Tuesday, December 14, 2010 12:17:35 PM
December 10, 2010
How did the kindly Christian saint, good St. Nicholas, become a roly-poly red-suited American symbol for merry holiday festivity and commercial activity? History tells the tale. The first Europeans to arrive in the New World brought St. Nicholas. Vikings dedicated their cathedral to him in Greenland. On his first voyage, Columbus named a Haitian port for St. Nicholas on December 6, 1492. In Florida, Spaniards named an early settlement St. Nicholas Ferry, now known as Jacksonville. However, St. Nicholas had a difficult time during the 16th century Protestant Reformation which took a dim view of saints. Even though both reformers and counter-reformers tried to stamp out St. Nicholas-related customs, they had very little long-term success except in England where the religious folk traditions were permanently altered. (It is ironic that fervent Puritan Christians began what turned into a trend to a more secular Christmas observance.) Because the common people so loved St. Nicholas, he survived on the European continent as people continued to place nuts, apples, and sweets in shoes left beside beds, on windowsills, or before the hearth.
The first Colonists, primarily Puritans and other Protestant reformers, did not bring Nicholas traditions to the New World. What about the Dutch? Although it is almost universally believed that the Dutch brought St. Nicholas to New Amsterdam, scholars find scant evidence of such traditions in Dutch New Netherlands, Colonial Germans in Pennsylvania kept the feast of St. Nicholas, and several later accounts have St. Nicholas visiting New York Dutch on New Years' Eve (New Year gift-giving had become the English custom in 1558, supplanting Nicholas, and this English custom was still found in New York until 1847). In 1773 New York non-Dutch patriots formed the Sons of St. Nicholas, primarily as a non-British symbol to counter the English St. George societies, rather than to honor St. Nicholas. This society was similar to the Sons of St. Tammany in Philadelphia. Not exactly St. Nicholas, the children's gift-giver.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
The New York Historical Society held its first St. Nicholas anniversary dinner on December 6, 1810. John Pintard commissioned artist Alexander Anderson to create the first American image of Nicholas for the occasion. Nicholas was shown in a gift-giving role with children's treats in stockings hanging at a fireplace. The accompanying poem ends, "Saint Nicholas, my dear good friend! To serve you ever was my end, If you will, now, me something give, I'll serve you ever while I live."
The 19th century was a time of cultural transition. New York writers, and others, wanted to domesticate the Christmas holiday. Christmas of old was not images of families gathered cozily around hearth and tree exchanging pretty gifts and singing carols while smiling benevolently at children. Rather, it was characterized by raucous, drunken mobs roaming streets, damaging property, threatening and frightening the upper classes. The holiday season, coming after harvest when work was eased and more leisure possible, was a time when workers and servants took the upper hand, demanding largess and more. At the same time, a new understanding of family life and the place of children was also emerging. Childhood was coming to be seen as a stage of life in which greater protection, sheltering, training and education were needed. And so the season came to be tamed, turning toward shops and home. St. Nicholas, too, took on new attributes to fit the changing times.
 Sante Claus The Children's Friend, 1821 |
The jolly elf image received another big boost in 1823, from a poem destined to become immensely popular, "A Visit from St. Nicholas," now better known as "The Night Before Christmas."
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
His eyes—how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf. . . .
Washington Irving's St. Nicholas strongly influenced the poem's portrayal of a round, pipe-smoking, elf-like St. Nicholas. The poem generally has been attributed to Clement Clark Moore, a professor of biblical languages at New York's Episcopal General Theological Seminary. However, a case has been made by Don Foster inAuthor Unknown, that Henry Livingston actually penned it in 1807 or 1808. Livingston was a farmer/patriot who wrote humorous verse for children. In any case, "A Visit from St. Nicholas" became a defining American holiday classic. No matter who wrote it, the poem has had enormous influence on the Americanization of St. Nicholas.
Other artists and writers continued the change to an elf-like St. Nicholas, "Sancte Claus," or "Santa Claus," unlike the stately European bishop. In 1863, during the Civil War, political cartoonist Thomas Nast began a series of annual black-and-white drawings in Harper's Weekly, based on the descriptions found in the poem and Washington Irving's work. These drawings established a rotund Santa with flowing beard, fur garments, and an omnipresent clay pipe. Nast's Santa supported the Union and President Lincoln believed this contributed to the Union troops' success by demoralizing Confederate soldiers. As Nast drew Santas until 1886, his work had considerable influence in forming the American Santa Claus. Along with appearance changes, the saint's name shifted to Santa Claus—a natural phonetic alteration from the German Sankt Niklaus.
Santa was then portrayed by dozens of artists in a wide variety of styles, sizes, and colors. However by the end of the 1920s, a standard American Santa—life-sized in a red, fur-trimmed suit—had emerged from the work of N. C. Wyeth, Norman Rockwell and other popular illustrators. In 1931 Haddon Sundblom began thirty-five years of Coca-Cola Santa advertisements that popularized and firmly established this Santa as an icon of contemporary commercial culture.
 Nast Santa, Bishop Nicholas, Coke Santa, illustration by Renee Graef, A Special Place for Santa Roman, Inc., 1991. Permission pending. |
It's been a long journey from the Fourth Century Bishop of Myra, St. Nicholas, who showed his devotion to God in extraordinary kindness and generosity to those in need, to America's jolly Santa Claus, whose largesse often supplies luxuries to the affluent. However, if you peel back the accretions, he is still Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, whose caring surprises continue to model true giving and faithfulness.
There is growing interest in reclaiming the original saint in the United States to help restore a spiritual dimension to this festive time. For indeed, St. Nicholas, lover of the poor and patron saint of children, is a model of how Christians are meant to live. A bishop, Nicholas put Jesus Christ at the center of his life, his ministry, his entire existence. Families, churches, and schools are embracing true St Nicholas traditions as one way to claim the true center of Christmas—the birth of Jesus. Such a focus helps restore balance to increasingly materialistic and stress-filled Advent and Christmas seasons.
| Was St. Nicholas A Real Person? |
 Card from St Nicholas Church North Walsham, Norfolk, UK St. Nicholas Center Collection |
Some say St. Nicholas existed only in legend, without any reliable historical record. Legends usually do grow out of real, actual events, though they may be embellished to make more interesting stories. Many of the St. Nicholas stories seem to be truth interwoven with imagination. However, the following facts of the life of St. Nicholas could contain some part of historical truth. They provide a clear sense of his personal characteristics which are further elaborated in other narratives.
- Nicholas'
birth in Patara
Though the exact date is not known, it is believed to have occurred between AD 260 and 280. The place, Patara, can be historically grounded. - Dowries for
the poor girls
This story, distinct to Nicholas, can be regarded as historical in its essence. There are three very ancient accounts which only differ in regard to the number of maidens and other detail. This event reveals important aspects of St. Nicholas's personality, namely, his charitable nature and humility. This story is not found in hagiographic accounts of other saints' lives. - Election
as Bishop of Myra,
though not a priest
Unusual though it was for a non-ordained person to be nominated to the position of bishop, two sources corroborate the story. Because it is so unusual, there are only two other such cases (Saint Severus and Saint Ambrose), it adds credence to the story as it is not something that would be made up. * - Participation
in the Council
of Nicaea
Although Bishop Nicholas does not appear on all lists of attenders, his name appears on the oldest Greek list and on five other lists. - Saving
three condemned innocents
This story is the oldest and most genuine recorded episode from the life of St. Nicholas. Historical documentation confirms the many references to place names and people. Some versions expand the account to include the story of the three generals. - Intervention
in favor of the unjustly jailed
The outstanding figures in this solidly structured story are well known in other contemporary accounts, where they are portrayed in similar ways. - Destruction
of the Temple of Artemis
This account reveals knowledge of detail concerning the temple which would have been unknown to a writer several centuries later had it not been based on an account coming out of the people and traditions of that city. - Mariners
saved during a tempest
The episode is important to explain the origin of his wide-spread patronage to sailors and other sea voyagers.
The earliest reference to St. Nicholas of Myra comes from the late 700s—about 250 years after his death. The life of St. Nicholas of Sion (a 6th century abbot of a mountain monastery near Myra) describes a visit "going down to the metropolis of Myra, [Nicholas of Sion] went off to the martyrium of the glorious Saint Nicholas." This reliable witness, written by a close associate of Nicholas of Sion shortly after his death, roots Nicholas of Myra in history and reveals his status as a revered saint.
The ancient sources cited to substantiate this information are Michael the Archimandrite, Sinaitic and Ethiopian manuscripts, Gratianus' Decretum, Theodore the Lector, Andrew of Crete, Eustratios of Constantinople, AD 583; Passionarium Romanum, 650 AD; and Praxis de tributo.
The
Real Face of St. Nicholas
Modern forensic reconstruction from 2004 compared with traditional
iconographic images
* Nicholas, who was raised by his uncle, an abbot, probably became a monk before his pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Selected as a Brother to become the Bishop of Myra, he would have been ordained a deacon, then priest in quick succession before ordination as a bishop. He would not have served as a deacon or priest.
Is St. Nicholas a Real Saint?
Vintage Holy Card, Switzerland
St Nicholas Center Collection
Saint
Nicholas and Canonization
Saint Nicholas was recognized as a saint long
before the Roman Catholic Church began regularizing canonization procedures
in the late 10th century. In fact, Saint Nicholas' sainthood pre-dates
considerably the 1054 schism between the Eastern and Western churches.
Though many people seem to think the Roman Catholic Church is
definitive when it comes to determining saints' status, Orthodox, Anglicans
and others have their own standards for recognizing and commemorating
saints.
Sailors, who had a special relationship with Nicholas, carried his stories to ports, along coasts and up rivers, throughout the known world. So, many seaports and major river stops boast a church or chapel dedicated to Saint Nicholas.
By 200 years after his death, Nicholas was already recognized and honored in very significant ways. As early as the 6th century, Justinian The First built a church to honor St Nicholas in Constantinople. St. Nicholas' name is included in the late 6th century liturgy ascribed to St. Chrysostom.
Nicholas was a Confessor—one who confessed Christ publicly in times of persecution, remaining faithful despite imprisonment, torture or exile. In the Middle Ages Saint Nicholas, along with Martin of Tours, was celebrated as a true people's saint because of the way he lived. This was unusual as most early saints were martyrs who had died for their faith. Nicholas was surely an early example of a saint who was honored for the witness of his life. Nicholas was a saint whose life bore witness to God's work through a life of social value, lived carrying out God's will. Both Nicholas and Martin lived to an old age and died peacefully. This may be one reason they were so very popular: They were examples of how to live, rather than how to die in times of persecution.
Nicholas,
An Advent Saint
Advent is the time when Christians prepare to greet Christ—who came
as a babe in a manger, who comes into our lives each day,
and who will come again at the end of time. Advent is the
time when people of faith are most at odds with the
culture. The church calls people to focus on getting
ready to receive Christ—preparing hearts and lives to make
room for Jesus, to live as he would have us live. It is
a time of longing, not fulfillment. Quiet reflection, not
celebration. The culture, however, is already
in a time of festivity, unable or unwilling, to wait
and contemplate and prepare for the real festival. It is
not easy to observe Advent without being pulled prematurely
into Christmas.
How does St. Nicholas fit into all of this? He is an Advent saint because
his December 6th feast day always falls in early Advent (Advent begins
four Sundays before Christmas between November 27 and December
3). However, Nicholas is a good Advent saint for more important
reasons than the date of his special day. Whatever he did,
and it is said that he did many kinds of amazing things, may
not be as important as the way he did it. Nicholas became
so popular because he was a faithful follower of Jesus
Christ. His life clearly reflected the way each one
of us is called to show God's love to others, especially
those in need.
elebrating St. Nicholas on his day
in Advent brings a bit of fun and festivity into homes,
churches, and schools. His small treats and surprises
help keep the spirit of good St. Nicholas, especially
when stories of his goodness and kind deeds are told and
ways to express his care for those in need are sought.
Saint Nicholas helps us remember Christmas is a feast
of love, hope, kindness and generosity. Yes, Nicholas
is a good Advent saint.
elebrating St. Nicholas on his day in Advent brings a bit of fun and festivity into homes, churches, and schools. His small treats and surprises help keep the spirit of good St. Nicholas, especially when stories of his goodness and kind deeds are told and ways to express his care for those in need are sought. Saint Nicholas helps us remember Christmas is a feast of love, hope, kindness and generosity. Yes, Nicholas is a good Advent saint. |
|
Growing
Books
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This Writing Happened |
Because of this developing story. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Click For Main Page History
It Begins In Light