Who is Santa Claus?

A long time ago, there live Saint Nicolaus of

Myra, a catholic (Christian) bishop ( 主教 ) in
Myra in Asia Minor (today Turkey). He was
proclaimed a Saint ( 聖者 ), because he helped
so many poor, especially poor girls in order to
get married. After his death, many miracles
( 奇跡 ) are attributed to him and his
continuous help.
* born: 270 A.D.
+ died: Dec. 6th 343 A.D.
 Does Santa Claus come from the
West or from the East?
Sanct Niclas of Myra lived in
Asia Minor (today Turkey),
having his origin in the East,
not in the West.
 Who was Saint Nico-laus?
 The true story of Santa Claus begins with
Nicholas, who was born during the third
century in the village of Patara. At the time the
area was Greek and is now on the southern
coast of Turkey.
 His wealthy parents, who raised him to be a
devout Christian, died in an epidemic while
Nicholas was still young. Obeying Jesus' words
to "sell what you own and give the money to
the poor," Nicholas used his whole inheritance
to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering.
 Who was Saint Nico-laus?
 He dedicated his life to serving God
and was made bishop of Myra
while still a young man.
 Bishop Nicholas became known
throughout the land for his
generosity to the those in need, his
love for children, and his concern
for sailors and ships.
His name: niko - laus
 = Old Greek:
niko = to win
laus = people
Cp. NIKE
 Who was Saint Nico-laus?
 Under the Roman Emperor Diocletian, who
ruthlessly persecuted Christians, Bishop
Nicholas suffered for his faith, was exiled and
imprisoned. The prisons were so full of
bishops, priests, and deacons, there was no
room for the real criminals—murderers,
thieves and robbers. After his release,
Nicholas attended the Council of Nicaea in AD
325. He died December 6, AD 343 in Myra
and was buried in his cathedral church. 
 Supporting 3 girls for marriage
 One story tells of a poor man with three
daughters. In those days a young woman's
father had to offer prospective husbands
something of value—a dowry. The larger the
dowry, the better the chance that a young
woman would find a good husband. Without a
dowry, a woman was unlikely to marry. This
poor man's daughters, without dowries, were
therefore destined to be sold into slavery.
Mysteriously, on three different occasions, a
bag of gold appeared in their home-providing
the needed dowries.
 Supporting 3 girls for marriage
 The bags of gold, tossed through an open window,
are said to have landed in stockings or shoes left
before the fire to dry. This led to the custom of
children hanging stockings or putting out shoes,
eagerly awaiting gifts from Saint Nicholas on Dec. 6,
and later on Christmas Eve. Sometimes the story is
told with gold balls instead of bags of gold. That is
why three gold balls, sometimes represented as
oranges, are one of the symbols for St. Nicholas.
Saint Nicholas became the most famous gift-giver
and bringer in Europe, for more than 1000 years until
today.
 Patron of Sailors
 Sailors, claiming St. Nicholas as patron,
carried stories of his favor and protection far
and wide. St. Nicholas chapels were built in
many seaports. As his popularity spread
during the Middle Ages, he became the
patron saint of Apulia (Italy), Sicily, Greece,
and Lorraine (France), and many cities in
Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Russia,
Belgium, and the Netherlands (see list).
(H)O (H)AGIOS NIKOLAUS (Greek)
translated: “Saint Nicolaus”
 Transfer of his bones to Italy
Around 1000 A.D. and after
Asia Minor became muslimic,
his precious and venerated
bones were transferred
("stolen"?) from Myra (Turkey)
to Bari at the Italian peninsula.
Bari - Italy
 Saint Nic(o)la(u)s in Russia
 Following his baptism, Grand Prince Vladimir
I brought St. Nicholas' stories and devotion to
St. Nicholas to his homeland where Nicholas
became the most beloved saint. Nicholas was
so widely revered that thousands of churches
were named for him, including three hundred in
Belgium, thirty-four in Rome, twenty-three in
the Netherlands and more than four hundred in
England.
Visit of Saint Nicolas in the Kindergarten
on Dec. 6 in Austria in 2015
Visit of Saint Nicolas in the Kindergarten
on Dec. 6 in Austria in 2015
 Further Readings on the “Real
Santa Claus”

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Nichola
s

 http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/re
al-santa/
 Changes in the 19th century
 Due to a famous poem of the American
Clement Clark Moore “The visit of Saint
Nicolaus” (1823) the figure of the greek Asian
Saint Nicolaus changed somehow and was in a
way secularized ( 還俗 ), now without a bishop
mitra ( 禮帽 ), but a red hat and without a
bishops stick, and he became the “Santa Claus”
we meet today throughout the world, also in
Macau.
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Visit_From_St._
Nicholas
A Visit from St. Nicholas by Clement Clarke
Moore (1823)

 Poem (probably) by
Clement Clarke Moore
written 1823 for his
children.
 The poem was first
published anonymously
in the Troy, New York,
Sentinel on December
23, 1823.
 A Visit from St. Nicholas by Clement Clarke
Moore (1823)

 According to legend, this poem was composed

by Moore on a snowy winter's day during a
shopping trip on a sleigh. His inspiration for
the character of Saint Nicholas was a local
Dutch handyman as well as the historical Saint
Nicholas. While Moore originated many of the
features that are still associated with Santa
Claus today, he borrowed other aspects such
as the chariot from the bible (prophet Elijah)
and names of the reindeer (Dutch, Germany).
 Plot of the poem of Moore (1823)
 On Christmas Eve night, while his wife and children
sleep, a man awakens to noises outside his house.
Looking out the window, he sees St. Nicholas in an
air-borne sleigh pulled by eight reindeer. After
landing his sleigh on the roof, the saint enters the
house through the chimney, carrying a sack of toys
with him. The man watches Nicholas filling the
children's stockings hanging by the fire, and laughs
to himself. They share a conspiratorial moment
before the saint bounds up the chimney again. As he
flies away, Saint Nicholas wishes everyone a "Happy
Christmas to all, and to all a good night."
The Poem: A Visit from St. Nicholas by Clement C. Moore,
1823
'Twas the night before Christmas, when all thro' the
house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar plums danc'd in their heads,
And Mama in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap —
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters, and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new fallen snow,
Gave the luster of mid-day to objects below;
Poem: Visit from St. Nicholas by Clement C. Moore
When,
what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and call'd them
by name:
"Now! Dasher, now! Dancer,
now! Prancer and Vixen,
"On! Comet, on! Cupid, on! Donder and Blitzen;
"To the top of the porch! To the top of the wall!
"Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"
 A Visit from St. Nicholas by Clement C. Moore
As dry leaves before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle,
mount to the sky;
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of toys — and St. Nicholas too:
And then in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a
bound: He was dress'd all in fur, from his head to
his foot, And his clothes were all tarnish'd with
ashes and soot; A bundle of toys was flung on his
back,
 Poem: A Visit from St. Nicholas by Clement C. Moore
And he look'd 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 laugh'd, like a bowl full of
jelly:
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
 A Visit from St. Nicholas by Clement C. Moore
And I laugh'd when I saw him in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And fill'd all the stockings; then turn'd with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose.
He sprung to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew, like the down of a thistle:
But I heard him exclaim, ere [as] he drove out of sight
—
Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night.
 —Clement Clarke Moore 1823
Saint Niclas
Why is Santa Claus riding in a sligh of a
chariot?
 The chariot goes back to the prophet
Elijah ( 先知 厄裏亞 ) in the Old
Testament, who did not die but was
taken to heaven in a chariot with
horses and fire. One messianic
expectation in the Jewish tradition is
that prophet Elijah will come back on
earth. This is also reflected in the
New Testament, e.g. Mt 11:11-15:
 Matthew 11:11-15
 “Jesus said to the crowds: 'Amen, I say to you,
among those born of women there has been
none greater than John the Baptist; yet the
least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than
he. From the days of John the Baptist until
now, the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence,
and the violent are taking it by force. All the
prophets and the law prophesied up to the
time of John. And if you are willing to accept
it, he is Elijah, the one who is to come.
Whoever has ears ought to hear.'"
Compare: Old (First) Testament: 2 Kings 2: 11-12
- Prophet Elijah ascends to heaven in a chariot

 “As Elijah and Elisha [pupil and successor of Elijah]

continued walking and talking, a chariot of
fire and horses of fire separated the two
of them, and Elijah ascended in a
whirlwind into heaven. Elisha kept
watching and crying out, “Father, father!
The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!”
But when he could no longer see him, he
grasped his own clothes and tore them in
two pieces.”
 Santa Claus is then also imagined
to drive in a chariot, which he
needs to bring the many gifts
down from heaven to the children
on earth, filling their stockings and
shoes with gifts on Dec. 6 or today
often on Christmas Eve Dec. 24th.
Literature (also for children):