A note from Fr. Longenecker — Today (the school Mass closest to St. Nicholas’ Day) we will restore an ancient tradition from Europe which was especially popular in the Netherlands. This is the tradition of the “boy Bishop”.
For St Nicholas’ feast day, one of the boy choristers from the cathedral would be elected by his peers to be “bishop for the day”. He would process into Mass in full episcopal regalia with his own servers, have a special seat at Mass and “preach” a homily.
During the school day the boy Bishop would distribute gifts to the children. Meanwhile another boy would have been elected as Schwartz Pieter (Black Peter) to play pranks and cause mischief in the school and at the end of the day the Boy Bishop would cast out Schwartz Pieter.
At OLR school today Emmett Pillow (an altar server elected by his peers) will be our first Boy Bishop. Schwartz Pieter will be one of the Upper School boys.
I hope by renewing this creative tradition our children will have a fun way of remembering St Nicholas at this festive time of the year.
