A Week of Saints

Sunday the 30th marked the beginning of the Advent season and was also Andreasnacht, St Andrew's Night. Andrew was a disciple of Jesus as was his brother Peter, both of whom were fishermen.  Following the death of Jesus, Andrew preached and was martyred by crucifixion. Feeling he was unworthy to die on a cross resembling that of Christ's, Andrew is often depicted on an 'x' shaped cross.  Andrew is a patron of Russia and Scotland in addition to fishmongers, Army Rangers, and performers.  

In our region of Germany, Catholic youth went door to door singing, and as they went, houses were marked with 'x's' which were to serve as a blessing.  Additionally, and for reasons unknown to me, St. Andrew's is also a day celebrated by single women throughout Germany.  I was told of three ways in which a single lady can ascertain information about her future husband:  throwing a shoe at the door, peeling an apple, and casting molten lead.  If, when a woman throws a shoe at the door, the toe of the shoe points to the door, then the woman will be wed within a year's time.  After peeling an apple (hopefully in a single, winding thread), a woman tosses the peel over her shoulder.  If the apple peel resembles a letter of the alphabet, that letter indicates an initial of her future husband.  By pouring hot lead into water, a woman may be able to ascertain information about her future husband's profession.  

Bop's birthday coincides with the day of St. Barbara, a young woman locked in a tower by her merchant father who wanted to protect his daughter's innocence (read: virginity).  The tower featured two windows, but after being secretly baptized by a priest, Barbara added a third window to denote the Holy Trinity.  Furious, Barbara's father condemned her and is said to have personally murdered her.  As Barbara awaited her fate in a dungeon, a branch of a cherry tree became entangled in her dress. Watering it with a portion of her daily rations, the branch bloomed on the day Barbara was executed; hence, today's Barbarazweig.  Branches, many of them cherry, are available for purchase and are brought into homes on the 4th of December in hopes that it will bloom in time for Christmas.  

December 6th, the day of Sankt Nikolaus, was the Saint's Day the children most looked forward to as it closely relates to our tradition of Santa Claus.  Sankt Nikolaus was known for performing acts of kindness during his lifetime and one in particular:  when a father could not afford the dowries of his three daughters, he decided that he must send them to a brothel for employment.  Hearing of this, Nikolaus went to the girls' home in the middle of the night and threw sacks of money (sufficient for dowries) in through an open window enabling the girls to escape prostitution and marry.  In some parts of Germany, Sankt Nikolaus is depicted as a Bishop (complete with miter!), in others, he closely resembles our idea of Santa Claus. 

Children leave their shoes on their stoops on the 6th, and if they've been well behaved, Nikolaus will fill the shoes with treats (chocolates and fruit) and perhaps a small toy. If children have misbehaved, a switch with which the parents can beat them is left for the children.   

The kiddos left their shoes on our doorstep and were gratified to have been left chocolates and a teddy bear each (just as on Christmas morning, the kiddos awoke quite early to check their shoes; I didn't get any pictures of them rifling through their chocolate treats).  Sankt Nikolaus visited Littlest's school and gifted her a bag of sweets and a small playmobil set.  No gifts are left for German children on Christmas Eve.  

Littlest and her loot from school.