Saint Nicholas Day - December 6th

St. Mark’s will hold a special celebration of St. Nicholas in the parish hall on Sunday evening.  It is rumored that there might even be a visit from the venerable saint himself!

Nicholas of Myra, (c. 342) was a Greek bishop from Lycia, now modern-day Turkey. He may have been one of the bishops that participated in the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea in 325 (The Nicene Creed). Legend gives him a reputation for secret gift-giving, such as putting coins in the shoes of those who left them out for him, thus becoming the model for Santa Claus, whose English name comes from the Dutch Sinterklaas.

There are many traditions and myths surrounding Saint Nicholas, whose liturgical feast day is December 6th. One legend tells how a terrible famine struck the land and a malicious butcher lured three little children into his house, where he slaughtered and butchered them, placing their remains in a barrel to cure, planning to sell them off as ham. Bishop Nicholas, visiting the region to care for the hungry, not only saw through the butcher’s horrific crime but also resurrected the three boys from the barrel by his prayers.

Another legend holds that during the great famine, a ship was is in the port at anchor, which was loaded with wheat for the Emperor in Byzantium. He invited the sailors to unload a part of the wheat to help people in their time of need. The sailors at first refused the request, because the wheat had to be weighed accurately and delivered to the Emperor. Only when Nicholas promised them that they would not suffer any consequences for their kindness, the sailors agreed.  When they arrived later in the capital, they made a surprising find. The weight of the load had not changed. The removed wheat in Myra was even enough for two full years and could even be used for sowing.

However, the most well-known legend is about a poor man who had three daughters but could not afford a proper dowry for them.  This meant that they would remain unmarried and probably, in absence of any other possible employment, would have to become prostitutes. Hearing of the poor man’s plight, Nicholas decided to help him but to save the man the humiliation of accepting charity, he went to his house under the cover of night and threw three purses (one for each daughter) filled with gold coins through the window opening into the man’s house. One version has him throwing one purse for three consecutive nights. Another has him throw the purses over a period of three years, each time the night before one of the daughters comes “of age.”

In yet another version, Nicholas drops the third bag down the chimney instead to preserve his anonymity; another variation holds that one of the daughters had washed her stockings that evening and hung them over the embers to dry, and that the bag of gold fell into the stocking. It is easy to see how today’s customs surrounding Santa Claus and the night journeys on Christmas Eve might have come from these stories.

St. Nicholas is the patron saint of children, sailors, fishermen, merchants, broadcasters, the falsely accused, prostitutes, repentant thieves, pharmacists, archers, and pawnbrokers. The historical Saint Nicholas is remembered and revered among Catholic and Orthodox Christians. He is also honored by various Anglican and Lutheran churches. He is the patron saint of Aberdeen, Amsterdam, Barranquilla, Bari, Huguenots, Liverpool, and Lorraine. In 1809, the New-York Historical Society convened and retroactively named Santa Claus the patron saint of New Amsterdam, the historical name for New York City

There is even a St. Nicholas Society in Canterbury, England.  You can find out more about the society and about the saint at http://www.stnicholassociety.com.