St. Nicholas of Myra

The Saint of the Month is a regular feature, contributed by a member of our church.

Feast Day: December 6

Patron: Of children, orphans, sailors, prisoners.

Also Known As: Nicholas the Wonderworker

Born: Around 280 A.D, village of Patara, Turkey

Died: 6th December (Year Unknown)

The Man behind the story of Santa Claus

The true story of Santa Claus begins with Nicholas, who was born during the third century around 280 A.D. in the village of Patara in Asia Minor. At the time the area was Greek and is now on the southern coast of Turkey. Both of his parents died tragically during an epidemic when he was still quite young. They left him him well off, and to be raised by his uncle - the Bishop of Patara.

Nicholas was determined to devote his inheritance to works of charity. His uncle mentored him as a reader and later ordained him as a presbyter (priest). He dedicated his life to serving God and was made Bishop of Myra while still a young man.

Giving Dowry to Three Poor Girls

Fra Angelico, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Legends

There are many legends about "Saint Nicholas of Myra". One famous story tells how he helped three poor sisters and secretly delivered three bags of gold to their indebted father.

As the story goes, a man had lost all his money, and needed to support his three daughters who could not find husbands because of their poverty. In those days a young woman’s father had to offer prospective husbands a dowry. (A dowry is a sum of money paid to the bridegroom by the bride's parents on the wedding day. This still happens in some countries even today). As the man was planning to sell the girls into slavery, Nicholas became informed of this. He took a bag of gold and threw it into an open window of the man's house, one night. The bag of gold was said to have landed in stockings or shoes left before the fire to dry. (This led to the custom of children hanging stockings or putting out shoes, eagerly awaiting gifts from Saint Nicholas). With the gold, the man was able to pay off his debts and had enough money left over, to pay the dowry for the eldest girl’s marriage. Nicholas did the same for the second and the third. On the third visit, the man saw Saint Nicholas and thanked him for his kindness.

There are by far many legends attributed to St. Nicholas. He was neither fat nor jolly but developed a reputation as a fiery, wiry, and defiant defender of church doctrine during the Great Persecution in AD 303, when Bibles were burned and priests made to renounce Christianity or face execution. Nicholas defied these edicts and spent years in prison before the Roman emperor Constantine ended Christian persecution in AD 313 with the Edict of Milan.

Eastern Orthodox icon depicting the First Council of Nicaea

Popularity as a Saint

In AD 323, the Council of Nicaea agreed with Nicholas’ views on the Holy Trinity. The work of the Council produced the Nicene Creed which to this day many Christians repeat weekly. You can read more about it here.

He is not only the patron saint of children, but also of orphans, sailors, prisoners. He did many kind and generous deeds in secret, expecting nothing in return.

No one really knows which year he died, but it was on 6th December. Within a century of his death he was celebrated as a saint. He was recognized as a saint long before the Roman Catholic Church began the regular canonizing procedures in the late 10th century.

In Year 1087, his bones were spirited away from Turkey by some Italian merchant sailors. The bones are now kept in the Church named after him in the Italian port of Bari. On St. Nicholas feast day (6th December), the sailors of Bari still carry his statue from the Cathedral out to sea, so that he can bless the waters for safe voyages throughout the year.

Merry Old Santa Claus

Thomas Nast, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

How St. Nicholas became Santa Claus

For several hundred years, from 1200 to 1500 AD, St. Nicholas was the unchallenged bringer of gifts and the toast of celebrations centered around his feast day, December 6.

The absence of ‘hard facts’ of history is not necessarily an obstacle to the popularity of saints, as the devotion to Saint Nicholas shows. Both the Eastern and Western Churches honor him, and it is claimed that after the Blessed Virgin, he is the saint most pictured by Christian artists. Images of St. Nicholas varies considerably, but none of them look much like the red-cheeked, white-bearded old man seen everywhere today.

The jolly, chubby, grandfatherly face of this Santa was largely created by Thomas Nast, the great political cartoonist. American troops spread their version of the jolly man around the world in the years immediately following World War II, and he was generally welcomed.