When most people hear the name “St. Nick,” they think of this person:
Rarely does anyone have this person in mind:
But we wouldn’t have the fictional character in the first picture above without the real-life man in the second.
Last Wednesday night we talked about the story of the original Saint Nicholas, who was a bishop (a leader of churches in a certain region) during the fourth century. He lived in a city called Myra in what is now Turkey. Nicholas became famous for his generosity and his kindness to children and the poor. The stories that were told about him made Nicholas a popular saint in the centuries to come.
One story is about a man in Myra with three daughters. This man was poor and could not afford to take care of his family. He could not get his daughters married since he had no money for a dowry for their potential husbands. It seemed that his only choice would be to sell his daughters into slavery. Or he did have a choice: between that and letting them starve. Nicholas heard about their plight and, one evening, he came up to a window of their house and tossed three bags of gold coins through the window. Some versions of the story say the bags landed in, or were placed in, shoes that were sitting by the fireplace.
So people celebrated Nicholas as a gift-giver. They would give each other chocolate coins or exchange gifts on the “feast day” set aside to honor Nicholas on December 6. Sometimes they would place gifts in shoes or in stockings hanging from the mantle over a fire place. These were the traditions that eventually became a part of the myth of Santa Claus, whose name comes from Sinterklaas, the Dutch way of saying “St. Nicholas.” For most of us, gift-giving moved exclusively to Christmas day, although some families with a recent immigrant heritage remember celebrating St. Nicholas Day as well.
With Santa Claus, children are encouraged to focus on what they might get from the “jolly old elf.” But St. Nicholas is an example of following Jesus by giving to others, especially to those who are in need. Nicholas reminds us that our purpose in life is not to satisfy our own desires and interests, but to bring joy, hope, and well-being to others. The real St. Nicholas is an example for us: go and do likewise!
To learn more about the transformation of St. Nicholas into Santa Claus, you can watch this recent documentary from the National Geographic Channel, In Search of Santa Claus:
To learn more about the real St. Nicholas, visit the St. Nicholas Center online.
