From Saint to Santa

As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits (or elementary principles) of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily...

Colossians 2:6-9

The mythical character of Father Christmas is a product of the elementary principles of the world, of empty deceit and human tradition, but he is based on a real person who walked in the ways of Christ Jesus the Lord. That man was Nikolaos, an Archbishop of Myra, who lived in the 4th Century. (There are various ways to spell Nikolaos.)

Nikolaos was born to a wealthy family but his faith in Jesus Christ inspired him to leave his affluent lifestyle to become a monk. He gave away his entire inheritance. At about the time the Emperor Diocletian began a vicious persecution of Christians, Nikolas became pastor of a local congregation in Myra and so was singled out for particular abuse. It's said that his face was whipped, so that he carried visible scars for the rest of his life. Although there is no official record of Nikolaos attending the Council of Nicea, tradition puts him there defending the belief that Jesus is God. He took a lead re-structuring the church when Emperor Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. Towards the end of his life, he travelled widely to teach local groups of Christians.

As Archbishop, Nikolaos was respected for his generosity towards the poor. He was known as a protector of children and acted to save many from being sold into slavery and a life of prostitution. He gave many poor families enough money for dowries so their daughters could marry. In one story, in order to remain anonymous, he climbed on to the roof of a house and dropped some bags of money through the hole that let out the smoke from the fire. The bags, it's said, landed in the girls’ stockings handling by the fire to dry.

Nikolaos was held in such high regard that people immediately began commemorating the anniversary of his death, which is why we know the date (6 December), but not the precise year. Within 200 years, the day was an established church festival and his fame spread around the world.

The legend of St Nicholas emigrated to America as Sinterklass, then became Santa Claus. In the British Isles, it merged with a traditional character known as Old Father Winter to become Father Christmas. After, World War One, when Brits and Americans began to grow closer, Father Christmas and Santa Claus blended back into a single character.

In 1822, a poem by the American Clement Clarke Moore called, The Night Before Christmas, cemented the tradition of Santa delivering presents by night on a sleigh pulled by reindeer. In 1863, a cartoon in New York’s Harper’s Illustrated Weekly confirmed Santa’s appearance as an elderly, plump man dressed much like we expect to see him today. After Coca Cola advertising campaigns in the 1930s, Santa only ever wore red.

The first biography of St Nikolaos was not written until about 600 years after his death and so it's almost impossible to separate fact from legend. But as the legend of St Nikolaos evolved into Sinterklass and on into Santa Claus, he was appropriated by the consumer society to promote an annual spending spree. Today, Santa Claus is the poster boy of self-indulgence and extravagance. People do help the poor at Christmas but they give only a fraction of what they spend on themselves.

What would Saint Nikolaos think if he could see us now?

I will return to the series on contentment next weekend.

© Copyright Philip Evans 2014.

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