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Who is Santa Claus really?

Editrice Shalom

Tempo di lettura: 3 min
Autore: Editrice Shalom

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Who is Santa Claus really?

Santa Claus

We have always been accustomed to knowing Santa Claus as a cheerful old man with a white beard and red clothes who, on the night between December 24 and 25, brings presents to all the children of the world in his flying sleigh pulled by reindeer.
Almost no one, however, knows his true story, which merges with that of a much-loved and venerated saint: Saint Nicholas.
This story begins around 270 in Patara, Lycia, in present-day Turkey. Saint Nicholas was the son of Greek parents, whom he lost at a young age. As he grew up, he showed a strong religious vocation. He moved to Myra, where he was ordained a priest and was later acclaimed by the people as their new bishop. He suffered Diocletian's persecution, was exiled from the city, and was subsequently imprisoned until Constantine, with the Edict of Milan, legalized worship throughout the Empire. He was released from prison and was able to return to his position in Myra. He probably took part in the Council of Nicaea in 325. He ended his life in Myra, dying of old age.

Saint Nicholas
But why did he become one of the most distinctive symbols of Christmas? After his death, veneration of him soon began to spread throughout Asia Minor and southern Italy. Many of the events that contributed to the veneration of Saint Nicholas involved boys and girls. In particular, two episodes are remembered. A man who had fallen on hard times found himself forced to prostitute his three young daughters to avoid complete ruin. When Saint Nicholas learned of this, he threw three sacks of gold over the walls of his garden. In iconography, these became three golden balls, providing all three girls with a rich dowry and thus preserving their virtue. On another occasion, the saint arrived at an inn where, that same evening, the innkeeper and his wife had welcomed three hungry children seeking shelter. Having run out of meat to offer their guests, the couple had killed the children and cut them into pieces, pickling their flesh to serve for dinner. The saint forced them to accompany him to the pantry and resurrected the children, who emerged alive and unharmed.
Saint Nicholas with children
His veneration spread from southern Italy throughout Europe. In particular, in several areas of northern Italy and the Alpine region, people began celebrating on December 6, the date of Nicholas’s death, a feast during which the Saint brought gifts to good and deserving children. With the advent of the Protestant Reformation, the veneration of Saint Nicholas was abolished, and the task of bringing gifts to children passed to the Christ Child and other folkloric figures. The Europeans who left for the New World brought these legends with them, in which religion and folklore became increasingly intertwined. Thus the figure of Sinterklaas, or Sint-Nicolaas, β€œThe good Saint,” spread, perhaps the first personification of Saint Nicholas to begin approaching our modern idea of Santa Claus. And so, slowly, over the centuries, Saint Nicholas became Santa Claus, PΓ¨re Noel, Father Christmas, and Santa Claus, a bringer of gifts to good children and a cheerful, infinitely comforting symbol of modern Christmas.
Lenten Gospels
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Who is Santa Claus really?

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