The year was A.D. 280, just 22 years prior to the last Roman persecution of Christians.
A son was born to a wealthy, elderly couple living in Asia Minor. Having been barren, like Abraham and Sarah, they considered the child a gift from God and named him “Nicholas” – Greek for “hero of the people.” They died in a plague when Nicholas was a teenager, leaving him an inheritance and a disposition to help the poor.
As a young man, Nicholas supposedly sailed to Alexandria, North Africa, to study. During a stormy voyage, he saved the life of a sailor who fell from the ship’s rigging. Upon return to port in Myra, Asia Minor, he visited a church to give thanks.
Unbeknownst to him, the church had just lost their leader and could not agree on a successor. According to legend, an elder dreamed that they should choose the next person named Nicholas who visited the church.
Nicholas entered the monastery of Sion and was ordained. His uncle, the bishop performing the ceremony, prophesied that he would “become a bishop whose life would enlighten the hearts of people to know the Lord.”
Nicholas became the Bishop of Myra and was known for helping the poor, fasting and spending all night studying Scripture.
Many legends were passed down, such as him praying for a baby, preventing it from being burnt after scalding water had accidentally been dropped on it, and making the sign of the cross over an insane, uncontrollable boy and the boy became sound of mind.
As Myra was a port city, Nicholas’ prayers often quieted storms so ships could return. During a famine, he asked sailors bound for North Africa to unload grain, promising that God would restore it to them before they reached their destination. On their return, the sailors claimed his word fulfilled!
Nicholas confronted “Diana” worship, which was still prevalent near Ephesus, and destroyed pagan temples. He was imprisoned in the persecution of Emperor Diocletion.
Emperor Constantine granted toleration to Christians, and in 325 called the Council of Nicaea to end the Arian heresy. Nicholas was said to have been present and supposedly so upset at Arius, that he punched him in the jaw during the debates. The Council established the popular Nicene Creed.
Nicholas is most notably remembered for helping a nobleman gone bankrupt. Creditors threatened not only to take his property, but his daughters. The father’s only hope was to marry them off, thereby saving them from slavery. Unfortunately, he did not have money for the dowries, which were necessary for marriage.
Nicholas heard the dilemma and threw a bag of gold in their window at night to save the eldest daughter from the fate of a prostitute. News spread across town and she was soon married. He did the same for the second daughter. When he threw the bag of gold in to save the third, supposedly landing in her stocking drying by the fireplace, the father ran outside and caught him. Wanting God to get the credit, Nicholas made the father swear not to reveal the gifts’ origin while he was living.
Nicholas died Dec. 6, 343, and stories of his life and the custom of “secret gift-giving” on the anniversary of his death became so popular in the centuries to follow, over 1,200 churches worldwide were named for him. Even Columbus, upon discovering a port in Haiti, Dec. 6, 1492, named it for Saint Nicholas.
In 988, Vladimir the Great converted to Christianity and traveled to Constantinople to be baptized. There he heard of Saint Nicholas, or “Nikolai,” and chose him as the patron saint of Russia.
In 1087, the Muslims staged a bloody invasion into Turkey killing thousands of Christians. The remains of Saint Nicholas were quickly shipped to Italy, resulting in Western Europe learning of him and the “secret gift-giving” tradition.
Legends of Saint Nicholas began to be intermingled with Bible themes. In Belgium and Holland, Saint Nicholas or “Sinter Klaus” was thought to come from the Celestial City in Heaven, riding a white horse and carrying a book in which the Guardian Angels had carefully recorded each child’s deeds. He would reward the good with sweets and punish the wicked with switches. In Sweden and Russia, there were few horses, so he rode a reindeer.
The story of how Saint Nicholas became Santa Claus is truly fascinating. But for now, “Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”
William J. Federer is author of the best-selling America’s God and Country Encyclopedia of Quotations, and the CD ROM resource “American Quotations.”
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