St. Nicholas

Feast: December 6. Saint Nicholas has always been one of the most popular Saints commemorated in the Eastern and Western Churches, but is now traditionally associated with Christmas. St. Nicholas is the Patron Saint of school children and of bakers and traditionally, pawnbrokers. His many miracles are reported in sermons by St. John Chrysostom and St. Bonaventure. He was born in the ancient Lycian seaport city of Patara, and, when young, he travelled to Palestine and Egypt. He became Bishop of Myra soon after returning to Lycia. Imprisoned during the Roman emperor Diocletian's persecution of Christians, he was released under the rule of Emperor Constantine the Great and attended the first Council of Nicaea. In the 6th century his shrine was well-known at Myra, from where, in 1087, Italian sailors or merchants brought his body to Bari, Italy; this removal, commemorated on May 9, greatly increased his popularity, and Bari became one of the most crowded pilgrimage centers. His relics are enshrined in the 11th-century Basilica of S. Nicola, Bari. The earliest account (from a Greek text, which may be from the 6th century) is the famous miracle of the three officers condemned to death but saved by Nicholas' appearance in a dream of Constantine's. The 6th-century Abbot Nicholas of Sion, near Myra, is believed to have written his biography and accounts of numerous miracles, of which the best known deal with saving children from tragedy. The story of the Miracle of the children in the salting tub is told by St. Bonaventure: St. Nicholas was on his journey to the Council of Nicea, he entered an inn whose owner had killed two boys for their meager belongings. The innkeeper was not content with that, he placed the boys in salt, and was going to sell them. St. Nicholas restored the boys to life and converted the innkeeper. Another story of St. Nicholas' goodness, and a strong part of the traditions of Christmas presents comes from the story of the three marriage age daughters and their father. The family was very poor and the father had no dowry to marry them. The father was going to put them out of the house. Nicholas heard of this and then took a purse filled with gold coins and threw it in the father's window at night. A few days later, the oldest daughter married. Nicholas returned shortly with another purse, threw it in the father's window and soon the second daughter was married. He returned again with a third purse, but the father was waiting for St. Nicholas. He recognized him, fell to Nicholas' feet and wept in pentinence and gratitude. Devotion to Nicholas extended to all parts of the world; his name has been given to places in many countries; numerous surnames of persons are derived from Nicholas. He was chosen patron saint of countries such as Russia and Greece, of charitable fraternities and guilds, of children and sailors (whom he reputedly saved off the coast of Lycia), and of such cities as Fribourg, Switzerland, and Moscow. Thousands of European Churches are dedicated to him, one as early as the 6th century, built by the Roman emperor Justinian I, at Constantinople, now Istanbul. His miracles were a favorite subject for medieval artists and liturgical plays, and his traditional feast day was the occasion for the ceremonies of the Boy Bishop, a widespread European custom in which a boy was elected Bishop and reigned until Holy Innocents' Day (December 28). The transformation of Nicholas into Father Christmas or Father January occurred first in Germany, then in countries where the Reformed Churches were in the majority, and finally in France, the feast day being celebrated on Christmas or New Year's Day. Dutch Protestant settlers in New Amsterdam (New York City) replaced Nicholas (Sinter Claes) with the benevolent old man who became known as Santa Claus, thus contributing further to his spreading folklore.

With grateful thanks to Catholic Online.