Santa Claus (Saint Nicholas of Myra)

“And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” -Acts 20:35

The name Santa Claus is French for Saint (Santa) Nicholas (Claus actually being a modification of the last six letters of his name). The name Nicholas itself is Greek and it means “The Victory of the People.”

St. Nicholas of Myra was born in the latter half of the 3rd Century A.D. in Patara, Lycia (in what is today Turkey) to Theophanes and Nona, wealthy parents. He was the result of prayers by his parents to have a child because they were formerly barren. From his youth he had been educated in the Scriptures.

As time went on he entered a monastery and became a monk, and he had a vision that he would be ordained a bishop. In this vision he saw the Lord Jesus appear holding the Gospel adorned with jewels and St. Mary with the bishop’s vestments; this is one of the reasons that in his icon Jesus and Mary are portrayed this way. He became the bishop of the city of Myra.

St. Nicholas is known for his gift of giving, and one story of such giving is recorded among us. There was a rich man in the city of Myra who had three daughters and lost all his wealth. He thought to himself that there wasn’t going to be any way to get his daughters married so he was set on selling them as prostitutes to make money. God revealed to St. Nicholas what the man was thinking so he went by the window of the man’s house at night and threw a sack filled with gold and the man was able to give his first daughter in marriage. Then Nicholas repeated this again and the second daughter also got married. The man wanted to know who was doing these acts of kindness and charity for them so he was watching by the window and when the sack came in he went out immediately and found Nicholas. He thanked him for doing this because he brought the family out of poverty and prevented a life of sin from them. Nicholas told the man to give thanks to God, not to him.

St. Nicholas also saved three people from being unjustly executed. These three were unjustly condemned because the governor had been bribed. Nicholas went up courageously as they were about to be executed and held the sword from the executioners hand, he then rebuked the governor for dealing with them in that manner and the governor repented.

He was also present at the First Ecumenical Council which was held in Nicea in 325 A.D. He was arguing with Arius about the Lord Jesus Christ and His divinity and he wasn’t able to stop Arius in his words so he struck him in the face. Now when the bishops heard about this they defrocked (took off his bishop’s vestments and he no longer remained a bishop) him because this act is unacceptable for Christians even if the person is a heretic because the Lord taught us otherwise, and banned him from the rest of the Council of Nicea. Yet later that night, as they were asleep, many of the bishops saw the Lord holding a Gospel and St. Mary holding Nicholas bishop’s vestments and the Lord put it on Nicholas. This is the second reason Jesus and Mary are portrayed specifically over his right and left shoulders in the icon. After this the bishops returned Nicholas to the rank of Bishop and his vestments and knew that what Nicholas had done was not an act of wrath but of zeal for the Lord.

St. Nicholas also worked wonders among the people and he lived to be 80 years old.

Let us remember the real Santa Claus (Saint Nicholas) during this month and imitate his virtues. Glory be to God both now and ever and unto the age of all ages. Amen.