Nicholas was born on March 15, 270, in Patara, Turkey. We know from records that Nicholas lost both of his parents, (Epiphanius and Johanna in some accounts), as a young boy and that he used his inheritance to assist the poor. He devoted his life to his faith and became a monk. We don’t know what business his father was in to have such wealth to leave his son well off and well raised. Catholic.org indicates that he was raised by an uncle. Apparently, however, the family was devoted to their Christian faith because Nicholas knew enough to know that he needed Christ and to devote his life to Christ and to caring to those less privileged than he. He traveled to Egypt and to Israel. He was believed to have been arrested and imprisoned by Diocletian. He was also believed to have been present at the Council of Nicea where some have said that he struck the heretic Arius in the face.

Biography.com relates a story of three young girls who were extremely poor. Their father had no money for their dowries. At this time in history dowries were very important to make good marriages for young women. The family was concerned for their daughters. “Three times, Saint Nicholas secretly went to their house at night and put a bag of money inside. The man used the money so that one of his daughters could marry. On the third visit, the man saw Saint Nicholas and thanked him for his kindness.” There was another time when Nicholas saved three men from being falsely imprisoned and sentenced to death. He is also said to have done many miracles.

The story of Nicholas circulated throughout Europe after his death, which was believed to have happened about December 343. His remains were stolen and taken to Bari, Italy, where his remains have been enshrined in the Basilica of San Nicola.

It was the Dutch who seemed to have loved the story the most and who would take the story and make it famous. The Dutch began to celebrate the feast of Saint Nicholas on December 6^th, and the children began putting out wooden shoes the night before. The next morning, they would wake up to small treats in their shoes. It was those Dutch immigrants who would bring these traditions to the New World. They called him Sinterklaas.

Over the decades, Sinterklaas became Santa Claus and the celebration changed from December 6^th to be included with the Christmas celebrations on December 25^th. He would be transformed from a thin, tall man, to a shorter, rounder man with chubby, rosy cheeks and fluffy white hair after a poem by Clement Clark Moore called “The Night Before Christmas” was written. Then the Coca-Cola Company picked that image up and ran with it and created the image we know today.

Interestingly, the modern city of Demre, Turkey is built near the ruins of the saint’s hometown of ancient Myra and attracts many Russian tourists as St. Nicholas is a very popular Orthodox saint. Restoration of Saint Nicholas’ original church is currently underway, with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in 2007 permitting Divine Liturgy to be celebrated at the site and contributing 40,000 Turkish lira to the project.

Would Nicholas appreciate what his reputation has become over the past 1755 years? Probably not. He probably would not appreciate that his kind gift giving to impoverished child has upstaged in many ways the truth of the Christ’s birth. Whether Christians were celebrating Christ’s birth in December during his lifetime remains to be seen. The church was still very young and how the church’s calendar of celebrations would be scheduled may not been determined yet. However, one can be certain that there would be on that calendar a time to celebrate the Savior’s birth and no doubt that Nicholas, as a devoted servant, would never have wanted to do anything to upstage that celebration. However, that is exactly what we have allowed to happen. No longer to do we focus solely on the gift of a Savior born of a brave young woman supported by her husband and the long trek made to a far away city under duress, or to the visitors who came to see the baby that night, BUT we cut that off to give his devotee more time and energy than we give to him. Saint Nicholas would be appalled and angry. He might even wish to strike out at us. Who could blame him? As adults it is our job to reel it in. If we call ourselves Christians, then we must put Jesus first and Nicholas second. Put it in perspective. Limit the craziness for HIS sake and yours.