The Story of Saint Nicholas - Who was the Real Santa Claus?

As a kid, one of my favorite Christmas cartoons was Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer. It still is. With all the wonder of a child, I watched Rudolf lead Santa's sleigh team through the dense fog to deliver toys to deserving boys and girls. Like any other child, I believed that Santa Claus lived at the North Pole with Mrs. Claus and the elves making toys for children all over the world. Reindeer could fly because of magic food that the elves fed them. One Christmas Eve night, I even thought I heard jingling bells on my rooftop! In retrospect, it was probably my father trying to reinforce the Santa Claus legend.

I don't remember the age at which I stopped believing in Santa Claus, but it didn't dull my excitement during the holidays. As an adult, I wanted to find out how the idea of Santa Claus came about. I discovered that the basis for the Santa Claus phenomenon was an actual man of God named Nicholas. To satisfy my own curiosity, I read up on this man. Continue reading this article and you will discover the story of the man behind the cultural icon.

Saint Nicholas was born sometime during the third century A.D. to wealthy parents in Patara. Patara was a coastal village in the area that is now modern-day Turkey. During Nicholas' childhood, his parents instructed him on the ways of God. He developed a strong faith in God and a heart for service to His people.

After the death of his parents, Nicholas was left with a sizeable inheritance. Following the faith he had learned as a child, Nicholas used his money to help those in need. Later, he became the bishop of a place called Myra and continued to generously serve all those around him.

During the reign of the Roman emperor, Diocletian, all of the priests, bishops, and other Christian holy men were imprisoned and persecuted for their beliefs. Nicholas, too, was imprisoned and beaten. At the end of his imprisonment, he returned to Myra and his duties as bishop. Nicholas died on December 6, 343 A.D. and was buried in Myra. His life of generosity to children and others in the name of God led to his being elevated to sainthood. His death is celebrated in many European countries on December sixth, Saint Nicholas Day.

Over the centuries since his death, many extraordinary stories have been told about how he supernaturally saved children, unmarried women and sailors from peril and death. Today, Saint Nicholas is referred to as the patron saint of children, the sick, unmarried girls, prisoners, and orphans to name a few. These fantastic stories were carried to the New World by European settlers where time and imagination produced the American Christmas figure, Santa Claus. With the fantastic tales of Santa Claus dominating the Christmas holiday, parents should tell their children the true story of Saint Nicholas (to which Santa Claus is often referred)-a man of God who devoted his life to helping others.