Saint Nicholas Day Since Nikoljdan always falls in the fasting period preceding Christmas, it is celebrated according to the Eastern Orthodox fasting rules ("Post"). Fasting refers in this context to the eating of a restricted diet for reasons of religion. This entails the complete avoidance of animal-sourced food products (meat, milk, dairy products and eggs). Fish may be eaten on certain days In Bulgaria, Saint Nicholas Day is celebrated on the 6 December as "Nikulden". Families invite relatives, sponsors and neighbors for a meal of fish (usually "ribnik", a carp wrapped in dough) and two loaves of ceremonial bread, all of which are
The Patron Saint of Eels The Patron Saint of Eels The Patron Saint of Eels (2005) is a novel by Australian author Gregory Day. It won the 2006 ALS Gold Medal. A moral tale, the novel tells the story of an Italian saint, Fra Ionio, who comes down from heaven to the small Australian town of Mangowak, to save some eels trapped in a ditch and to teach life lessons to some locals. Lisa Gorton in "The Age" noted that the novel "is gentle in spirit, reverent and celebratory", and "is as much a tribute to the life of a small town as it is