Bishop Nicholas of Myra, died. How sad, eh? Of course he died in 345AD, but it's still sad. Kinda. Sorta. When you think about it. Constantly, I suppose. Ahem... today is the Feast day of St. Nicholas. You may know him better as his modern-era superhero designation: Santa Claus. But as you might suspect the original man wasn't anything like Santa Claus. His story was one of humility and sneaking around in the darkness so as not to be seen. No flying reindeer. No big red coat and sack of presents slung over his back. None of these things. In fact, he didn't even have a white beard! Not when he became famous, anyway.
Not many know that St. Nicholas was a young 20-something when he became bishop of the western Turkey town of Myra in 290-300 AD. He happened into the office in small part to his family (his uncle was a bishop) but in large part to his character. He was a young priest with a stellar reputation who was elevated to bishop upon the death of the prior leader, despite his age. Usually, bishops weren't so young. But Nicholas impressed the other bishops of the region.
St. Nick served for decades, becoming known for his generosity for the poor (he came from a wealthy family), his humility, and for his defense of the historical and biblical truths of the faith. In fact, during the famous Council of Nicea in 325AD, an older Nicholas was among the bishops in attendance and stood with one of my other heroes, Athanasius, in defense of the truth when Arias and his followers threatened to tear it apart. Yes, Santa Claus was at Nicea. St. Nicholas defended the deity of Jesus Christ when it was questioned and stood on the side of truth.
No flying reindeer to be found. Or elves making toys. Just one humble man with the guts to stand up for what he — and the church — historically believed and taught about his Savior.
He's a hero of the faith.
He also was known for his secret giving to the poor. Many legends have emerged of things Nicholas did, and any of them could be true, I suppose, but only God knows which ones actually happened. One common thread is that Nicholas gave for years without being discovered. In a day without checks, credit cards or fingerprinting, a financial donation left on a doorstep couldn't be traced. He eventually was found out by the local townsfolk (who put two and two together, I guess) but instead of parading around, he wished for them to keep quiet about his giving. He gave for the Lord and not for man.
After his death on December 6, 345, local townsfolk decided to continue giving secret gifts to the poor (and to each other) in the name of Nicholas. Many orthodox Christians in Europe still do this. This gift giving was eventually tied in to the early church's celebration of Christ's birth, which was on January 6th and not December 25th. January 6th was called the Feast of Epiphany, and has celebrated many things through the years, including the arrival of the magi.
Our modern Christmas combines several smaller church holidays into one big extravaganza. What's kind of funny to me is that the legends of the original St. Nicholas have nothing to do with Christmas — at all! But still, his official day is in December and gift giving has become a major part of our Christmas holiday, so, for me, I consider December 6th to January 6th to be my official Christmas season. Today I'm assembling my tree (a tradition dating back 500 years) and putting up wreaths (which goes back at least to the days of St. Nick). I'll start my Christmas shopping, too, so I can give gifts in Nick's name. To honor his life. And the Savior he served who said, "It's more blessed to give than receive."
Merry Christmas!
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