Why is a stocking a symbol of christmas

You can eschew the mall madness in favor of sticking a humble orange in your Christmas hosiery. The orange became part of Christmastime tradition in the 19th century, in concert with the rise of hanging stockings near the fire. According to Emily Spivack, who wrote about the origin of the Christmas stocking for Smithsonian.

Placing an orange in the toe of one of these Christmas stockings may have had something to do with the legend of the three balls or bags or bars or coins of gold that the Bishop of Myra, the real Saint Nicholas, gave to three poor maidens to use as dowries.

Saint Nicholas, who was born at the end of the 3rd century—and whose life is amalgamized with another Saint Nicholas, who lived in Sion in the 6th century, according to some digging by Maria Alessia Rossi , a Kress postdoctoral researcher at Princeton University—is said to have saved the three impoverished women from being sold into slavery with the gold.

According to some tellings of the story, Saint Nicholas threw the gold bags into their house through a window in the dead of night, and one ever-so-conveniently landed in a stocking drying by the fire. At the emergence of the Christmas stocking tradition, there was still something very exotic about the gift of the citrus fruit in wintry Europe, which speaks to another theory as to why the orange ended up embedded into the story of Christmas. It was during the Victorian era that the concept of Christmas was also transforming from a purely religious celebration to one dominated by gifts.

Evergreen plants retain their green leaves or needles, regardless of the weather. They symbolize the life, light, and hope that continually shine—even in the dead of winter. The circular wreaths we shape them into are symbolic of God, who has no beginning and no end. The story says that a child with no money was searching for a gift to bring to the church on Christmas Eve.

She gathered weeds from the side of the road and placed them on the altar. Immediately, crimson flowers blossomed from the weeds. By Sarah Eyring, FaithCounts. Does reading about faith inspire you? Do you have a story or information about your faith you want to share?

In each encounter, a reminder to taste and smell, to feel the stickiness of touch and the smoothness of melting surfaces. The stockings : Recycled year to year, to remind us of continuity and connection, of aging across time and reliving simple pleasures with younger generations.

The stockings recall the fullness of our lives and the importance of grounding down into our feet. They help us stand strong on the earth, warming the foundations of life as we draw strength from our roots. And, most precious of all, the glory of shared experience with family and friends. Of rejoicing in the pleasure of others and the blessings of generosity. This is a time for virtue and thanksgiving, of gratitude and humility. A preparation for setting the best of intentions to stretch into the new year, and a signal of a personal resolution to living in grace.

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