Spanglish Accent: St. Nicholas

Legend has it that in the 4th century, in what is now known as Turkey, a little boy named Nicholas was born into a very wealthy family. His family gave him everything he needed. And more. Much more than Nicholas ever wanted. So, from a very young age he started giving away his toys, his coins, his wealth to the less fortunate. His parents were proud of him, but sadly they did not see what a great man he was to become, as they died while he was still a teen.

When they died, Nicholas became a very rich boy. And he promptly did what he always did. He sold the castle, and gave away his considerable wealth to the sick, the needy and the suffering. He went to live with his uncle, the Bishop of Patara. While living in the monastery, he dedicated his life to God and continued to help the poor and helpless. Especially the children. It didn't take long before he was known throughout the land for his love of children and his generosity to those in need.

But his life was not easy. When the Romans started persecuting Christians, Nicholas suffered for his faith but never faltered. He was imprisoned by the Emperor for many years. Years spent in seclusion. Finally released, he lived out the last of his life in his hometown. He died December 6, 343 AD.

Yes, it is December 6th today. But why is this story important? Why the story of St. Nicholas?

Because St. Nicholas was the model for our present day Santa Claus. You could say he is Santa Claus. Because even as he is the basis for that jolly fat man we now associate with Christmas, it just wasn't always that way. It took almost 1500 years from the time of Nicholas's death until the book, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (1823), started changing our picture of what Santa looked like. Even then, he wasn't quite yet the Santa we now recognize. It wasn't until 1931, when Coca-Cola released the first advertising with the image of Santa in a red suit and flowing white hair and beard, that we began to adopt the image we know today as Santa Claus. Up until that time, the man who brought you presents was simply a Bishop, dressed in his Bishops robes, riding on horseback and his name was still St. Nicholas. He arrived at the homes of children on the evening of December 5th, he would sneak into the house (he was never seen) and usually left fruit, small candies and a few coins. Perhaps a small trinket or two. And he left them in their stockings, or the shoes left by the fireplace.

Stockings? Shoes? Why did he leave his gifts there?

Because one of the most famous of St. Nicholas's good deeds (and he had many - even a few miracles) was saving one poor man's three daughters from being sold into slavery. The girls lacked dowries and the father could not afford to support them any longer. He was to take them to the market in the morning. St. Nicholas heard of their predicament and that night threw coins in through their open window. The coins landed in the girls stockings that had been hung to dry by the fireplace. Upon waking, the father and the girls were shocked to realize that they had enough money for the girls dowries. They spent the rest of their lives looking for the person that had helped them, but never found him.

And this is why we now leave our stockings by the fireplace. Usually having them filled by Santa on Christmas Eve. But in The Netherlands, Germany, and parts of the U.S. (mostly Milwaukee and St. Louis), the stockings are still hung on the night of the 5th, in anticipation of St. Nicholas's visit that night. In the church, December 6th is St. Nicholas's Feast Day and they still celebrate his extraordinary devotion to God and the life he lived. His day is to remind us that we should all live a life through Christ. He reminds us that it is not all about us and our wants and needs. He reminds us that this time of year is to celebrate the birth of Jesus, not celebrate Santa. Ironically enough.

I grew up celebrating St. Nicholas on December 5th. My girls have grown up doing the same. So, this morning they bounded out of bed to find their stockings. But being that we also have an elf that Santa sent to watch over us this holiday season, things got a bit messy. Fidget, our elf, got a bit greedy last night. She replaced all of the stockings in the house with the girls skivvies. She ran off with the stockings to the guest room, proceeded to cover all of the names with masking tape that had Fidget written on them and then closed the door. She was trying to keep all the goodies for herself. But the girls found her pretty quickly and were excited to see that St. Nick hadn't forgotten all about them and that Fidget didn't get away with her tricks. That naughty elf!

It was a fun start to the morning and the girls loved their little trinkets and the fact that they got a piece of chocolate to eat before breakfast. But I think they were most excited about the fact that this year they got a BIG present in their stockings because St. Nick said that Santa told him to bring it down since it was too big to get to Colorado on Christmas Eve (and Mom and Dad couldn't get them on the airplane home). Stinkerbell got her first two wheeled bike, and MadHatter got the Pogo stick she had asked Santa for!!!

I am so glad we are passing on this tradition to the girls. And, as they get older, the whole story of how Santa Claus has evolved over time. If you want to read more about St. Nicholas click here. It's a great site with a lot of information on St. Nick.