As the Christmas season approaches, people start to practice holiday traditions. Holiday decorations are hung, presents are bought, and pictures with Santa are taken. Children take tradition a step further by writing Santa a letter and baking him cookies. A young child never questions the true existence of Santa Claus. As an adult, however, I wonder if there really is truth behind the story of Santa.
In my quest for knowledge of Santa Claus, I stumbled across an interesting website called the Saint Nicholas Center. I was surprised to find a wealth of information on a man who lived many years ago named Saint Nicholas. Legends describe St. Nicholas as an extremely generous man who had a passion for giving to people. One story in particular details how St. Nicholas saved three young maidens from slavery. By secretly giving each daughter enough gold for a dowry, St. Nicholas gave them the opportunity of marriage.
St. Nicholas was born in modern day Turkey, but his stories live amongst the world. There are sections on the website which describe holiday customs all over the globe. It is interesting to see that most countries portray the historical St. Nicholas instead of jolly old Santa. St. Nicholas look-alikes make frequent holiday visits to classrooms and festivals. There are also a number of churches named after the popular saint.
It is clear that there is much more to the story of Santa. In America, the giving nature of St. Nicholas is personified in Santa Claus. Although we chose to change his name and add a few frills, the message of generosity remains.
Images from St. Nicholas Center
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