As we approach Christmas (coincidentally this year also the beginning of Hanukkah, with Kwanza beginning the next day), we're surrounded by all the usual American iterations of the most-celebrated day of the year.
In Christianity, it is the day marking the birth of Jesus Christ. But, as explained on the website LiveScience.com, "Most scholars agree that he wasn't born on that day, or even in the year A.D. 1. Researchers have speculated that the Roman Catholic Church chose December 25 because it ties in with the winter solstice and Saturnalia, a festival dedicated to the Roman deity Saturn. The church could also co-opt this popular pagan festival, as well as the winter celebration of other pagan religions, by choosing this day to celebrate Jesus' birthday, according to scholar Ignacio L. Götz in his book "Jesus the Jew: Reality, Politics, and Myth-A Personal Encounter” (Christian Faith Publishing, 2019).
The date aside, what do we know of the commercially popular image associated with the day, the one and only Santa Claus, a/k/a/ Father Christmas, Sinter Klaas, St. Nicholas, Pere Noel, Kriss Kringle, Julenisse, Babbo Natale, etc.?
They also are derivations of a real-life miracle worker, Nicholas of Myra. Here's the Wikipedia version of his story:
"Saint Nicholas of Myra (traditionally, born 15 March 270, died 6 December 343) -- also known as Nicholas of Bari -- was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Patara in Anatolia (in modern-day Antalya Province, Turkey) during the time of the Roman Empire. Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he also is known as Nicholas the Wonderworker.
"Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of sailors, merchants, archers, repentant thieves, children, brewers, pawnbrokers, toymakers, unmarried people, and students in various cities and countries around Europe.
"His reputation evolved among the pious, as was common for early Christian saints, and his legendary habit of secret gift-giving gave rise to the folklore of Santa Claus ("Saint Nick"). Little is known about the historical Saint Nicholas. The earliest accounts of his life were written centuries after his death and probably contain legendary elaborations.
"He is said to have been born in the Anatolian seaport of Patara, Lycia, in Asia Minor to wealthy Christian parents. In one of the earliest attested and most famous incidents from his life, he is said to have rescued three girls from being forced into prostitution by dropping a sack of gold coins through the window of their house each night for three nights so their father could pay a dowry for each of them. Other early stories tell of him calming a storm at sea, saving three innocent soldiers from wrongful execution, and chopping down a tree possessed by a demon.
"In his youth, he is said to have made a pilgrimage to Egypt and Syria Palaestine. Shortly after his return, he became Bishop of Myra. He was later cast into prison during the persecution of Diocletian, but was released after the accession of Constantine. ... Another famous late legend tells how he resurrected three children, who had been murdered and pickled in brine by a butcher planning to sell them as pork during a famine. Fewer than 200 years after Nicholas's death, the St. Nicholas Church was built in Myra under the orders of Theodosius II over the site of the church where he had served as bishop, and his remains were moved to a sarcophagus in that church.
"In 1087, while the Greek Christian inhabitants of the region were subjugated by the newly arrived Muslim Seljuk Turks, and soon after the beginning of the East–West schism, a group of merchants from the Italian city of Bari removed the major bones of Nicholas's skeleton from his sarcophagus in the church without authorization and brought them to their hometown, where they now are enshrined in the Basilica di San Nicola. The remaining bone fragments from the sarcophagus were later removed by Venetian sailors and taken to Venice during the First Crusade. ...
"Nicholas is said to have lived in a crypt near Bethlehem, where the Nativity of Jesus is believed to have taken place. Over the crypt where Nicholas is believed to have lived now stands the "Church of Saint Nicholas" in Beit Jala, a Christian town of which Nicholas is the Patron saint."
Much more about legend, lore, and literature references to Nicholas are contained in the voluminous Wikipedia account, which nots that:
"Nicholas had a reputation for secret gift-giving, such as putting coins in the shoes of those who left them out for him, a practice celebrated on his feast day (6 December). For those who still observe the Julian calendar the celebration currently takes place 13 days later than it happens in the Gregorian calendar and Revised Julian calendar. ...
"Today, Saint Nicholas still is celebrated as a great gift-giver in several Western European and Central European countries. In medieval times, Christian nuns in Belgium and France began to deposit baskets of food and clothes anonymously at the doorsteps of the needy, which gave rise to the practice of gift giving on Saint Nicholas Day. According to another source, on 6 December every sailor or ex-sailor of the Low Countries (which at that time was virtually all of the male population) would descend to the harbor towns to participate in a church celebration for their patron saint. On the way back they would stop at one of the various Nicholas fairs to buy some hard-to-come-by goods, gifts for their loved ones and invariably some little presents for their children.
"While the real gifts would only be presented at Christmas, the little presents for the children were given right away, courtesy of Saint Nicholas. This and his miracle of him resurrecting the three butchered children made Saint Nicholas a patron saint of children and later students as well."
So, now you know a little more about the life, legend, and lore of the man who became the basis for Santa Claus and his geographic-specific alter egos.
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