Happy Saint Nicholas's Day!!

St. Nicholas of Myra
16th century Russian icon


Happy Saint Nicholas's Day!

This is the day that Christians all over the world commemorate the life and work of Saint Nicholas of Myra, a Turkish bishop who lived between 270 and about 343 A.D. and was known for giving a lot of secret charitable gifts to the needy. December 6 is the traditional date of his death, although many scholars feel the date was selected because it is also the birthdate of the Roman goddess of the hunt, Diana (equivalent to the Greek Artemis), who was one of the principally worshipped pagan deities in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey).

St. Nicholas is the inspiration for the secular American tradition of Santa Claus, a term which comes from the Dutch "Sinterklaas," a contraction of "Sint-Nikolaas." In many countries, this is the day when presents are brought and given to chilidren, rather than on Christmas Eve, and common gifts are marzipan fruit, chocolate cigarettes and coins, and gingerbread cookies. After the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther didn't want children to deal with a saint, though, so he created the tradition of Christmas Eve visits by the Christ Child, or the "Christkind" (and hence the German tradition of December Christkindl markets).