The most famous story about St. Nicholas tells how the custom of hanging up stockings to get presents in started!
It goes like this:
There was a poor man who had three daughters. He was so poor, he did not have enough money for a dowry, so his daughters couldn't get married.
One night, Nicholas secretly dropped a bag of gold down the chimney and into the house (This meant that the oldest daughter was then able to be married.). The bag fell into a stocking that had been hung by the fire to dry! This was repeated later with the second daughter. Finally, determined to discover the person who had given him the money, the father secretly hid by the fire every evening until he caught Nicholas dropping in a bag of gold.
Nicholas begged the man to not tell anyone what he had done, because he did not want to bring attention to himself. But soon the news got out and when anyone received a secret gift, it was thought that maybe it was from Nicholas.
Because of his kindness Nicholas was canonized a Saint of the Church.
St. Nicholas is not only the Saint of Children but also of Sailors! One story tells of him helping some sailors that were caught in a dreadful storm off the coast of Turkey. The storm was raging around them and all the men were terrified that their ship would sink beneath the giant waves. They prayed to St. Nicholas to help them. Suddenly, he was standing on the deck before them. He ordered the sea to be calm, the storm died away, and they were able to sail their ship safely to port.
St. Nicholas was exiled from Myra and later put in prison during the persecution by the Emperor Diocletian. It is believed he died on December 6th in either 345 or 352.
In 1087, his bones were stolen from Turkey by some Italian merchant sailors. The bones are now kept in the Church named after him in the Italian port of Bari. On St. Nicholas feast day (6th December), the sailors of Bari still carry his statue from the Cathedral out to sea, so that he can bless the waters and so give them safe voyages throughout the year.
In the 16th Century in northern Europe, after the Protestant Reformation, the homage and reverence toward Saints became increasingly unpopular.
Accordingly, the legends and traditions about St. Nicholas waned.
Still, someone had to deliver presents to children at Christmas, so in England, he became 'Father Christmas' or 'Old Man Christmas', an old character from morality plays during the Middle Ages in England and parts of northern Europe.
In France, he was then known as 'Père Nöel'.
In some countries including parts of Austria and Germany, the annual giver of presents became the 'Christkind' a golden-haired baby, with wings, who symbolizes the new born baby Jesus.
In the Early American history, his name was 'Kris Kringle' (from the Christkind). Later, Dutch settlers in the America took the old stories of St. Nicholas with them and Kris Kringle and St Nicholas became 'Sinterklaas' or as we now say 'Santa Claus'!
Many countries, especially ones in Europe, celebrate St. Nicholas' Day on 6th December. In Holland and some other European Countries, children leave clogs or shoes out on the 5th December (St. Nicholas Eve) to be filled with presents. They also believe that if they leave some hay and carrots in their shoes for Sinterklaas's horse, they will be left some sweets.
St. Nicholas became popular again in the Victorian era when writers, poets and artists rediscovered the old stories.
In 1823 the famous poem 'A Visit from St. Nicholas' or 'T'was the Night before Christmas', was published. Dr Clement Clarke Moore later claimed that he had written it for his children. (Some scholars now believe that it was actually written by Henry Livingston, Jr., who was a distant relative of Dr Moore's wife.)
May St. Nicholas, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or Sinterklaas...however you imagine this jolly old elf continue to be a happy memory of those Christmases past spent surrounded by the love and care of family and friends.
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