For most Christians - especially in the Catholic and Orthodox churches, as well as some high-church Protestant congregations - December 6 is the feast of St. Nicholas, a bishop of the city of Myra who later became the basis for the legendary Christmas character Santa Claus.
But many people know more of the jolly old man in a red suit than the historical figure and jolly old Christian saint from whom the iconic staple of the Christmas season.
And the story of St. Nicholas has brought more than winter holiday cheer.
Early Life
Born in the year 270, St. Nicholas was a fourth-century Christian bishop from the Mediterranean port city of Myra in modern-day Turkey.
According to Christian records, Nicholas first lived as a monk in the city's Holy Zion monastery before he was appointed its bishop. Renowned for his Christian piety and zeal, he was imprisoned during the persecutions of the Roman emperor Diocletian.
It was said that, before his consecration as bishop, Nicholas had the chance to travel to the Holy Land - currently modern-day Israel and Palestine - and he had the chance to live in a crypt in Beit Jala near Bethlehem, the site where Christians believe Jesus was born. A church dedicated to his honor now stands above the crypt where he lived.
Smacking Naughty Heretics?
Since the emancipation of Christians during the reign of Constantine, Nicholas and other bishops have convened in the city of Nicaea to hold a council there and to codify the Christian creed after centuries of persecution.
The Council of Nicaea was the first recorded council in history, and second only to the Council of Jerusalem, which was convened by Jesus's apostles and recorded in the Bible.
During the council, a certain priest from Alexandria named Arius propagated the concept of the non-divinity of Jesus, which Nicholas and several other bishops vehemently opposed.
During one of the sessions, Nicholas allegedly struck or slapped Arius in the face when he lost his temper. This action caused him to be imprisoned and stripped of his episcopal vestments.
One night, Jesus and the Virgin Mary visited Nicholas in a vision and Nicholas told them he was imprisoned out of zeal for Christ's divinity. For this, the mother and son restored his vestments and the prison guards saw Nicholas wearing them the next day.
The alleged altercation during the Council of Nicaea eventually became a meme and a pop culture canon in 21st-century Christendom, especially among Catholics.
Bringer of Good Cheer
The legend of Santa Claus dropping by houses and bringing gifts to children and children at heart was based on the story of how he came to the aid of a poor man who could not afford the dowries of his three daughters.
According to the story, Nicholas purportedly saved the girls' lives by tossing three purses filled with gold - one for each of the poor man's daughters - through the window of the house, giving the girls the dowry they would need to help secure a respectable marriage.
Another story of Nicholas's great deeds involved him pleading to spare three innocent men from being executed. When the executioner was about to swing his sword to behead the first man, Nicholas stepped in and pushed the sword to the ground, released the young men from their chains, and publicly berated a juror who accepted a bribe.
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Death and Jolly Old Legacy
Nicholas died in 342 or 343 and was originally buried in Myra. He was made a saint after myrrh allegedly flowed from his tomb from the moment he was interred.
During the Middle Ages, Greek Christians were able to transfer his relics from Myra, which was now controlled by the Muslim Seljuk Turks, to the southern Italian city of Bari, and has been revered by both Catholics and Orthodox Christians across the world ever since and has multiple patronages, from multiple professions to multiple places across Europe to even the Russian Navy.
Both Myra - which the Turks have since renamed Demre in 2005 - and Bari lay a claim to his relics.
Last October, the Greek Reporter featured an article highlighting the discovery of Nicholas's tomb in Demre.
Across Europe, St. Nicholas has been venerated not only as a Christian saint but also as a Christmas figure. In certain countries, children would do everything in their power to be good for St. Nicholas to give them gifts and not be visited by the demonic monster named Krampus.
The name "Santa Claus" was a corruption of St. Nicholas's Dutch name - Sinterklaas. Dutch Protestants settling in New York in the 17th century brought the Sinterklaas tradition to America and has since morphed into the jolly old secular Christmas figure known by many across the world today.
While the Rev. Nicholas Ayo, a Catholic priest and retired professor of Notre Dame University, told the Associated Press that the stories revolving around St. Nicholas were mostly legend, he nevertheless thought that the authenticity of the stories was not important.
"There's no Santa Claus that lands on the roof, but there's a desire in people's hearts for an unconditional love that doesn't depend on your behavior, but the fact that you're somebody's child," he explained.
In a theological aspect, OnePeterFive contributor Dr. Peter Kwasniewski even reckoned that St. Nicholas was a prominent influence on another Catholic saint, the theologian and philosopher Thomas Aquinas, especially in the latter part of his life.
"In his final period in Naples... Thomas chose for his special place of prayer a chapel dedicated to St. Nicholas in the church of San Domenico, where he celebrated his morning Mass and spent time in meditation prior to Matins," Kwasniewski wrote. "We know of a layman who attended Thomas's daily Mass - a man by the name of Nicholas Fricia. The experience of December 1273 took place in this particular chapel, where the colloquy with the Crucified [Jesus] had taken place a few months earlier."
