The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.

These often over-looked lines from Clement Clarke Moore’s famous poem about the night before Christmas raise at least two pertinent questions:

Who was St. Nicholas?

And, why does he need stockings?

The Real St. Nicholas

St. Nicholas was a 4^th century Christian bishop, famous for serving the poor, leaving anonymous gifts and performing the occasional miracle. Orphaned at a young age, Nicholas became a monk and eventually rose to the rank of bishop.

Nicholas died December 6, 343 and became the most popular saint in the pre-modern church. [Fun Fact: Only the Virgin Mary has more churches named after her than Saint Nicholas.] After the Protestant Reformation, saint’s days fell out of favor, but St. Nicholas remains popular, possibly because his saint’s day is December 6.

Nicholas has a large portfolio, filling the position of patron saint for sailors, merchants, archers, repentant thieves, prostitutes, brewers, pawnbrokers, unmarried persons, the nations of Russia and Greece, and various cities. Each of these beneficiary groups are associated with one or more of the saint’s miracles.

A Sampler of Miracles by St. Nicholas

A MIRACLE FOR SAILORS

A ship in the eastern Mediterranean Sea was caught in a sudden storm, forced into shallow water and ran aground. The desperate sailors prayed for Nicholas to intervene. To their amazement, the saint personally appeared on the ship and helped the crew move the ship into deeper water. As soon as the boat stabilized, Nicholas disappeared.

Safely ashore, the crew found a church in Myra where they could thank God for their rescue. Imagine their surprise when they recognized Bishop Nicholas in the flesh.

When they asked how Nicholas knew their plight and was able to come to their rescue, Nicholas replied that if a man lives his life in devotion to God, he can see when someone is in danger and hear their cries for help.

A MIRACLE FOR UNMARRIED WOMEN, AKA THE MIRACLE OF THE THREE MAIDENS

According to Michael the Archimandrite’s Life of Saint Nicholas, Bishop Nicholas heard of a devout man who had fallen into a state of financial hardship that made it impossible for him to provide dowries for his three unmarried daughters.

The girls could not marry without a dowry, and without a husband or other means of employment, they were at risk of falling into prostitution. Bishop Nicholas wanted to help the family, but he knew the father would not want to accept charity. Besides which, Nicholas didn’t want to call attention to himself.

One night under cover of darkness, Bishop Nicholas went to the house and threw a purse of gold coins through the window. The ecstatic father immediately arranged for the first daughter’s marriage.

After the wedding, Nicholas threw in a bag of coins for the second daughter. After she married, the father stayed awake for two nights to see if a third purse of coins would appear. When it did, the father fell onto his knees to thank Bishop Nicholas for his generosity. Nicholas accepted the man’s gratitude and ordered him not to tell anyone aout the gifts. Clearly, the story could not be kept quiet.

A MIRACLE FOR THE FALSELY ACCUSED

Michael the Archimandrite recorded the story of three men about to be unjustly executed. Before the executioner’s axe could fall, Bishop Nicholas arrived, struck off the men’s chains and proved their innocence by identifying the juror who accepted a bribe to condemn the men.

A MIRACLE TO PROTECT INNOCENT CHILDREN

During a severe famine, an unscupulous butcher lured three children to his house and killed them. He then placed their remains in a pickling barrel to cure so he could sell the resulting product as ham. Bishop Nicholas came to the region to care for famine victims, saw through the butcher’s lies, made the sign of the cross over the barrel, and resurrected the children.

Modern Celebrations on St. Nicholas Day

St. Nicholas day is December 6th. Annual St. Nicholas celebrations in the Netherlands begin the evening of December 5^th with a family feast called Sinterklassavond. The menu includes Bishop’s wine, various breads, cookies shaped like St. Nicholas and a special main dish. In France a popular main dish is pork with mustard and applies; in Germany, Pfannkuchen [pancakes] are a popular choice.

In Belgium and the Netherlands a man dressed as St. Nicholas arrives on a ship and rides a white horse through town to hand out gifts. On St. Nicholas Eve, children put out shoes filled with carrots and hay for St. Nicholas’s horse, and hope he will leave gifts for them in the shoe. 

Children can also leave a boot in front of the fireplace or an outside door so it can be filled with special treats. These might be chocolate candy with gold foil wrapping to represent coins. Mandarin oranges are also popular, because they look like gold.

The gifts, of course, are for the good children. St. Nicholas has a companion named Krampus who punishes naughty children. Krampus is a demon figure who is half-man and half-goat. He’s the one who puts coal in children’s shoes.

In Italy, unmarried women have a special church service for the rito delle nubili, a ritual in which young women turn a column seven times to improve their luck gaining a husband.

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Illustrations

Children Hanging Christmas Stockings, 1870.

St. Nicholas Icon. turn of 18th century.

Miracle of St. Nicholas in Sea, Fresco at St. Nicholas Orphanos Church. 14th century.

Dowry for the Three Virginia by Gentile de Fabriano.

St Nicholas Resuscitating Three Youths by Bicci di Lorenzo.

St. Nicholas & Helper.

Sinterklaas decorations in Winschoten Oldambt by Donald Trung Quoc Don.

Krampus by Anita Martinez.

St. Nicholas Center.

Ashley Novak. “St. Nick May Have Inspired Santa.” The Good Stuff. CNN. Dec. 6, 2020.

Jillian Rodriguez. “Facts Behind Five St Nicholas Day Traditions.” Mango. Dec. 5, 2016.

The post The Miraculous Gifts of St. Nicholas first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

The new and improved St. Nicholas got his start in the Middle Ages, that strange point in history between ancient and modern Europe. Princess Theophano of Constantinople gave her new husband Otto II of Germany an icon of St. Nicholas on their wedding day in 972. Nicholas legends began to spread the idea of doing good for those less fortunate.

A group of French nuns decided to bring anonymous gifts of food, clothing, and occasionally money to needy families. These nuns must not have been confined to the convent. They bestowed their largesse so it would be found on December 6, St. Nicholas Day. If recipients asked the source of these gifts, the nuns reportedly replied, “It must have been St. Nicholas.”

Everyone soon made St. Nicholas a favorite saint. But in 1517 – Disaster. Martin Luther nailed his 95 Thesis on the church door in Wittenberg and ignited the Protestant Reformation with its wars over religious affiliation. Protestant areas banned all saints and other customs from the Catholic Church.

People didn’t want to ban St. Nicholas, so they changed his name and purpose. In England, Nicholas became Father Christmas who still delivers presents today. In France he morphed into Perl Noel. German-speaking countries had the Christkind, a golden-haired baby with wings. Christkind translates as Christ-Child.

In the New World Christkind became Kris Kringal. Dutch settlers introduced Sinterklass. If you sound it out, it sounds like St. Nicholas. It also sounds like Santa Claus. Thus was Santa Claus born. But he wasn’t a big deal until the nineteenth century.

“A Visit from St. Nicholas” by Clement Clarke Moore appeared in the Troy Sentinel on December 23, 1823. Santa, now a fully adult elf with eight reindeer, a sleigh, and a weight challenge, flew through the night bestowing gifts.

In 1863, during the American Civil War, Harper’s Weekly published the first illustration of Santa Claus. He wore an American flag. For the next twenty years Thomas Nast refined Santa’s image. By 1881, Santa had a red belly, smoked a pipe, and held arm full of toys.

Coca-Cola began using Santa Claus in their advertisements during the 1920s. In 1931 Haddon Sundblom drew the Santa we most recognize today, replacing his pipe with a glass of Coca-Cola.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this short series on St. Nicholas/Santa Claus, and can’t help ending this one in the words of Moore’s poem:

HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

AND TO ALL, A GOOD NIGHT.

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Illustrations from Wikimedia Commons.

Japanese Santa Claus, 1914. Public Domain.

Old Father Christmas, 1855. Public Domain.

Santa Claus by Thomas Nast. Harper’s Weekly, 1863. Public Domain.

Merry Old Santa Claus by Thomas Nast. Harper’s Weekly, 1881. Public Domain.

The Holidays Are Coming by Helga Haldorsson. Creative Commons Attribution.

Who is St. Nicholas? St. Nicholas Center

St Nicholas, Santa Claus & Father Christmas

The Night Before Christmas.

The post SANTA CLAUS: FROM HUMBLE SAINT TO INTERNATIONAL ICON first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

Before there was Santa Claus, there lived a man named Nicholas who was known for his piety and generosity. Nicholas was the only child of wealthy, pious Christian parents who died ministering to the sick during an epidemic. Nicholas went to his uncle, the Bishop of Patara. Not surprisingly, he too joined the church and rose to the rank of Bishop of Myra in Asia Minor. Nicholas became known for his generosity, miracles, and overall goodness. Legends abound.

There was once a butcher who lured three children into his house, murdered them, and placed their remains in a barrel to cure for future sale as “ham.” Pretty grisly. Nicholas thwarted the butcher’s plan by prayer. The boys emerged from the barrel and returned to life. The illustration shows the children coming to life in the lower panel of the St. Nicholas Window at Rochester Cathedral.

Another time when famine raged, a ship waited at anchor with a cargo of wheat for the emperor. Nicholas gave the sailors the opportunity to share the wheat with famine victims. They declined, because the wheat would be weighed when they arrived at Constantinople. Nicholas promised all would be well. They believed him, off-loaded the wheat, and were much relieved when they reached Constantinople to learn that the weight of the load hadn’t changed.

This last story is the one that made Nicholas memorable. There was a poor man with three daughters. The family was so poor, there was no money for the girls’ dowries. They would remain unmarried and be forced into prostitution to support themselves. And even if they didn’t take up the profession, everyone would think they had. Nicholas wanted to help them anonymously, so he went to the house by night.

Every night the girls hung their stockings by the fire to dry. Nicholas threw a bag of gold through the window. It landed in the eldest girl’s sock. The same thing happened the next two nights. Imagine the surprise and joy experienced in the humble house. The girls could marry after all.

Nicholas died in Myra on December 6, 343 and was buried in the cathedral church. A relic called manna appeared in his crypt. This was a liquid substance with miraculous powers. The site quickly became a popular pilgrimage destination.

Nicholas became a recognized saint long before the Catholic Church developed rules for canonization, and is known as the patron saint of an eclectic mixture of sailors, merchants, archers, repentant thieves, children, brewers, pawnbrokers, and students. Pawnbrokers commemorate the relationship by illustrating their shop signs with three golden balls.

Iconography most often depicts the three dowries by showing St. Nicholas holding three purses, three coins, or three balls of gold. Sometimes the latter are viewed as oranges which leads to another story. Oranges became popular stocking stuffers, usually in the toe of the sock to anchor the other gifts. Since winter fruit came from Spain, many believers thought Nicholas lived in Spain and brought the oranges to give away on his seasonal visits.

In 1087 sailors from the Italian town of Bari took what they identified as Nicholas’ bones. The town built a crypt within the Basilica di San Nicola, and became the new pilgrimage site. During the 1950s scientists were allowed to photograph and measure the crypt’s contents. The results came out in 2005. Apparently Nicholas was 5 feet 6 inches tall and had a broken nose.

But wait. Were those really St. Nicholas’ remains? Perhaps not. An intact tomb exists under St. Nicholas Church in the Demre district of Turkey’s province of Antalya. Demre exists on on the ruins of Myra where St. Nicholas died. A study of documents revealed notes indicating the bones taken to Bari didn’t belong to St. Nicholas. Time will tell. Further excavation goes slowly due to stones decorated with motifs that have to be removed before the crypt can be reached.

Next week — How St. Nicholas Became Santa Claus

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Illustrations from Wikimedia Commons.

Russian Icon of St. Nicholas. 18th Century. Public Domain.

Detail from St. Nicholas Window at south transept of Rochester Cathedral by Martin of Sheffield. Creative Commons Attribution.

Nikolaus wirft Drei goldene Kugein by Gentile da Fabriana 1370-1427. Public Domain.

Basilica de San Nicolaus de Bari by Roberto Fiadone. Creative Commons Attribution.

Traditional pawnbroker sign by Thomas Nugent. Creative Commons Attribution.

19 Little Remembered Facts about St Nicholas. National Catholic Register, December 5, 2016.

Has the original Santa Clause been found in Turkey? BBC News. October 4, 2017.

Who is St. Nicholas? St. Nicholas Center.

The post St. Nicholas and the Three Bags of Gold first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.