Saint Nicholas: The Real Saint Behind the Fake Santa Claus

Saint Nicholas was the Bishop of Myra (the city now known as Demre, Turkey) born during the third century AD and died in 350 AD.  According to the Amazing Bible Timeline during his lifetime the Goths first invaded Rome, the Transubstantiation mass was practiced, Constantine converted to Christianity, and the council of Nicea was held resulting in the Nicean creed.

Nicholas lived his life as a faithful follower of Christ.  Following in his footsteps, he constantly cared for the needy and worked for justice for his people in spite of persecution of Christians prior to Constantine’s conversion. He had a reputation for doing his good works secretly told in multiple stories.   The most famous of these is the story of Saint Nicholas giving money to a poor man with three daughters who had no money for a dowry for them.  In order to save them from spinsterhood or perhaps prostitution, Saint Nicholas secretly provided the money by either tossing a purse through an open window, or in one version,  by dropping it down the chimney.

After his death, the local people revered his memory and began to tell of miracles.  Sailors he had cared for began to spread stories of the miracles attributed to him.  He became known as a saint long before canonization procedures were formalized by the Church in the tenth century AD.

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See what he looked like!

Help children understand the difference between Saint Nicholas and Santa Claus

As always Wikipedia has a wealth of information on Saint Nicholas all in one entry