Meeting with St. Nicholas

Calendar of New Year holidays begins with honoring one of the most beloved saints in Ukraine – Saint Nicholas. Even Ukrainian cossacks treated him with great reverence. Each hut had an icon of St. Nicholas as Ukrainian knights considered him to be their counsel and defendant in distant campaigns, especially in sea travels to Turkey. But children especially loved winter holiday of Nicholas, because he always brought gifts, tasty treats to children, often carried out their most cherished dreams. So with great joy adults and children met the St Nicholas Day in the church of the Transfiguration, which came to them on December 22, accompanied by the angels of God after the fulfillment of the Divine Liturgy. To obtain desirable gifts, children had to make many good deeds: gather toys scattered by blizzard, show generosity to others, decorate apple tree with fruit and, of course, to recite a poem or sing a song. For these good deeds, St. Nicholas gave them gifts and wished children to be his followers - to do good in their family, school, give joy and warmth of their heart to all the people.