Feast of Saint Nicholas

Today is the Feast of Saint Nicholas.  Did you put your shoes and/or stockings out?
The true story of Santa Claus begins with Saint Nicholas the 4th century Bishop of Myra (in Turkey).  A holy and great man.  A defender of the Faith against Arianism.

The most famous story told about St. Nicholas has to do with three young sisters who were very poor. Their parents were so poor that they did not have enough money for the daughters to get married. Every young girl needed money to pay for the wedding and to set up house for themselves.

Nicholas heard about this family and wanted to help them, but he did not want anyone to know that he was the one who was helping them.

The story is told in a few different ways. In one version, he climbed up on their roof three nights in a row and threw gold coins down their chimney so that they would land in the girls’ stockings, which had been hung by the fire to dry. After two of his daughters had been able to marry because of the money mysteriously appearing in their stockings, the father was determined to find out who was helping them, so he hid behind the chimney the next night. Along came Bishop Nicholas with another bag of money.

When he was discovered, he asked the father not to tell anyone else, but the father wanted everyone to know what a good and generous man the Bishop Nicholas was, so he told everyone he knew. That is how we have the story and the tradition of stocking full of gifts today.

Have a great feast day and be sure to check out the Saint Nicholas Center for activities, stories and images of Saint Nick.