Today many people think of Santa Clause as a “Jolly Old Elf” who brings gifts to children on Christmas Eve but He wasn’t always such a Merry Figure. Modern Day Santa has His Roots in the 3rd and 4th Century Roman Empire (284 – 305 A.D.) Saint Nicholas was a Greek Priest Born in 280A.D. Nicholas became the Bishop of Myra (Demre), a small town of Lycia where a small city Kale / Demre is situated in Modern Day Turkey.
December 6th is the feast day of Saint Nicholas otherwise known as Santa Clause. He was bishop of the city of Myra in present-day Turkey where he died in the 4th century. When the city was conquered by Muslims, his remains were moved to the Italian city.
During “The Great Persecution,” when the Roman Empire destroyed Bibles and forced Priests to Renounce Christianity or face execution. Saint Nicholas developed a reputation as a Fiery Defender of Church Doctrine. He also came to known as Patron of Children as in a story, Young Bishop Nicholas saved three Young Girls from a Life of Prostitution when He secretly delivered three Bags of Gold from their Dowries to their Indebted Father. In another story, Nicholas resurrected three Boys who had been murdered by an Innkeeper. By the 13th century, Nicholas became known as a Magical Bringer of Gifts.
When his parents died he divided his fortune or wealth among the poor. Because of his generosity tradition remembers him as Santa Clause who every year delivers gifts to everyone.
Immigrants from the Netherlands brought Saint Nicholas or “Sinterklaas” with them to the New World Colonies. The Santa Clause we know today first appeared in 1823 in the Poem “The Night before Christmas,” and to this day we think of a Plump, Jolly Santa Clause delivers Gifts in a Magical Sleigh driven by Eight Reindeers.
He is also the Patron Saint of Russia, Greece, and Turkey, and Rome where a Church was built in his honor by the year 530. Probably there are 2000 churches in the world currently that carry his name.
Well in my NEXT BLOG, I will discuss a topic on this 1823 Poem “The Night before Christmas” briefly and which shall be a deep explanation of this Blog (“The Reindeer Sleigh Rider of Sky”).
