St Nicolas was Bishop of Myra and remains the Patron Saint of sailors, fishermen, the falsely accused, pawnbrokers, thieves and a number of cities. On the St Nicolas Eve 2010 released this doodle.
St Nicolas is so special in many parts of the Christianised world. On the eve of the festivities St Nicholas appears in his Santa Claus persona to distribute gifts. A day before Dec 5, i.e., Dec 6, is celebrated as St Nicolas Day. On that occasion on St Nicolas Day Google released a doodle similar to St Nicolas Eve 2010 doodle. But in that the gifts are stored in order to distribute them on the feast of eve. But in the Google doodle released on 5th December there are no gifts or decorations inside the store room.
Here St Nicolas Eve 2010 doodle visualize fact that all the gifts are taken by the Santa to distribute among children. Some say that the choice of 6th December as his feast day is a deliberate attempt to divert attention from the association of the same date with the goddess Diana’s birth and the pagan rites which went along with it.
The celebration of St Nicolas Eve on 5th December continues in many places, and some cultures still choose to use this occasion to give gifts to children.
The miracles and good deeds are attributed to St Nicholas, but the most famous relate how fathers who could not afford a dowry for their daughters would find little bags of gold coins thrown through their windows, under cover of night. Due these miracle activities he is also known as “Nikolaos the Wonderworker”.
His reputation evolved among the faithful, as was common for early Christian saints. The historical Saint Nicholas is remembered and revered among Catholic and Orthodox Christians. He is also honoured by various Anglican and Lutheran churches. As we can see in the doodle we can see colorful celebrations starting from St Nicolas Eve .