Gift-giving During a Fast
Gift-giving is already a challenging activity let alone trying to keep fast and avoid becoming a frazzled consumerist rushing against time! So we would like to explore some ideas that might help you change how you approach gift-giving, if not this year then for next year.
Gifting like St. Nicholas, in secret
We know that the pillars to keeping a fast are (1) fasting (from foods), (2) praying more and (3) almsgiving - in other words, gifting. But something we often remember is how His Grace, Bishop Nicholas did so - he gave but in secret. Fr. Thomas Hopko, of blessed memory, put it in other words “do acts of mercy in secret” in his list of 55 Maxims of Christian Living (we highly recommend printing it and keeping it in your icon corner or desk). And why secretly? Fr. Hopko explains it through this quote (read the rest of the article here):
“Beware of practicing your piety before men, in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give alms, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do…that they may be praised by men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be in secret; and your Father Who sees in secret will reward you” [St. Matthew 6:1-4].
Try it at home. This Facebook testimony puts it best: “We then have [them] choose someone they know - a neighbour, usually. [Their] mission is to secretly, deviously, find out something that the person needs, and then provide it, wrap it, deliver it- and never reveal to the target where it came from.” So look at the people in your life, preferably not those in your nuclear family, and see what they might need and provide it secretly.
Rescuing St. Nicholas from Santa Claus
As most likely know, St. Nicholas is the origin of the now commercialized Santa Claus (whose image we know today was created by Coca Cola in 1931), Santa being Saint and Claus coming from Niklaus, i.e. Nicholas, in Greek. However, while Santa Claus can be seen to arguably continue the spirit of St. Nicholas, it has often been to the detriment of Nativity (despite being Dec. 25), removing the spotlight from the birth of our Saviour Lord, Jesus Christ. Ukrainian tradition already includes gift-giving on the day of St. Nicholas (Dec. 19) but if you’re looking for more ways to bring the focus back to St. Nicholas, take a look at this website dedicated to St. Nicholas traditions around the world!
Orthodox Gift Ideas for Children
With a world filled with options and stimulus, sometimes it can be difficult finding appropriate gifts for the children in our lives. There are two things you can consider: (1) consider giving experiences instead of objects and (2) consider their love language (physical touch, quality time, words of affirmation, acts of service, receiving gifts).
Here is a list of experiences you can get for children.
But if you’re looking for ideas that can help them connect with their faith and our Church, here are some more ideas:
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