We all come from the childhood, and each of us  dreamed about  miracles and wanted   to visit a fairytale. Christmas tale begins with the Saint Nicholas Day. It is not surprising that with the holiday of St. Nicholas miracles begin. An amazing time and season of warmness  and goodness start. Miracles happen only there, where someone believes in them. Did you know that everyone can meet with a miracle and become a child again? Charming residences of St. Nicholas are located in many countries around the world. If you want to get into a fairytale, you have a chance, so:

• The house Santa Claus in Alaska, United States, is located in the town of North Pole.
• The whole Santa Claus village and the park “Santa Park” are located on the Arctic Circle in Rovaniemi area, in Lapland in Finland.
• There is a post office of Santa Claus, located in Drobak in Norway.
• Danish Santa Claus lives in Greenland, his house of residence is located in the town of Nuuk.
• The town Mora, Dalarna in Sweden has amazing and famous park ”Santaworld” where everyone can visit Santa.
• Belarusian kids may visit (Grandfather Frost) Ded Moroz in the Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park.
• Manor of St. Nicholas is also in Ukraine in the town of Pistyn. However, it is not the only one Ukrainian residence of St. Nicholas. There are many of them in the Ukrainian Carpathians.

Each region has its own unique Old Man who brings gifts to children. Australia, The USA and Canada have a nice Santa Claus. American grandfather is wearing a red cap and a red jacket, he is smoking a pipe, travels by air in sleigh with eight reindeer and enters the house through the chimney. By the way, the poet Clement Clarke Moore invented to harness the sleigh of Santa Claus eight reindeer. In 1860, an American caricaturist and editorial cartoonist Thomas Nast drew the Santa Claus for the first time as an old, fat, bearded man, who is wearing glasses, in a red cap and with a pipe in his mouth. An interesting fact is that the present appearance of Santa Claus was created by an American artist Haddon Hubbard Sundblom who in 1931 painted a series of images of Santa Claus for the Coca-Cola Company.

Traveling around the world, we know that Austria has the Christkind, who is the traditional Christmas gift-bringer. The British children receive Christmas gifts from  the Father Christmas. St. Nicholas visits children in Belgium, Poland and Ukraine. Children from Greece and Cyprus are looking forward to St. Basil. Denmark welcomes Julemanden.  Julemanden can be directly translated as “The Christmas-man”. He is often illustrated as a short, bearded man dressed in gray clothes and a red hat. Babbo Natale lives in Italy. Besides him, obedient children get presents from the fairy godmother Befana. She is usually portrayed as an old lady riding a broomstick through the air. Befana is wearing a black shawl and she is covered in soot because she enters the children’s houses through the chimney. She is often smiling and carries a bag filled with candies and gifts. Papá Noel is the main gift-bringer in Spain. In the Netherlands Sinterklaas brings presents on the 5th of December. Christmas Gnome Julenissen come to children in Norway. Julenissen wears knitted cap and likes sweets.

Traditionally, Russia has Grandfather Frost (Ded Moroz) and his granddaughter, the Snow Maiden (Snegurochka), as his assistant. He has strict and severe appearance. He wears a long fur coat and high hat, he has ice stick in his hands and the bag with gifts.  Russian Old Man also has its own story. During the anti-religious campaign in the USSR, in the 20th of XX century, Christmas was deleted from the Soviet calendar. The Grandfather Frost was banned because he was originally seen as a character of Slavic mythology. Newspapers called the Grandfather Frost a weapon of propaganda of exploiting classes. The Snow Maiden, who originally was a literary character, also fell under the ban. Interesting is the fact, that Christmas tree was also banned as a religious symbol of Christmas. It lasted eight years, but the campaign against Christmas failed as it was expected. But the Soviet authorities had no choice and decided to adopt images of Grandfather Frost, Snow Maiden and Christmas tree to socialist realities. In 1935 they allowed the Christmas tree as a symbol of the New Year, and from 1937 the secular the Grandfather Frost was legalized instead of St. Nicholas.

Well, let’s leave Russia and go further. Romania also has its own good old Moş Crăciun (Father Christmas). In Finland, the old man is called Joulupukki. The name “Joulupukki” literally means “Christmas goat” or “Yule Goat” in Finnish. Many years ago Joulupukki wore clothes from goat skin and transported gifts to kids on a goat. Père Noël (Father Christmas) is French Old Man who brings presents to children. French Père Noël walks with a stick and wears a wide-brimmed hat. In Czech Republic Mikulas (St.Nicholas) gives presents for obedient children. In Sweden Old Man has three names: Yulnissan, Kris Kringle and Jultomten.

So who is he, the holy visitor from heaven who all of children are waiting for? But actually, it does not matter how this Old Man is called, the only thing is that the real prototype of the modern Russian Grandfather Frost or Finnish Joulupukki is one of the most revered saints of the Christian Church, Wonderworker Saint Nicholas, Bishop of Myra.

According to ancient stories of the 4th century,  in the time of Emperor Constantine there lived a young man named Nicholas in Myra. He was a son of a wealthy family, who became an orphan at very early age. When he knew that someone was suffering from poverty, the young man left money or goods, which the poor family needed at the doorstep. There is a legend about a poor girl that could not marry her beloved because of the lack of dowry. Nicholas put required amount of money under the pillow for the wedding. Happy bride told  everyone about the wonder and she insisted that angels intervened into her fate. Therefore, unmarried girls see St. Nicholas as their patron and pray to the saint, asking for a good husband and good fortune.

Nicholas did good things anonymously. But once people from town followed by Nicholas and found out the truth. Since then, he became the bishop of the town. Bishop Nicholas did many good things during his life, but he is able to give even more goodness to people after he went to heaven. The relics of St. Nicholas exuded a clear watery liquid which smells like rose. This water, called manna or myrrh, which is believed by the faithful to possess miraculous powers. Several times the relics of St. Nicholas have been research to confirm their authenticity. As it turned out, it was successfully managed, including 3D-reconstruction of the image of the saint.

Children, orphans and the poor immediately began to consider St. Nicholas as their patron in heaven. All of them, who prayed with real faith to St. Nicholas for help were witnesses of great miracles. St. Nicholas was the most famous saint in Europe. He was respected equally by Catholics and Protestants, even though Martin Luther wanted to cancel all Saints from the protestant church.

In Ukraine, the celebration takes place on the 19^th of December. Saint brings gifts at the night before the 19^th of December. In Ukrainian from the ancient times common people considered St. Nicholas as their patron. Interesting is the fact, that the name Nicholas in Greek

means “victory of the people”. Since ancient times, this holiday was meaningful and funny in Ukraine. There were big celebrations in the villages. There were organized nativity Scenes, fairs, people sang songs and Christmas carols. In the Ukrainian tradition, St. Nicholas is accompanied by angels and little devils that tell him how Ukrainian kids behaved during the year.

Probably, this tradition has come from medieval Germany, where parents presented new winter clothes to their children just before the holiday. Later they started to do it secretly, at night, to help the children believe in miracles and saints. Later gifts were diversified, parents started to give kids different kinds of sweets: nuts, dried fruits and special sweet bread with dried pears. Parents put school supplies and toys in new or polished and repaired old shoes that children put near the fireplace, or in stockings that were hung on the fireplace. Children piously believed that Saint threw gifts into the house right through the chimney. According to German legend, St. Nicholas always takes four-legged assistant, donkey, which comes from the family donkey, on which great-great-great-great-grandfather rode Jesus into Jerusalem.

In Holland, children believe that every year St Nicholas arrives in Rotterdam by ship from Spain, which represents “warm country”. According to Spanish tradition, St. Nicholas rode into the town on horseback. He is accompanied by “Black Peters”, who are his assistants. Saint is dressed in red Catholic bishop’s clothes and with bishop stick in his hand, brings gifts to children, riding across the country. Nowadays, every year there is a theatrical performance based on this legend. In Holland gifts are given anonymously. Each of them has card with little poem about the recipient, so it looks like they are written by St. Nicholas.

In Poland, St. Nicholas brings gifts in the night on the 5^th/6^th of December. Children hope that under the pillow or near their beds they will find sweets, toys, fruit in the morning. Naughty kids get also silver or golden twigs as a sign that next year they need to be better for their parents. And here St. Nicholas comes as a bishop in bright or red clothes, carrying a golden stick, which resembles a shepherd hook. Going down from the heaven with the Angel as an assistant, St. Nicholas is traveling around the country on foot, leaving gifts to obedient kids.

All Old Men-Wonderworkers have one common  mission – to bring gifts and fairy tale feeling to every house around the world, but each of them does it differently. Russian Father Frost and American Santa Claus put presents under the Christmas tree. The British and Irish kids find gifts in stockings. Kids from Mexico find presents in boots. In France Pere Noel throws gifts into the chimney. And in Spain he leaves the package with presents on the balcony. In Sweden, the Saint puts gifts near the stove, and in Germany he leaves presents on the windowsill.

These are different traditions and customs associated with the commemoration of this great Saint. I wish you all feel the presence of miracles and fairy tales, and not only during the Christmas and New Year but during the whole year long.