I must confess that when I began to research the life of St. Nicholas I discovered that I had been labouring under a misapprehension all these years. I was convinced that St. Nicholas, beloved saint of children at Christmas time, was Dutch! It is not the case - his nationality is not absolutely certain but it is most likely that he was born in Patara in Lycia in south western Turkey. After travelling in Palestine and Egypt he returned to Lycia and became a bishop of Myra; the early Greek Orthodox church at some time during the fourth century. Very little is known of his life - he, like St. George, was also believed to have suffered persecution under the Roman Emperor Diocletian but, unlike St. George, Nicholas survived imprisonment and was released during the rule of Constantine the Great. There are claims that he attended the first council of Nicea in 325 but this can not be substantiated. After his death on 6th December 326, he was buried at Myra and by the sixth century his shrine was a centre for pilgrims from all over the East. Myra was overrun by the Moslems in the eleventh century. Italian sailors removed the saint’s remains and took them to Bari in Apulia in Italy in 1087. There was a considerable population of Greek immigrants in Bari and a new church was built (the basilica of San Nicola) to house St. Nicholas. Pope Urban II was present at its inauguration. His remains are still enshrined there to this day.

His arrival in Bari increased his popularity all over the western world and he became the patron of children, sailors, unmarried girls, merchants, pawnbrokers, apothecaries and perfumiers. Some of these patronages are linked to the stories about his deeds. He had a reputation of great generosity and kindness and stories of his miracles performed for the poor and the unhappy quickly spread. He was reputed to be particularly fond of children and young people. Many stories are told of his kindness and his miracles. One of the most famous stories concern three young girls rescued from poverty and provided with dowries of gold. Another is of three young boys sent by their father to Myra to visit the bishop. They were robbed and killed and their bodies dismembered and hidden by a butcher/inn keeper. Nicholas discovered this in a dream and forced the inn keeper to show him where the childrens’ remains were hidden. This done, he prayed to God for strength to restore them and his prayer was granted. The custom of electing the Boy Bishop is thought to come from this story.

By the Middle Ages he had become one of the most popular saints, represented in paintings, carvings and stained glass. Thousands of churches were dedicated to him in Europe, 400 of them in England. His miracles were a favourite subject for mediaeval artists. In England he is commemorated in the carvings of the font at Westminster Cathedral. Much stained glass depicts his life, a fine example being a medieval window in North Moreton church in Berkshire and at Chartres and Tours. His feast day was 6th December and on this day it was the custom to elect a Boy Bishop, a boy who would reign until Holy Innocents Day on 28th December when all the boy babies slain by Herod are remembered.

After the Reformation, Nicholas’ cult disappeared in all the Protestant countries of Europe with the exception of Holland where he was known as Sinterklaas. When Dutch colonists went to America in the seventeenth century, they took the tradition of St. Nicholas-Sinterklaas with them. Here the stories of the kindly and generous Turkish bishop became mixed with old Nordic folk tales of a magician who punished naughty children and rewarded good ones with presents. By the nineteenth century "Santa Claus" had become the patron of the gift-giving side of Christian festival loved by all at Christmas time.

Strictly speaking, Santa Claus and Father Christmas are not the same person and come from different traditions. Father Christmas is a Victorian creation so that British children could have a magical person to bring them presents. However, he has his roots in the past! At Christmas time in the Middle Ages, in large houses and at court, a Lord of Misrule was appointed to take charge of the festivities and ensure a good time was had by all. The Victorians adopted the Lord of Misrule and changed him into the character of Old Father Christmas from the mummers play, and he became the kind and jolly spirit of Christmas for young and old alike.

On December 6th, the feast day of St. Nicholas, children in the Netherlands and some Catholic countries expect to receive his blessings in the form of presents. Children in America write their request letters to him on his day in the hope of good things to come at Christmas time.

St. Nicholas died seventeen hundred years ago and his popularity has waned but little during that time. A good man and a kind one who is beloved by us all today - especially at Christmastime!