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Let’s not forget St. Nicholas and the true spirit of Christmas that St. Nicholas symbolizes.
I once heard a preacher get down on jolly old St. Nick. He was inveighing against America’s icon of mid-winter materialism calling him a “fat pagan elf” who had no place in a Christian celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. He was serious when he pointed out that the very name “Santa” is an anagram of Satan.
Santa may be an anagram of Santa, but that’s not where the name Santa comes from. Instead the transformation of Saint Nicholas from a fourth century bishop from Turkey into the modern Santa Claus is a fascinating tale in its own right.
Who Was Good Ol’ Saint Nick?
St. Nicholas was famous for his generosity to those in need, his love for children, and his concern for sailors and ships. He died December 6, A.D. 343, in the Turkish city of Myra and was buried in the cathedral church. Because he died on December 6, the early Christians chose that day to remember Nicholas. And because his day was close to Christmas, the celebrations in his memory were eventually blended with Christmas festivities.
Among other things, St. Nicholas became the patron saint of seafarers. The first Europeans to arrive in the New World were Catholics, so they sailed with St. Nicholas as their patron. It’s not surprising therefore to learn that on his first voyage, Christopher Columbus named a Haitian port after St. Nicholas on December 6, 1492. And in Florida, the town now named Jacksonville was first called St. Nicholas Ferry by the Spanish explorers.
Continued below.
Santa is an Anagram of Satan. True, But the History of St. Nicholas is Divine. - The Stream
I once heard a preacher get down on jolly old St. Nick. He was inveighing against America’s icon of mid-winter materialism calling him a “fat pagan elf” who had no place in a Christian celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. He was serious when he pointed out that the very name “Santa” is an anagram of Satan.
Santa may be an anagram of Santa, but that’s not where the name Santa comes from. Instead the transformation of Saint Nicholas from a fourth century bishop from Turkey into the modern Santa Claus is a fascinating tale in its own right.
Who Was Good Ol’ Saint Nick?
St. Nicholas was famous for his generosity to those in need, his love for children, and his concern for sailors and ships. He died December 6, A.D. 343, in the Turkish city of Myra and was buried in the cathedral church. Because he died on December 6, the early Christians chose that day to remember Nicholas. And because his day was close to Christmas, the celebrations in his memory were eventually blended with Christmas festivities.
Among other things, St. Nicholas became the patron saint of seafarers. The first Europeans to arrive in the New World were Catholics, so they sailed with St. Nicholas as their patron. It’s not surprising therefore to learn that on his first voyage, Christopher Columbus named a Haitian port after St. Nicholas on December 6, 1492. And in Florida, the town now named Jacksonville was first called St. Nicholas Ferry by the Spanish explorers.
Continued below.
Santa is an Anagram of Satan. True, But the History of St. Nicholas is Divine. - The Stream
