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December 20, 2025 – This time of year many parents wonder: Should [We tell our kids] the Truth About Santa? (As in, “When does a fun, fanciful tradition risk becoming harmful deception?” Or as in, “do parents risk harming their children when they pretend that he exists?”)

Fortunately, Christians have a good short answer: There really is – and was – a Saint Nicholas. (Actually, several foundational prototypes for today’s “Santa Claus,” a name that comes from Sint Klaas, the Dutch for Saint and also “from a hypocoristic form of Nicholas.”) Anyway, one of the first prototypes was Nicholas of Myra. He was a bona fide 4th-century saint and Bishop of Myra (part of today’s Turkey). People called him “Nikolaos the Wonderworker,” thanks to miracles attributed to his intercession. See also Saint Nicholas … Britannica:

Saint Nicholas, also called Nicholas of Bari or Nicholas of Myra [is] one of the most popular minor saints commemorated in the Eastern and Western churches and now traditionally associated with the festival of Christmas. In many countries children receive gifts on December 6, Saint Nicholas Day.

Which brings up the fact that officially his day came last December 6. Then there’s the question whether – as a saint – he is so “minor” these days. (Considering the money spent ostensibly in his honor.) Anyway again, old stories told of Nicholas of Myra’s love for God and neighbor, like providing dowries for three poor unmarried daughters. (He walked by the man’s house on three successive nights and each time threw a bag of gold in through a window, thus saving them from a life of prostitution.) Or of three children killed and “pickled” by a butcher – in a time of famine and cannibalism – who planned “to sell them off as ham.” But Nicholas both saw through the butcher’s horrific crime and resurrected the three children from the barrel.

And a side note: “Myra” is now the city of Demre, in Turkey, where it doesn’t get that cold in the winter. But when the story of this St. Nick got repeated in colder northern climes, they had to tweak it a bit. (No one “up there” would have their windows open in December.) Once the story got tweaked, St. Nick started delivering his gifts by coming in through the chimney. (On a related note, “In pre-Christian Norse tradition, Odin would often enter through chimneys and smoke holes or fire holes on the solstice, which marks the beginning of winter.”)

As to the image atop the page, here’s how the first St. Nick “saved three innocents:”

Nicholas was visiting a remote part of his diocese [when he heard of the three men. He set out and] found a large crowd of people and the three men kneeling … arms bound, awaiting the fatal blow. Nicholas passed through the crowd, took the sword from the executioner’s hands and threw it to the ground, then ordered that the condemned men be freed from their bonds. His authority was such that the executioner left his sword where it fell…

Then there’s the story of how “Santa Claus” was basically a gift to America from Holland. It seems Dutch colonists took the tradition of St. Nicholas with them to New Amsterdam (now New York City) in the American colonies in the 17th century. After that:

Sinterklaas was adopted by the country’s English-speaking majority under the name Santa Claus, and his legend of a kindly old man was united with old Nordic folktales of a magician who punished naughty children and rewarded good children with presents.

And so, back in 1897 – when Francis P. Church of The (New York) Sun responded to a letter to the editor – he was pretty much telling the truth when he wrote, “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.” (The letter responded-to was written by eight-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon.)

Of course, the whole idea of “Santa Claus” – and Christmas itself – has gotten glossed over and commercialized over the years. See How Christmas Became the Most Commercialized Holiday. Or as Lucy Brown (of Peanuts) once told Charlie Brown: “Let’s face it… We all know that Christmas is a big commercial racket. It’s run by a big eastern syndicate, you know.”

Simply put, Christmas became big business, and as such spawned a host of cottage industries: Books published, woodsmen “heading into the forests each December to cut evergreens to sell on street corners,” tinsel, toys, candleholders, candles, candies, garlands, ornaments, and hand-colored Christmas cards, to name a few. All of which is great for the economy, but Christmas is also a good time to go back to the original source. To go back to the jolly – and brave – original St. Nick, and of course, to remember Jesus, The Reason for the Season.

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The upper image is courtesy of Saint Nicholas – Wikipedia, with the caption:  “Saint Nicholas Saves Three Innocents from Death (oil painting by Ilya Repin, 1888, State Russian Museum).”   See also St. Nicholas Center … Saint Who Stopped an Execution.

The Book of Common Prayer reference: The “corporate-mystical” prayer is on page 339, the post-communion prayer for Holy Eucharist, Rite I.

Feast days are designated days on the liturgical (church) calendar “set aside to commemorate events, saints, or doctrines that are important in the life of the Church. These can range from Solemnities, which are the highest-ranking feast days like Easter and Christmas, to optional memorials that celebrate lesser-known saints.” Feast Days: Celebrating the Church’s Calendar.

For this post I borrowed from 2014’s On the original St. Nicholas, 2015’s On St. Nick and “Doubting Thomas,” 2016’s On the REAL “Jolly Ol’ Saint Nick,” 2017’s There really IS a “Saint Nick” (Virginia…), and On the real “Saint Nick” – 2023.

Hypocorism, usually used to refer to a pet name, means a name used to show affection for a person; “It may be a diminutive form of a person’s name, such as Izzy for Isabel or Bob for Robert.” Wikipedia.

The lower image is courtesy of Jesus Reason For The Season – Image Results.

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