"Twas the night before Christmas . . . " Actually, it was the twelfth of October! We were on the second day of our Mediterranean cruise. We spent the morning in the southern Italian town of Bari and walked from the dock to the Basilica of St Nicholas. Did you know he was a real person? Well, not the red suit wearing, reindeer owning, sled driving "jolly old" guy. He was a 3rd century Christian bishop from Greece who traveled to Turkey to evangelize. Because of his kindness and generosity towards children and the poor, often giving them presents secretly, his fame spread throughout Europe. In the 1300s his remains were transported to the newly built basilica in Bari and he was named the patron saint of children and sailors. Not long afterward, the Western Christian church made his name day (Dec. 6) a church holiday. The feast was both an occasion to help the poor, by putting money in their shoes and an elaborate feast. After the protestant reformation in the 1500s, England, Germany, and the Netherlands prohibited the celebration in churches but allowed families to continue in their homes. Our modern idea of Santa Claus came from a Dutch tradition. There, he was called Sinterklaas (a variation of saint + nicholas). He was a mixture of the original Saint Nicholas and the germanic pagan god Odin. They both flew over rooftops on a horse, both were depicted with long beards and cloaks, both had mischievous helpers, and both were left carrots and hay for their horses in the children's shoes by the chimney and in return they gave the children gifts. The Dutch version of Sinterklaas (or Santa Claus) was an elderly, serious man with white hair and a long, full beard. He wears a long red bishop's cape over a white bishop's robe and a tall red bishop's cap. He holds a staff in one hand and in the other is a book that tells whether each individual has been good or bad in the past year. Our US Santa is a modern-day relative of this character. In 1810 a man named John Pintard wanted to make St Nicholas the patron saint of New York and got help from the large Dutch community there. They provided him with the original Dutch poem and tradition of Sinterklaas. In the Netherlands, his celebration is seen as a religious tribute to the original St Nick. Early Americans had a problem with a religious celebration of this nature as their conservative Christian teaching forbid anything not having to do with the Christ child. So, in 1823, when an American professor, Clement Moore, wrote his now famous poem, "A Visit from Saint Nicholas", he had Santa arriving, not on Christmas day, but on Christmas Eve. He is the one responsible for our modern American image of Santa Claus which is repeated in one form or another all over the Christian world. I'm sure the original Saint Nicholas had no idea that his kindness would be celebrated everywhere at the same time as the world celebrates the birth of the Christ child. Another example of how the early Christians incorporated pagan celebrations with Christian. If you have time, google all the Christmas traditions - the pine tree, mistletoe, wreaths, candles, holly, even fruit cake - and see what you learn. In the words of Clement Moore, "Happy Christmas to all and to all a good night!" Joyeux Noël! A bientôt!
