Saint Nicholas : The Real Santa Claus by Chris White

A 2008 Forensic Model From Skeletal Remains

On a beautiful late spring day in 1087 a ship sailed into the port town of Bari in the southern part of Italy with a very precious cargo.  Just weeks before the ship had been in the port of Myra (modern day Finike, Turkey) on a special mission: to bring the bones of St. Nicholas to the safety of Europe.  For centuries, Christians had traveled to his shrine in Turkey because a clear, sweet smelling liquid dripped from the tomb that seemed to have miraculous powers.  In fact, in the Greek world, St. Nicholas is known as Nicholas the wonder-worker.  The taking of this holy man’s bones was seen as a necessity for 16 years before the Muslim Turks had conquered much of Asia Minor and were making things more and more difficult for Christian pilgrims; so much so that 6 years later the Pope would be calling the men of Western Europe to arms in the First Crusade.  But for now, it was time celebrate.  A new shrine for St. Nicholas was constructed on Italian soil and soon his blessings would draw flocks of pilgrims from all over Europe during the Middle Ages even as his new tomb still seemed to produce the same miraculous perfume like water it did in Asia Minor.

While Santa Claus is the delight of children the world over during the Christmas holidays, the man behind the myth is just as delightful which is why in the Christian world, St. Nicholas of Myra is second only to the Virgin Mary as the most artistically depicted saint and a popular namesake for church buildings especially in Europe and Russia.

St Nicholas (270-343 AD) was born to devoutly Christian parents by the name of Epiphanius and Johanna in Asia Minor.  They both died in an epidemic when Nicholas was quite young and he was raised by his uncle (also named Nicholas) who was a clergyman.  Although Nicholas inherited his family wealth, he was raised to become a clergyman and even as a young man was known for his piety and generosity.

When the bishop of Myra died, Nicholas was elected to take his place by popular acclaim.  By tradition Nicholas would have been between 30 and 40 by this time, but it is quite possible that he was younger as his early adult years were lived during the Roman persecution of the Church and church leaders were regularly killed leaving churches often scrambling to find new leaders.  When St. Nicholas is depicted in art it is always as an elderly man with gray hair.  This was considered an outstanding feature in those days because unlike most of his contemporaries, Nicholas had the privilege of dying of old age rather than martyrdom.  As bishop, Nicholas didn’t live a trouble free life.  In fact, when Constantine the Great (the first Christian Roman Emperor) came to power, Nicholas was still in prison for his faith and was soon set free.

 One of the most famous stories of  St.Nicholas was his intervention to help a man in poverty who had three fully grown daughters.  Unable to raise a dowry so that they could be married, out of desperation he was thinking about turning them over to prostitution (a sad fate that still happens to poor women today).  When Nicholas heard of his straits he came by this man’s house at night and threw a bag of gold coins, enough for a dowry, through a window and left undetected.  Shortly afterward the oldest daughter was engaged and married.  Nicholas came and did this for the other daughters but with the last one the father discovered Nicholas was his benefactor and profusely thanked him and made the story known.  Often Nicholas is depicted with three bags, which are the bags for the gold coins.  Another symbol used in iconography is three gold balls which incidentally were adopted by pawnbrokers as their symbol.  It probably shouldn’t surprise that Nicholas is the patron saint of among other things pawn brokers, which to my thinking makes Christmas shopping at a pawn shop seem a bit more kosher for some reason.

It is said that Nicholas was an ardent protector of the church’s orthodoxy (which is the role of a bishop) and was at the famous Council of Nicea in 325 AD where the heresy of Arianism was being tried by the Church.  As the legend goes, in his zeal for the truth Nicholas punched Arius in the mouth when he began to defend his false doctrine that Jesus was not the eternal  Son of God (obviously proving that Nicholas must have had Southern Baptist leanings as those guys are famous for fisticuffs at board meetings!).  Such actions in front of the Emperor Constantine (who was present at the time) were against the law and Nicholas was put in jail for a few days to cool his temper at the behest of his fellow bishops who were outraged at his behavior.  But this is more in the realm of legend as it appears in no contemporary accounts of the council and there is little reason to belief Constantine’s bodyguards would have even tolerated such actions.  But it is fun to imagine our dear St. Nicholas punching the lights out of a heretic nonetheless.

Many other stories abound of miracles and good deeds done to children and the less fortunate that space will not permit, but do show why he is the ideal saint for Christmas and why he has been so popular in all the major branches of Christianity for so long.  Not much is said about his end but that he died in his church, which is the religious equivalent of “dying with your boots on”.

Protestants, who recognize very few saints, pretty much abandoned the feast of St. Nicholas on December 6^th (which continues to be celebrated by Catholics and Orthodox) except for the Dutch who continued to recognize him with their unique pronunciation “Sinterclaas” which came to America as “Santa Claus”.  Martin Luther, translated the tradition of gift giving on St. Nicholas day to Christmas day saying that the baby Jesus gave gifts.  The German word for the Christ child “Christkindl” also became corrupted to Kriss Kringle which again became associated as another name for St. Nicholas.

Probably the least thought about but most important thing to remember about St. Nicholas was that his life was about leading and teaching people in word and deed to follow Jesus Christ to son of God.  The person whose birth in Bethlehem we celebrate every year at Christmas.  That is the central legacy of Saint Nicholas today.

St. Francis and the Backstory of the Christmas Nativity Scene by Chris White

Francesco of Assisi

In 1219 St. Francis of Assisi sailed on a boat towards Cairo to preach the Gospel to the Muslims.  He knew he was walking in to a war zone between Crusaders from Europe and Arabs defending land they had taken in conquest centuries before, but to him it didn’t matter.  He decided beforehand that if he was able preach or if he was made a martyr, the trip would be a great success.  When he arrived he found that both sides were at a stalemate and so exhausted that they had agreed to a one-month truce.  Taking advantage of this opportunity, Francis crossed battle lines into the camp of Sultan al-Kamil of Egypt and stayed several days trying to present the truth of Christ to all who would listen.  There is no record of the Sultan being converted, but he appreciated the genuine spiritual concern Francis had and the bravery he showed in coming and rather than make him a captive, he sent out of the war zone to the safety of the Holy Land.  Francis had always wanted to go there but his attempts had always been thwarted.  Now he was being escorted there by the Sultan’s guard.  Before Francis returned home he was able to visit the site of our Lord’s birth in Bethlehem and it made a deep impression on him.  The following year he was home in Italy and he decided to do something special for the Christmas Mass.  On the altar of the church he placed a manger filled with straw and brought in an ox and a donkey and other animals that the worshippers could see and sense first hand what it might have been like the night that Jesus was born.  This practice became popular throughout Europe in the ensuing years and soon every church began putting up nativity scenes which eventually were mass-produced in small scale for use in home celebrations of Christmas.  As you look at your nativity this Christmas, I hope you’ll remember that its inspiration was the result of an aspiration: to “go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation (Mk.16:15).”

My Personal Nominee for Sainthood by Chris White

 

"Is that fresh coffee I smell?"

Thank God for the wisdom he gave Pope Clement VII.  Even though he said “no” to Henry VIII’s divorce to Catherine of Aragon, he said “yes” to coffee.  It was the turn of the century (the 16^th century, that is) and Rome was under the threat of the Muslims of the Ottoman Empire.  The Muslims, then as now, eschewed all alcoholic beverages as pagan (apparently Jesus was unaware of this at the wedding of Cana) but had their own special concoction called “Kahve” which we call in English, coffee.  Clement’s advisors came to him seeking a papal edict condemning this devilish new brew throughout Christendom.  Wisely, before he issued such a sweeping statement, Clement asked his advisors to bring him a cup of the Muslim drink.  To everyone’s surprise Clement loved the taste and aroma of the coffee and he did not become an arch-heretic or devil worshipper after partaking in his first “cuppa- joe”.  As the story goes he told the papal court that we must not allow this beverage to become the liquid of Satan.  No, we have more power than Satan and we shall make coffee our own.  And that they did, for what church gathering today would seem complete without a “coffee hour” afterwards?.  It is the Psalmist who said “O Lord, how many are your works!  In wisdom Thou hast made them all; the earth is full of Thy possessions (104:24).”  Take some time today and thank the Lord today for the many pleasures He has so generously given us.  May we enjoy all His blessings in true wisdom and of course with a little cream and sugar.