Saint Nicholas

This page is dedicated to the honor of Saint Nicholas, one of the best-loved saints of the Christian faith. He is honored and respected in all the major traditions of the Christian faith: the Orthodox, the Roman Catholic, the Anglican, and among many Protestant groups.

Today many people think of Santa Claus, when they hear the name Saint Nicholas, or “Saint Nick,” and that’s for good reason. Many aspects of the tradition of Santa Claus point back to a real person, a real saint, named Nicholas, who lived from around the year 270 to about 350.

Perhaps it would be best to start out by decoding the story of Santa Claus to find out which parts of it are real.

Santa Claus – The Name

Anyone who knows a little Spanish knows that “Santa” means “saint,” although it’s the feminine version of the word. Also “Claus” (or the Dutch would spell it “Klaas”) is a nickname for the name Nicholas. As a matter of fact, the Dutch have called Saint Nicholas “Sinterklaas” for centuries, and when the English settlers in the American colonies began blending Christmas traditions with the Dutch settlers, they changed the Dutch name to “Santa Claus.”

Saint – The Title

While the New Testament often refers to all Christians as “saints,” from the very early days of the Christian faith, the Church began honoring specific individuals who had led particularly good lives, or who had died as Christian martyrs, or who had made important contributions to the development of the Christian faith. These individuals were honored, after their deaths, and usually after a time of careful study of their lives, by the title Saint (with a capital S). In some ways it’s like a Christian “Hall of Fame.”

Because Christians believe in life after death, many have asked these saints who are now in the presence of God to pray for them, and many have experienced answers to these prayers, including miracles. Saint Nicholas is one such saint to whom many have attributed answers to these prayers.

Christmas – The Season

Very often people ask, “What does Santa Claus have to do with Christmas?” Well, the early Christians, and many Christian traditions today, honor the great saints of the Church on the day they died and went to be with the Lord. It’s like celebrating them for finishing the race.

Saint Nicholas died on December 6. As time went on, many churches began hosting a feast in honor of St. Nicholas on this day. The feast always began with prayers and usually included a Communion service. After that there would be a celebration with food.

The Saint Nicholas feast day occurs during the season of Advent. Advent is a period of time (beginning 4 Sundays or 40 days, depending on the tradition) before Christmas. Just like at Lent, traditionally Christians abstained from certain foods and ate less food during this season of preparation for Christmas (literally “Christ’s mass"). But if the feast day of a major saint occurred during this fast period, the fast was relaxed for the day to enjoy extra foods.

So, in other words, during a time of restraint, Christians were allowed a little break to “party” before resuming the fast until Christmas. It became a time of gift-giving, merry-making and joy in early December.

The Red Suit

Nicholas, the person, was once a bishop in the Christian Church in the town of Myra, in the region of Lycia (in what is now Turkey). A bishop is the leader of many smaller churches in towns and villages throughout the region.

Long ago a custom was established of using different colors for the various seasons of the Church calendar. The color that the bishops, priests and deacons wore during Advent was red. Because Nicholas died during Advent, and his feast is celebrated during Advent, he has always been associated with the color red. As a matter of fact, most icons (religious paintings) of Saint Nicholas show him wearing red robes.

The Red Stocking Cap

If you were to take Santa’s red stocking cap and iron it so that it stood up straight, it would look a lot like a miter, which is the ceremonial hat that a bishop traditionally wears in the Orthodox and Roman Catholic traditions. So, it’s fun to think of the red stocking cap as a miter that’s just flopped over.

The White Beard

Most of the icons you see of Saint Nicholas show him with a white beard. This signifies that he lived to an old age.

Gift-Giving

There are many stories associated with Saint Nicholas giving gifts. The most famous one is about when he was a wealthy young person (he had inherited a lot of money from his parents, who apparently died when he was about 17 years old). He learned about a man with three daughters who was afraid he was going to sell his daughters into slavery, since he could not afford to have a dowry for them to get married. On three different occasions, young Nicholas tossed some gold coins wrapped in cloth into the window of the man’s house, so that the girls could get married. Nicholas did this in secrecy, because of his humility. He did not want to be publicly recognized for his generosity. But the third time he did this, the man was waiting for him, because he wanted to know who his benefactor was. He caught Nicholas, who made him promise not to tell anyone. The man kept Nicholas’ secret until after his death.

From this story we do learn that Saint Nicholas did arrive at night to give gifts; he wanted to help the children of this poor man; and even the cloth in which the gold was wrapped could resemble the stockings that are traditionally hung in many homes these days.

Santa’s Helpers

In most stories about Santa Claus or Sinterklaas, he has some helpers (elves, servants, or slaves). Since the person Nicholas came from a wealthy home, it is believed that he may actually have had servants or slaves (which were common in the Roman Empire in those days). Even when he became a bishop, he would’ve had priests and deacons helping him do the work of the Church.

The Traveling Santa

All the stories of Santa Claus, as well as Sinterklaas, have him traveling great distances. The business of the sleigh undoubtedly started because of the means of travel in America on cold wintry days when the early stories of Santa were being told. The Dutch always said he came from Spain on a boat, and then went about town on a horse.

But in fact, the real Nicholas was a “world traveler” in his day. When he was still a young priest, he requested permission from his bishop to travel from what is now Turkey to visit the Holy Land (Jerusalem and region). He undertook the journey by sea, and was met with life-threatening storms along the way. It is told that his prayers caused the storm to die down so that they could finish the journey. Because of stories like this, Saint Nicholas has often been seen as the patron saint of sailors and travelers.

Rewarding the Good,Punishing the Bad

Many of the stories of Santa Claus and Sinterklaas show him rewarding the good, but also punishing the bad. Naughty children might receive lumps of coal or a bundle of sticks. And while we like to believe in “jolly” old Saint Nicholas, the real Nicholas has a famous story about him getting angry (or intolerant).

Nicholas lived during a time when Christians were persecuted for their faith. Then Constantine became emperor. First he legalized Christianity and a few years later he made it the official religion of the Roman Empire. During this time he called a council of all the leaders (mostly bishops) of the Christian Church to come together and discuss what they believed in common. While the majority of the council believed that Jesus was the Son of God, and should be worshipped as equal to God the Creator, a man named Arius believed that Jesus was a creation of God and should not be worshipped. As the story goes, the debate became so heated that Nicholas, who also attended this Council at Nicea, that he went over and slapped Arius.

Nicholas was demoted from his position as bishop for this outburst, but he was promptly restored to his position after some miraculous events occurred.

The result of this famous Council is the Nicean Creed, the creed that is recited by Christians all over the world as a basic “statement of faith.” (The creed was upgraded at a later council to include a clearer definition of the Holy Spirit.) It is not the purpose of this essay to discuss the two versions of the Nicean Creed recited today, because one brief phrase separates them both. The point is, Saint Nicholas was present at the First Ecumenical Council at Nicea, and he affirmed the traditional, orthodox, view that Christ is the Son of God.

Santa Claus Points to Saint Nicholas Who Points to the Nativity of Christ

It is hoped that enough information is presented here to cause you to ask questions about the real Saint Nicholas. There are many good books and web sites that contain a wealth of information about him. Below are a few recommended resources:

The Saint Nicholas Mural ( Pittsburgh, PA: C.E. Visimas, Col, Ltd., 1990). This packet contains a booklet with stories, and a cut-out coloring activity for childrento help them understand and celebrate St. Nicholas).

The Saint Nicholas Secret, by Dennis Engleman. This is a very personal “journey” of a man who rediscovers Saint Nicholas, after experiencing disappointment as a child. It includes information helpful for parents.

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