sinterklaas and Piet are even busier, visiting schools, hospitals, department stores, restaurants, offices and many private homes. Piet rings doorbells, scatters sweets through the slightly opened doors and leaves baskets of presents by the front door.

How do they manage to be all over the Netherlands at once? Thanks to the so-called “hulp-Sinterklazen,” or Sinterklaas helpers, who dress up like the bishop and Black Peter and help them perform their duties. Children who become wise to these simultaneous “Sint-sightings” are told that since Sinterklaas cannot indeed be in two places at once, he gets a little help from his non-canonized friends.

The Dutch are busy too — shopping for, and more importantly, making presents. Tradition demands that all packages be camouflaged in some imaginative way, and that every gift be accompanied by a poem. This is the essence of Sinterklaas: lots of fun on a day when people are not only allowed, but expected, to make fun of each other in a friendly way. Children, parents, teachers, employers and employees, friends and co-workers tease each other and make fun of each others’ habits and mannerisms.

Another part of the fun is how presents are hidden or disguised. Recipients often have to go on a treasure hunt all over the house, aided by hints, to look for them. They must be prepared to dig their gifts out of the potato bin, to find them in a jello pudding, in a glove filled with wet sand, in some crazy dummy or doll. Working hard for your presents and working even harder to think up other peoples’ presents and get them ready is what the fun is all about.

The original poem accompanying each present is another old custom and a particularly challenging one. Here the author has a field day with his subject (the recipient of the gift). Foibles, love interests, embarrassing incidents, funny habits and well-kept secrets all are fair game. The recipient, who is the butt of the joke, has to open the package in public and read the poem aloud amid general hilarity. The giver is supposed to remain anonymous because technically, all presents come from Sinterklaas, and recipients say out loud, “Thank you, Sinterklaas!” even if they no longer believe in him.

Toward December 5, St. Nicholas poems pop up everywhere in the Netherlands — in the press, in school, at work and in both Houses of Parliament.

On the fifth most places of business close earlier than usual. The Dutch head home to a table laden with the same traditional sweets and baked goods eaten for the feast of St. Nicholas as depicted in the 17th-century paintings of the Old Masters.

Early in the evening sweets are eaten while those gathered take turns unwrapping their gifts and reading their poems out loud so that everyone can enjoy the impact of the surprise. The emphasis is on originality and personal effort rather than the cost of the gift, which is one reason why Sinterklaas is such a delightful event for young and old alike.

Dutch settlers brought the tradition of St. Nicholas over to New Amsterdam (New York) in the USA.