Nickolaos Of Myra and The Legend of Santa Claus

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Nickolaos Of Myra

Many people are convinced that Santa Claus is just a fake, perhaps made up by the toy industry.  However, this is not true.  The legend of Santa Claus is based on the true story of a wonderful man, Saint Nicholas, also called Nickolaos of Myra. 
 
EARLY LIFE
 
Saint Nickolaos was born on March 15, 270 A.D. in the city of Patara, a seaport on the Mediterranean Sea near present-day Turkey.  He was the only child of wealthy Greek parents.  Numerous statues and paintings of him exist in Europe.  He was definitely a real person.

His parents died in a influenza epidemic when he was four years old.  His uncle was the bishop of Patara.  He took Nickolaos in, and raised him in the traditions of the very new Christian religion.  This was a wonderful experience for Nickolaos, and the boy became devoutly religious almost overnight.
 
A very religious young man.  Nickolaos followed all the teachings of Jesus that were known at the time, which was not much.  He also learned the teachings of other wise men who had studied with Jesus, but whose writings do not appear in today’s Christian liturgy.  As a result, Nickolaus became very healthy, strong and wise.
 
Becoming a priest.  When he matured, Nickolaos became a priest in the new religion of Jesus.  At that time, the Christian religion was not organized.  There were priests, healers and other characters preaching the doctrines that Jesus had taught for only three and half years, but which revolutionized religion on the planet earth.

Nickolaos settled in the city of Myra, very near the modern-day Turkish city of Demre.  There he established a church and began teaching the doctrines of Jesus.  He was very  successful because people were hungry for the truth, and the stories of the miracles of Jesus had spread across the world and ignited people’s imagination and excitement.
 
A WITNESS TO CHRIST
 
Nickolaos often spoke publicly of Jesus, even when to do so was very dangerous.  He always remained faithful to this cause, despite imprisonment, torture and exile for his beliefs in the early part of his life.

He is celebrated as a true people's saint because of the way he lived. This was unusual as most early saints were martyrs who had died for their faith.  Nickolaos is an example of how to live, rather than how to die in times of persecution.
 
THE MINISTRY
 
The church started by Nickolaos offered food for the poor, healing for anyone, and a clean bed to stay in for those who were homeless, or for those who just needed a place to stay for the night.  These were typical activities of churches and monasteries of that time.

However, this church also offered more esoteric training in the science of what is called Development on this website.  This is not well known, except by some Catholic scholars who have read the books by Saint Nicholas.  In fact, it is the more esoteric training that he offered that is the basis for some of the legends of Santa Claus that persist to this day.

For example, Santa Claus does not age, works closely with the elves and other unusual beings, and knows all about millions and millions of children scattered all around planet earth who speak thousands of languages.  How is all this possible, you may ask?  It is possible because Saint Nickolaos developed himself and became an evolved human being with certain unusual abilities.

Let us return to describing his church.  The church also offered lessons on how to become healthy, and how to live for many years on very little food and water.  This was a vital teaching at a time when starvation was very common on earth.
 
HEALING DISEASE
 
The church also taught people how to live healthfully to limit diseases.  At this time, life on earth was difficult, with much poverty and acute infectious diseases.

Tuberculosis was one of the worst diseases, and killed millions of people.  Influenza was also a dangerous disease, as were the bubonic plague and smallpox.  Most people do not realize how much better things are today in the area of health!  Even the worst places on earth are healthier today than most places were about 2000 years ago.
 
Hygiene and nutrition.  The improvement today is mainly due to much better hygiene and nutrition.  We still do not have drugs to stop influenza and plague.  However, we don’t have rats and raw sewage all over the streets, which carried those diseases.  Even our supposedly polluting automobiles are MUCH cleaner than riding around on horses that defecate all over the streets, spreading disease.

The health improvements on earth are not due to the smallpox and flu vaccines, as some claim.  The vaccines came much later, after these diseases started going away on their own.  For much more on this subject, please read Vaccination.

At the time of Nickolaos, teaching about diet, lifestyle and herbology were very important, and the church did this well.  Modern churches could take a lesson from this.  The health of the people is not good at all today, either, although the diseases are chronic ones, not acute infections.
 
Church services.  The church of Saint Nickolaos also offered regular services, but they are nothing like church services that people attend today.  Instead, they featured a talk by Nickolaos of about an hour or two.
Following the talk, everyone was invited for some food.  Then there was a meditation, very similar to the one taught on this website.

This was the extent of the service. There were no rituals, no singing, no guitar-playing, and no socializing.  These things are not needed, and they distracted from the true purpose of the church, in the opinion of Nickolaos.

St. Nickolaus’s original church in Myra has recently being renovated and hosts many pilgrams and tourists each year.
 
THE COUNCIL OF NICEA
 
When the Roman Empire became Christian under Emperor Constantine, Nickolaus was invited by the emperor to serve on the Council Of Nicea. 

This was one of the most important meetings in the history of religion on earth.  Only twenty or so leaders of the new Christian religion gathered to decide how to promote the Christian religion.  They would decide what would be the “official” teachings, rituals, and doctrines of the church.  It was a monumental task.  It has also led to the decline of the Catholic faith, in the opinion of Saint Nickolaos. 
 
Preserving the true teachings.  At the meetings, which went on for several months, Nickolaus was a staunch defender of the original teachings of Jesus.  He fought hard to prevent others from adding a lot of ritual and changing the teachings of Jesus.  In this, he was somewhat alone, sadly.

Many of the early Christian pastors or practitioners, as they were sometimes called, did not understand the teachings of Jesus too well.  They thought they were too complex and strange for most people to grasp.  So they “simplified” them.  This Nickolaos opposed vigorously.

According to Saint Nickolaos, Jesus did not stress ritual.  He wanted the people to live simply, healthfully, and with love.  He also did not believe in powerful priests and bishops.  He wanted the church leaders to be of the people and for the people. 

Jesus stressed love in all things, helping the poor, taking care of one’s health, and spreading the idea that God loves us, God forgives us, and God’s grace has spread over the face of the earth.  These were some of the main teachings.

Nickolaos argued that people could certainly understand these doctrines of Jesus.  If they did not understand them, then we would write books to explain them.  However, Nickolaos was outvoted on many issues.

The Christian religion is thriving in some areas, but is losing members because it does not teach enough of the truth of Jesus, he would say.  It needs to revert to the original teachings, some of which other Christian sects have done to a degree, but not enough, he would say.

Serving on the Council of Nicea was a great honor for Saint Nickolaos, but a sad time in his life as he watched the beautiful teachings of Jesus be watered down to “simplify” them to make them more “palatable”.
 
CONTRIBUTION TO CHRISTIANITY
 
Saint Nickolaos made a deep contribution to the Christian faith by insisting that certain tenets of Jesus were preserved and taught to the world.  These were:

  1.  Grace and mercy are the most important attributes of God.
  2. Forgiveness of sin is the rule, not the exception.
  3. That we must love ourselves, and not just love others.
  4. That we are to go among the people and heal them, as best we can.
  5. That our thoughts are powerful, so we need to watch our thoughts, at all times.
  6. That we are to take responsibility for our lives, and not just blame others for our lot.
  7. That we are the extension of God’s love into this world of form.
  8. That the Lord’s Prayer is the most important single prayer one can pray.
  9. By implication of #9 above, that we are always to seek God’s will in our lives.
  10. That we are to care for the body and the mind.
  11. That we are not to judge others harshly, but rather work on ourselves more to bring about perfection.
  12. That we are to celebrate life.
THE WONDERWORKER
 
Many miracles were attributed to Nickolaos.  As a result, he earned the name of The Wonderworker.

Healing the sick.  Among the miracles was an ability to heal the sick of many ailments using mainly healthful nutrition.  Junk food, such as refined sugar and white flour, did not exist in his day.

However, people often ate spoiled food or just did not eat much, at all, due to poverty or bad teeth.  And like today, people did not eat enough cooked vegetables.  Most people lived mainly on meat and grain.

Feeding the poor.  He was also able to feed the people of his city during a famine with grain that miraculously did not consume the grain.  This brought him a lot of attention.

He also brought back to life a number of dead and dying children, as well as many adults.  Mostly, this was due to his knowledge of anatomy, physiology, and the power of prayer, at which he excelled.

A very unusual fact is that, to this day, once a year a liquid flows out of the coffin that contains his physical remains.  This liquid tastes like rose water.  It builds strength in the body, and has other healing properties that have been confirmed by careful scientific investigation by the Italian government.

I am told that the liquid is placed there by advanced souls.  They guard the remains of Saint Nickolaos, and want to keep his memory alive.
 
SAINTHOOD
 
Nickolaos’s fame and admiration spread widely in Europe in the hundred years after his passing.  At that time, the Catholic church had no formal procedure for declaring a person a saint.  So his sainthood was informal, but very definite.  One could say it was by popular demand.

Eventually, he became the patron saint of children, students, sailors, the nation of Greece, and all the nations of the “low countries”, which are the Netherlands and surrounding areas.

Of all the nations, Albania today venerates St. Nickolaos the most.  The Eastern Orthodox and Russian Orthodox churches celebrate a feast of St. Nickolaos on December 6.  Many churches and alters have been built in Europe to honor him.  In fact, hymns and operettas have also been composed about him and are popular in Europe.

Nickolaos passed on on December 6, 343 A.D. and was buried in his home city.  Later, his remains were moved to Bari, Italy, because of danger to the grave.  December 6 is his saints day in the modern Catholic Church.

Many people around the world pray and ask for guidance from St. Nickolaos.
 
WHAT DOES ALL THIS HAVE TO DO WITH SANTA CLAUS?
 
The legend of Santa Claus is based on the story of a great man – Saint Nickolaos of Myra. He was a wise, kind, generous, and understanding soul whose memory lives on.

The truth has been distorted, but underneath is a beautiful story that needs to be told.  So let’s tell the children the truth about Santa Claus contained in this article.  And let your children write their deepest thoughts in their letters to Saint Nick each year. 

REFERENCES
 
Excellent references for everything in this article - and more - are found on a number of websites.  The following are from www.stnicholascenter.org and from www.wikipedia.com.
 
Willis Jones, The Santa Claus Book, Walker Publishing Company, 1976, p. 123, which includes a letter from the director of the Office for Divine Worship of the Archdiocese of Chicago.
Wire

 Services--United Press International
The Canonization of Saints Catholic Apologetics
The Commemoration of Saints and Heroes of the Christian Church in the Anglican Communion Lambeth Conference 1958
Canonization The Orthodox Church in America
Saint Wikipedia
Canonization of Saints Religion Facts
Beatification and Canonization Catholic Encyclopedia
Was  St. Nicholas Real?Ask a Franciscan, St. Anthony Messenger Press

  1. Book of Martyrs. Catholic Book Publishing. 1948.
  2. "Serbia". Saint Nicholas Center. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
  3. "Who is St. Nicholas?". St. Nicholas Center. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
  4. "St. Nicholas". Orthodox America. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
  5. Cunningham, Lawrence (2005). A brief history of saints. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 33. ISBN 978-1-4051-1402-8. “The fourth-century Saint Nikolaos of Myra, Greek Anatolia (in present-day Turkey) spread to Europe through the port city of Bari in southern Italy… Devotion to the saint in the Low countries became blended with Nordic folktales, transforming this early Greek bishop into that Christmas icon, Santa Claus’.”
  6. Lloyd, John; Mitchinson, John (December 2008). The book of general ignorance (Noticeably stouter edition). Faber and Faber. p. 318. ISBN 978-0-571-24692-2.
  7. Jones, Charles W. (1978). Saint Nikolaos of Myra, Bari, and Manhattan: Biography of a Legend. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-40700-5.
  8. "The Calendar [page ix]". Prayerbook.ca. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  9. "St. Nicholas Bethel Baptist Church". Stnicholasbethelbaptist.com. 2 June 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  10. "St. Nicholas United Methodist Church - Church Gazetteer". Stnicholascenter.org. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  11. "St Nicholas' Cardonald Parish Church - Church Gazetteer". Stnicholascenter.org. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  12. "New York’s Dutch Cathedral: The Collegiate Church of St. Nicholas, Fifth Avenue". Andrewcusack.com. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  13. Domenico, Roy Palmer (2002). The regions of Italy: a reference guide to history and culture. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 21. ISBN 0-313-30733-4. “Saint Nicholas (Bishop of Myra) replaced Sabino as the patron saint of the city… A Greek from what is now Turkey, he lived in the early fourth century.”
  14. Burman, Edward (1991). Emperor to emperor: Italy before the Renaissance. Constable. p. 126. ISBN 0-09-469490-7. “For although he is the patron saint of Russia, and the model for a northern invention such as Santa Claus, Nicholas of Myra was a Greek.”
  15. Ingram, W. Scott; Ingram, Asher, Scott; Robert (2004). Greek Immigrants. Infobase Publishing. p. 24. ISBN 9780816056897. “The original Santa Claus, Saint Nicholas, was a Greek born in Asia Minor (now modern Turkey) in the fourth century. He was very religious from an early age and devoted his life to Christianity.”
  16. Lanzi, Gioia (2004). Saints and their symbols: recognizing saints in art and in popular images. Liturgical Press. p. 111. ISBN 0-8146-2970-9. “Nicholas was born around 270 AD in Patara on the coast of what is now western Turkey.”
  17. Collins, Ace (2009). Stories Behind Men of Faith. Zondervan. p. 121. ISBN 9780310564560. “Nicholas was born in the Greek city of Patara around 270 AD. The son of a businessman named Theophanes and his wife, Nonna, the child’s earliest years were spent in Myra… As a port on the Mediterranean Sea, in the middle of the sea lanes that linked Egypt, Greece and Rome, Myra was a destination for traders, fishermen, and merchant sailors. Spawned by the spirit of both the city’s Greek heritage and the ruling Roman government, cultural endeavours such as art, drama, and music were mainstays of everyday life.”
  18. Faber, Paul (2006). Sinterklaas overseas: the adventures of a globetrotting saint. KIT Publishers. p. 7. ISBN 9789068324372. “The historical figure that served as model for the Dutch Sinterklaas was born around 270 AD in the port of Patara in the Greek province of Lycia in Asia Minor (present-day Turkey). His Greek name Nikolaos means something along the lines of “victor of the people”.”
  19. Lanzi, Gioia (2004). Saints and their symbols: recognizing saints in art and in popular images. Liturgical Press. p. 111. ISBN 0-8146-2970-9. “Nicholas was born around 270 AD in Patara on the coast of what is now western Turkey; his parents were Epiphanius and Joanna.”
  20. "St. Nicholas: Father of Beit Jala". Saint Nicholas Center. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  21. "Stories from Beit Jala". Saint Nicholas Center. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  22. Federer, William J. (2002). There Really Is a Santa Claus - History of St. Nicholas & Christmas Holiday Traditions. Amerisearch, Inc. p. 26. ISBN 978-0965355742.
  23. Davis, Leo Donald (1990). The First Seven Ecumenical Councils (325-787) Their History and Theology. Liturgical Press. p. 58. ISBN 0-8146-5616-1.
  24. http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/my-kind-of-santa/
  25. Ci sono ossa di san Nicola anche a Venezia? (in Italian)
  26. Are all the bones in Bari? (in Italian)
  27. "Relics of St. Nicholas - Where are They?". Saint Nicholas Center. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
  28. de Ceglia, Francesco Paolo: "The science of Santa Claus : discussions on the Manna of Nicholas of Myra in the modern age". In Nuncius - 27 (2012) 2, p. 241-269
  29. Santa's tomb is found off Turkey The Independent, 17 December 1993. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
  30. "Turks want Santa's bones returned". BBC News. 28 December 2009. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  31. "‘Santa Claus’s bones must be brought back to Turkey from Italy’". Todayszaman.com. 28 December 2009. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  32. http://www.heritagecouncil.ie/fileadmin/user_upload/conservationplans/Newton_Jerpoint.pdf (pg.79)
  33. http://www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix?pageID=409 (Dutch)
  34. Le Saux, Françoise Hazel Marie (2005). A companion to Wace. D.S.Brewer. ISBN 978-1-84384-043-5.
  35. "Pilgrimage to the Holy Land". Saint Nicholas Center. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  36. Bennett, William J. (2009). The True Saint Nicholas: Why He Matters to Christmas. Howard Books. pp. 14–17. ISBN 978-1-4165-6746-2.
  37. English, Adam, and Crumm, David (2 December 2012). "Adam English digging back into the real St. Nicholas". ReadTheSpirit online magazine.
  38. Carus, Louise (1 October 2002). The Real St. Nicholas. Quest Books. p. 2. ISBN 9780835608138. “In Myra, the traditional St. Nicholas Feast Day is still celebrated on December 6, which many believe to be the anniversary of St. Nicholas's death. This day is honored throughout Western Christendom, in lands comprising both Catholic and Protestant communities (in the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Saint's feast date is December 19). On December 5, the eve of St. Nicholas Day, some American boys and girls put their shoes outside their bedroom door and leave a small gift in hopes that St. Nicholas soon will be there.”
  39. "Anatomical Examination of the Bari Relics". Saint Nicholas Center. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
  40. "The Real Face of Santa". (navigate to 4th of 4 pictures)
  41. "Greece". St. Nicholas Center. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  42. "Feasts and Saints, Commemorated on May 9". Orthodox Church in America. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
  43. "St. Nicholas the Wonderworker". Synaxarium (Lives of Saints). Coptic Orthodox Church Network. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
  44. "Commemorations for Kiahk 10". Coptic Orthodox Church Network. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
  45. "People of Color in European Art History". Retrieved 20 December 2013.
  46. This operetta is translated in Croatian as: "Sveti Nikola dolazi" and partly in Hungarian: "Jön a Mikulás".
Further readingExternal links[edit]

(original tomb at Church of Saint Nicholas, Myra, Turkey)
Colonnade Statue St Peter's Square

 Sources: Lawrence Wilson, MD


You can also click on this video to watch the Santa Claus story