December 6 is the Feast of Saint Nicholas of Myra, whom we know better by another name. He is, of course, the inspiration for some of our Christmas traditions, but have you ever wondered who he really was, or why we remember him?
Nicholas was born over 1700 years ago in the year 280 CE in Patara, a part of Turkey that in those days was Greek territory. Patara was a mostly Christian community (the Book of Acts tells us that Paul visited there) and Nicholas was born to fairly wealthy Christian parents. Nicholas received the kind of education only the children of the wealthy got in those days, and it is said that he could read the New Testament in the original Greek, as well as the Greek version of the Hebrew
Scriptures by the age of five.
When he was only sixteen and both of his parents died, and he was cared for by a family slave. Inspired by the story in the Bible where Jesus tells a rich young man to sell everything he has and give the money to the poor and follow him, Nicholas decided to do the same thing and began to give away his inheritance. Because Jesus said that our generosity should be in secret, Nicholas would go out at night in a long robe with his face covered and give money to the poor.
During the reign of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, who was responsible for the last, and in many ways most brutal persecution of Christians by the Roman Empire, Nicholas was imprisoned, tortured, exiled, and only escaped death because of Diocletian’s death in the year 305.
After that, he went to live with an uncle who was the head of a monastery. His uncle’s monastery was in the town of Myra, also in Turkey. Soon after Nicholas moved there, when he was 28, the Bishop of Myra died. When the neighboring bishops, whose job it was to select a new bishop for Myra, met, they argued and argued, but couldn’t come to an agreement. That night, the oldest bishop there had a vision that the first person to enter the church the next morning would be
God’s choice for the next bishop. It was Nicholas’ habit to go the church every day in the early morning to pray, and that morning he was the first person to enter the church. So at a very young age he was declared to be God’s choice and became Bishop of Myra. That was in the year 318 CE.
Many stories were told in Nicholas’ lifetime about his kindness and generosity. There’s one very famous story about a man with three daughters who had lost everything. In those days, girls had to have a dowry in order to get married of money or property or livestock. Since the man had nothing, he couldn’t provide dowries for his daughters, which meant that the girls were likely to end up as servants or even slaves.
It was told that Nicholas threw three bags of gold coins through the window of the girls’ house. Legend has it that the bags landed in the shoes or even the stockings of each girl. It’s because of that story that some people hang up Christmas Stockings, hoping to find them filled with something wonderful. Later versions have Nicholas throwing the gold down the chimney into the girls’ stockings, so you can imagine what came of that story.
Another story is that the day Nicholas became a bishop, a young woman was giving her baby a bath in a pot on the stove, and when she heard the church bells she forgot about her baby and ran to the church to be part of the celebration. When the woman remembered her child and rushed home she found him unharmed and happy, splashing in the hot water. This was Nicholas’ first reported miracle, and because of that story, he came to be called the patron saint of children.
It was also told that some years later a ship was caught in a terrible storm, and the sailors called out to God to save them. Suddenly a strange man appeared at the helm and guided the ship safely through the storm. As the storm went away, so did the man. When the ship came safely into port the sailors went to the church to give God thanks for saving them. There they saw Bishop Nicholas, and they recognized him as the man who had appeared on their boat. So Nicholas also became the patron saint of sailors and dockworkers.
Because of a story too terrible to tell here, he became the patron saint of barrel makers too, and the patron Saint of Russia and Greece, as well as numerous cities and churches. And he became known as the patron saint of brides, grooms, judges, druggists, pawnbrokers, penitent thieves, and many more.
But the main thing Nicholas is the patron of, of course, is gift giving. Which means that if you are kind generous, Nicholas can be your patron saint too.
Our modern day Santa Claus is, of course, based on the legends of St. Nicholas and his generosity, brought to the United States by Dutch immigrants, who know Nicholas as Sinterklaas. We sometimes call our Santa Claus St. Nicholas, or St. Nick, and if you say “Saint Nicholas” three times quickly, you can easily hear how “Saint Nicholas” turns into “Sinterklaas “ or “Santa Claus.”
New legends have grown up around Santa Claus, such that he bears little resemblance to this third-century Turkish bishop, but the part of the story that has never changed is his generosity, especially to children.
So remember Nicholas of Myra on December sixth, and whenever you are inspired to give a gift or help someone in need.
This is the prayer appointed for celebrating the Feast of Saint Nicholas on December 6:
Almighty God, in your love you gave your servant Nicholas of Myra a perpetual name for deeds of kindness both on land and sea: Grant, we pray, that your Church may never cease to work for the happiness of children, the safety of sailors, the relief of the poor, and the help of those tossed by tempests of doubt or grief; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Bill +