St. Nicholas, also called Nicholas of Bari, Nicholas of Myra,
and Santa Claus, flourished in the 4th century in Asia Minor
near the modern Turkish city of Finike. One of the most popular
minor saints commemorated in the Eastern and Western churches,
his feast day is December 6th. He is now traditionally
associated with the festival of Christmas.
St. Nicholas
was born in Patara around A.D. 280 in Asia Minor and became
bishop of Myra, now Demre, in Turkey. (Myra is a three hour bus
ride across the mountains from Patara.)
The only
definite historical evidence of his life is in the records of
the First Council of Nicaea in 325, which was responsible for
creating the Nicene Creed, a famous statement of doctrine. He
was definitely in attendance, although it's not known what role
he may have played in the meetings and deliberations.
Nicholas
probably suffered in the persecution of Christians under the
emperor Diocletian, which lasted until about 311, at which time
he would have been around 31-years-old. The new emperor,
Constantine, tolerated and then encouraged and finally
established Christianity as the state religion. Nicholas died
about 343.
Nicholas' existence is not attested by any historical document,
so nothing certain is known of his life except that he was
probably bishop of Myra in the 4th century. According to
tradition, he was born in the ancient Lycian seaport city of
Patara, and, when young, he traveled to Palestine and Egypt. He
became bishop of Myra soon after returning to Lycia. He was
imprisoned during the Roman emperor Diocletian's persecution of
Christians but was released under the rule of Emperor
Constantine the Great and attended the first Council of Nicaea
in 325. After his death he was buried in his church at Myra, and
by the 6th century his shrine there had become well known. In
1087 Italian sailors or merchants stole his alleged remains from
Myra and took them to Bari, Italy; this removal greatly
increased the saint's popularity in Europe and Bari became one
of the most crowded of all pilgrimage centers. Nicholas' relics
remain enshrined in the 11th-century basilica of San Nicola in
Bari.
Nicholas'
reputation for generosity and kindness gave rise to legends of
miracles he performed for the poor and unhappy. He was reputed
to have given marriage dowries of gold to 3 girls whom poverty
would otherwise have forced into lives of prostitution, and he
restored to life 3 children who had been chopped up by a butcher
and put in a brine tub. In the Middle Ages, devotion to Nicholas
extended to all parts of Europe. He became the patron saint of
Russia and Greece; of charitable fraternities and guilds; of
children, sailors, unmarried girls, merchants, and pawnbrokers;
and of such cities as Fribourg, Switzerland, and Moscow.
Thousands of European churches were dedicated to him, one as
early as the 6th century, built by the Roman emperor Justinian
I, at Constantinople (now Istanbul). Nicholas' miracles were a
favorite subject for medieval artists and liturgical plays, and
his traditional feast day was the occasion for the ceremonies of
the Boy Bishop, a widespread European custom in which a boy was
elected bishop and reigned until Holy Innocents' Day (December
28).
After the
Reformation, Nicholas' cult disappeared in all the Protestant
countries of Europe except Holland, where his legend persisted
as Sinterklaas (a Dutch variant of the name Saint Nicholas).
Dutch colonists took this tradition with them to New Amsterdam
(now New York City) in the American colonies in the 17th
century. Sinterklaas was adopted by the country's
English-speaking majority under the name Santa Claus, and his
legend of a kindly old man was united with old Nordic folktales
of a magician who punished naughty children and rewarded good
children with presents. The resulting image of Santa Claus in
the U.S. crystallized in the 19th century, and he has ever since
remained the patron of the gift-giving festival of Christmas.
Under various guises Saint Nicholas was transformed into a
similar benevolent, gift-giving figure in The Netherlands,
Belgium, and other northern European countries. In the United
Kingdom Santa Claus is known as Father Christmas.
St.
Nicholas Day Christmas
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