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David W. Emery
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| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Brownsville, Texas USA |
| Posts: | 2074 |
| First Name: | David | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Catholic |
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Posted: Thu Dec 28th, 2006 02:10 am |
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The following is part of an e-mail I recently sent to my Protestant sister (recall that I am a convert, so I’m the odd man out among my siblings), who had previously made this comment: “And then you have the people, Christians and non-Christians alike, who think the Santa thing is horrible. Some think it's a despicable lie we tell children and some think that we are worshipping Santa Claus or the Christmas tree, or that because a lot of Christmas things were originally pagan, that celebrating with them is a sin.” Much of the information in this summary comes from Butler’s Lives of the Saints. From the response I got, I thought it might be suitable for a wider audience.
Santa Claus is a historical and cultural distortion of St. Nicholas of Myra, a 4th century bishop in what is now the country of Turkey whose feast day is December 6, so he kind of "kicks off" the season of Advent, which leads to Christmas. St. Nicholas was, according to the biography of St. Methodius, originally a rich nobleman. He dedicated his life to Christ, however, becoming a priest and eventually a bishop. He used his inherited wealth to provide generous alms to the poor. He is also known to have attended the first ecumenical council, that of Nicea (325), where Arius and his followers were condemned. (Arius taught that Jesus was not a divine person but a mere man.) In the course of the council, Arius came to Nicholas and pleaded with him for recognition at the council. Nicholas responded with a punch in the nose. Upon his death, St. Nicholas was buried in Myra, where he had been bishop. When the Saracens (Moslems) invaded Turkey in the 7th century, his relics (bones) were rescued and eventually found their way to the Italian city of Bari, where they remain today.
So how did St. Nicholas become Santa Claus? The saint was popular in pre-Reformation Europe. Due to the multiplication of apocryphal legends, St. Nicholas had been associated with children and gifts at Christmas in Germany, the Low Countries, England and Scandinavia. [Traditionally the Wise Men were the bearers of these gifts, as they still are for most people in Latin America and Africa, who celebrate the giving of gifts on the January 6 feast of Epiphany (Manifestation), which recalls the Wise Men.] With the Reformation came a transformation in this folklore wherein the "papist saint" became a kind of Nordic wizard. When Dutch Protestants settled in New Amsterdam (later renamed New York by the British, as you will recall from your childhood American history), they brought with them their Sint Klaas (St. Nicholas). It didn't take long for him to become Santa Claus once the Dutch were defeated. The famous 19th century poem (you know the one) rounds out the legend of the chubby man in the red suit with the sleigh and reindeer.
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Incognito
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| Joined: | Wed Dec 27th, 2006 |
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| Posts: | 19 |
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Posted: Fri Dec 29th, 2006 01:19 am |
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So much for the Tom Bombadil theory. . .
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Pani Rose
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| Joined: | Fri Oct 5th, 2007 |
| Location: | Irondale, Alabama USA |
| Posts: | 545 |
| First Name: | Rose | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Ruthenian Byzantine in a Melkite Greek Catholic Parish, raised ... |
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Posted: Thu Oct 11th, 2007 01:50 am |
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+ His Excellency, Archbishop Joseph Raya, Eparch Emeritus of Akka, Haifa, Nazareth and All of Galilee, (Holy Land) of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church (of blessed memory), use to tell us wonderful stories of St. Nicholas.
I will tell you some later, anyway the Eastern Churches have tremendous devotion to St. Nicholas, but I want to share the hymns now.
An apolytikion or troparion is sung at that point in the Divine Liturgy where one of eight weekly Resurrection Apolytikia (songs concerning the resurrection of Christ) are sung - the Apolytikion of Saint Nicholas.
Melkite Usuage -
26 Nov. - 24 Dec., at every Sunday and feast-day liturgy.
Kontakion of the Preparation (Tone 3)
Today the Virgin is on her way to the cave where she will give birth to the Eternal Word of God in an ineffable manner. Rejoice, therefore, O universe, when you hear this news, and glorify with the angels and the shepherds Him who shall appear as a newborn Babe, being God from all eternity.
St. Nicholas, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia, the Wonderworker
Troparion (TONE 4)
O Father and pontiff Nicholas, the holiness of your life was set before your flock as a rule of faith, an example of meekness and a teaching of temperance: wherefore you acquired greatness through humility and spiritual wealth through poverty. Pray to Christ God that He may save our souls.
Prayer
May our Holy Father Nicholas always intercede with the Lord for our salvation!
All who love Saint Nicholas the saintly
All who serve Saint Nicholas the saintly
Nicholas will he receive
and give help in time of need
Holy Father Nicholas
Ukranian Usuage
All that love Saint Nicholas
All that serve Saint Nicholas
For these Saint Nicholas
Comes to their aid in all their needs
Saint Nicholas!
Saint Nicholas!
All that come to him
All those on land and sea
He protects from disasters
He keeps them from falling into sin
Saint Nicholas!
Saint Nicholas!
All that come to him
Asking for aid in their needs
He will protect from evil
He will save their soul and body
Saint Nicholas!
Saint Nicholas!
His image is our salvation
And the one protection from evil
Don't allow us to needlessly perish or
Fall into the hands of our enemies
Saint Nicholas!
Saint Nicholas!
They have a 'midi file' on there so you can hear a little of it. http://www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix?pageID=243
When St. Nicholas comes to most of our parishes he is dressed like a bishop of the Byzantine Church, and most often he brings chocolate coins wrapped in gold foil. Now that will very according to the churches rite and tradition.
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