Iglesia de San Nicolás de Bari, Aviles, Spain Photo: courtesy of www.deasturias.com

Parroquia de El Salvador y San Nicolas, Madrid, Spain Photo: J Rosenthal/Anglican World

St. Nicholas, a popular saint in Spain, has many churches dedicated to him. As a special devotion people make a Caminata in honor of Saint Nicolas of Bari. This long walk, or promenade, is made to a St. Nicholas church on three successive Mondays. Before or after the daily Mass (or at another time on the Mondays) special prayers are offered by a person seeking help. The prayers begin with an invocation, followed by a hymn, a Psalm, and a scripture reading.* The devotion concludes with a Saint Nicholas litany, the Our Father, another prayer, and final hymn (hymns are said, not sung). It is mostly women who seek this intercession, particularly in times of financial difficulty. Traditionally, if healthy enough, women walked from home to a church dedicated to St Nicholas, though it may also be to another church that has a St. Nicholas statue.

In some places, the person asks St. Nicholas a question and the answer comes through the others that are present. The person asking doesn't intervene or talk to the others while waiting for an answer. The answer may come by bowing of the head, or saying, "yes" or "no."

There are many accounts of the assistance and protection experienced through the St. Nicholas Caminata of Three Mondays.

Basque country San Nicolas traditions include very young boy bishops—usually between three- and six-years-old, as well as groups of men, auroros, who sing and give orations. The men collect alms to be distributed by the teacher, priest. or boy bishop himself. As customs varies from place to place, the boy may be escorted by classmates, ride a small horse, or preside over a meal with priest and teacher. The traditional treats are dried ruit, nuts, and small cakes. Peanuts have replaced chestnuts in Legazpia, saving the work of roasting. The young bishop figure is no longer found in Arrasate, though townspeople still retain vestiges of the celebration by gathering under the City Council balcony to sing and demand treats of caramels and dry fruits that rain down from above.

St. Nicholas traditions have also been preserved in Catalonia, where it is said that "St. Nicholas opens the Christmas holidays." Here, too, young boy bishops are selected in a number of monasteries and religious communities: Montserrat, Girona, Lleida, Vic, and Palma de Mallorca. Along with two attendants, the young bishop keeps alive this once-widespread medieval custom.

Singing traditional St. Nicholas songs in Ager, Catalonia Photo: www.festes.org Permission pending

Ready to sing in Cabassers, Catalonia; children have wooden swords and wicker basket Photo: www.festes.org Permission pending

Children in Catalonia, with parents or teachers, go house to house singing traditional St. Nicholas songs. They carry large wicker baskets for treats of fruit, nuts, sausage, eggs, and more, that neighbors give in return.

Decorated cardboard chickens in Benassal, Catalonia Photo: www.festes.org Permission pending

Costumed children sing traditional St. Nicholas songs in Borriana, Catalonia Photo: www.festes.org Permission pending

Children often have wooden swords, a reminder of the time, long ago, when, on St. Nicholas Day, children were allowed to kill roosters found on the road. Now, in Benassal, large cardboard chickens lead the procession, recalling the former custom.

In Catalan St. Nicholas is Sant Nicolau.

*The reading on the first Monday is from Romans 12.1–2, the second, James 2.14–17, and the third, Matthew 22.36–40. The Psalms are 60, 30, and 24.