December 6th is the feast day for St. Nicholas.
Who is he and why is he celebrated?
- He gave three bags of gold to three girls to be used as their dowry, saving them from prostitution.
- Nicholas and the three children:
- In many paintings and manuscripts, St. Nicholas is often depicted standing next to a tub of three small children. According to the Oxford Dictionary of Saints, St. Nicholas is “said to have raised to life three boys, after they were murdered in a brine tub by a butcher.”
- He saved three unjustly condemned men from death
- And rescued three sailors near the coast of Turkey.
- The Institution of Santa Clause:
- Based upon his patronage of children, with the custom of giving them presents on his feast day.
Farmer, David Hugh. “Nicholas.” The Oxford Dictionary of Saints. 5th ed. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1978. 385-86. Print.
