Santa Claus
- 270-346 AD
- Nikolaos of Myra, part of modern-day Turkey.
- Thaumaturge: Îικόλαος ὠΘαυματουÏγός, Nikolaos ho Thaumaturgos
- Latin: Sanctus Nicolaus
- Dutch: Sinterklaas, derived from "Saint Nikolaos," turned into "Santa Claus" in English.
- A beautifully-scented liquid seeps from his tomb and is known as "the Manna of St. Nicholas."
- Gave gifts secretly to people in need, especially providing dowries so that three poor girls could get married.
The "Santa Claus" tradition
"A story need not be true to be true." The truth told by the good Santa Claus stories is that there is someone watching over all children with love. It is not an elf living at the North Pole, but the parents, family members, patron saints, angels, and God Himself who lavish children with gifts.
- Every December, an envelope from the North Pole would arrive for J.R.R. Tolkien's children. Inside would be a letter in strange, spidery handwriting and a beautiful color drawing. The letters told wonderful tales of life at the North Pole: how all the reindeer scattered presents all over the place; how the accident-prone Polar Bear climbed the North Pole and fell through the roof of Father Christmas's house; how he broke the Moon into four pieces and made the Man in it fall into the back garden; how there were wars with a troublesome horde of goblins. Sometimes the Polar Bear would scrawl a note, adding yet more humor to the stories. No reader, young or old, can fail to be charmed by the inventiveness of Tolkien's Father Christmas Letters.
References