Today’s Holiday Post by Joe Farace
“Everybody loves St Nicholas, because St. Nicholas loves everybody.”—Fr. Andrew Phillips
Saint Nicholas Day recognizes the third-century saint who was the inspiration for the modern-day Santa Claus. St. Nicholas is known for best known for selling all of his possessions and giving his money to the poor. Raised as a devout Christian, St. Nicholas dedicated his whole life to serving the sick and suffering. St. Nicholas Day is celebrated worldwide on December 6th, which is the anniversary of his death.
All of the legendary stories about St. Nicholas become part of the inspiration for the modern-day Santa Claus. For example, during the third century, a daughter’s chances of marriage increased when her father offered a dowry to prospective husbands. One story tells of a poor father with three daughters but had no dowry to offer. Traditionally, families left their shoes by the fire at night so that they could dry. On three separate occasions, St. Nicholas provided a dowry for each girl. Legend says he made gold appear in their shoes, drying by the fire, however other stories say that he threw the money through the family’s window, which landed in their shoes, which were you guess it, drying near their fireplace.
How I Made this Photograph: This image was shot on film at the annual Georgetown, Colorado Christmas Market with a Nikon FE2 and Nikkor 43-86mm f/3.5 AI lens and Ektachrome slide film. The exposure was unrecorded. The film was digitized during a time when Kodak offered it’s wonderful (I still miss it) Photo CD scanning service. The file was opened using Lemke Software’s macOS Graphic Converter that produces relatively good quality files from a Photo CD disc but the software is not without its quirks. See the linked post for details.
About Saint Nicholas
Here’s a few interesting facts that have been associated with the life and legend of St. Nicholas:
- He was consecrated the Bishop of Myra and as Nicholas of Myra is the patron saint of children, sailors, those undergoing financial problems, and victims of fire.
- He was born in the village of Patar, that is located on the southeastern coast of modern-day Turkey.
- St. Nicholas was entombed in St. Nicholas Church, Demre, although in 1087, Italian soldiers transferred his remains to Italy, where they were enshrined in the Basilica di San Nicola and are held to this day. Saint Nicholas’ tomb is said to exude the Oil of Saint Nicola that, throughout the centuries, has attracted Christian pilgrims who take the oil home in small bottles to use during prayer.