Christmas and Saint Nicholas

Christmas is a wonderful time of year as we celebrate the birth of the Savior. Every Christmas I think about how we hear less and less of the traditional songs of Christmas. We hear more of Santa Claus, but even Santa Claus is starting to be replaced with other stories, which are fun and all. But what about the true story of Saint Nick? What about the real Reason for the Season? The Christ was born. He who has saved mankind, so that mankind may be reunited with the Tree of Eternal Life.

As Latter-Day Saints, we don't learn much of the Early Christian or Catholic Saints, at least not at church. Not because they weren't important, but because their stories happen after the Apostasy and before the restoration of the Gospel, but the true Story of Saint Nicolas plays an important role in the history of scripture. Saint Nicholas lived around 300AD, the turning point of the Roman Empire when it went from persecuting Christians to proclaiming Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire.

Nicholas lost his parents to the Roman Empire In his early years during the reign of Emperor Diocletian. His Uncle, who was also named Nicholas raised him. He was a kind man who would give to those in need. He was also a devote Christian, and he taught Saint Nicholas. Saint Nicholas inherited a lot of wealth form his parents and he eventually gave all his wealth to those in need. He became a minister for Christianity. There are several stories of his generosity.

One was of a father and three daughters who were poor. The Father could not afford dowries for his daughters to be married. Saint Nicholas secretly threw a bag of money into their window two nights in a row. The third night he thought they might be looking out the window to see who was leaving the money. So he dropped the bag of money down the chimney. It fell into a stocking that was hanging to dry.

During the rule of Emperor Diocletian, there were several branches of Christianity and they were all persecuted by the Roman Empire, but Christianity was growing and it was mixing with Roman beliefs and with other beliefs as well. Saint Nicholas was a Christian Bishop of one of them. He was imprisoned several times for practicing his religion.

When Constantine became Emperor he decided to proclaim Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire. He met with the prominent leaders of the various Christian faiths during the famous Council of Nicaea in 325AD. Saint Nicholas was one of the Christian leaders at the council. During these meetings they determined what points of Christianity they would hold to and what they would not. They also decided which books or writings they would keep as scripture and which did not fit their structure. This became the Holy Bible. Several writings were not included, such as the Book of the Maccabees which tells the story of Hanukkah.

Saint Nicholas Died on December 6th. Which became Saint Nicholas Day. There is a nice video that shows how he went from Saint Nicholas to Santa Claus. Origin of Santa Claus - Free School