Dear St. Philomena Parish Family,<\/p>\n
Blessed Advent to you! I hope everyone has had a good beginning to this season of prayer and preparation! A few times over the past couple of weeks, someone has asked for more information about St. Nicholas. For those who attend daily Mass, our morning Mass Dec 6 celebrates\/celebrated the memorial of St. Nicholas, who was a bishop of Myra in Asia Minor (present day Turkey) during the 4th<\/sup> century. As most descriptions note, St. Nicholas was known as a good pastor and someone who lived great charity. Of course, the big question everyone always wants to ask\u2026\u201dIs this the same guy as Santa?\u201d\u00a0 If you are curious\u2026keep reading!<\/p>\n The Pocket<\/em> Dictionary of Saints teaches that the name Santa Claus came from the Dutch, who contracted and abbreviated the name St. Nicholas into Sint Klaes and then Santa Claus\u2026 And I always thought my hometown pastor made that one up! =)<\/p>\n The<\/em> Catholic Source Book gives a nice summary of St. Nicholas: \u201cOur ubiquitous [meaning everywhere at the same time], gift-bearing Santa Claus originates in that legendary gift-giving bishop, Nicholas, of Myra, Asia Minor. In the beginning, it was more a matter of justice than generosity that caused him to give the gift that started the tradition. At least according to one of many colorful legends, he supplied three bags of gold, anonymously, to three sisters who were being reduced to prostitution because their poor father was unable to provide their dowries. (His gifts, tossed in the window, landed in the girls\u2019 stockings which were hung by the mantle with care. Sound familiar?)<\/p>\n Throughout the centuries this generous, compassionate bishop has been a favorite in the Eastern Church, and gift-giving a favorite memorial on his feast, December 6. In an outpouring of zealous\u2014if superficial\u2014piety, some Protestants banished him from calendar and custom, replacing him with a secular but still gift-giving counterpart: Father Christmas being the English version, Pere Noel the French. But the durable bishop survived\u2026<\/p>\n While gift-giving remains, and his name\u2014Saint Nikolaas, Sinterklaas, Santa Claus\u2014is still close, his image has changed. Credit (or blame) for this goes to two people\u2014Clement Moore and Thomas Nast. Dr. Clement Moore, a theologian, authored in 1822 \u201cA Visit from St. Nicholas\u201d (also known as \u201cThe Night before Christmas\u201d). That\u2019s where Bishop Nicholas gets embellished with a toy bag, pipe, reindeer, sleigh, and a chimney entrance. Moore had ample resources in the Dutch immigrants who brought Sinterklaas to the New World.<\/p>\n What imagination lacked, Thomas Nast supplied in his Harper\u2019s Weekly<\/em> cartoons of the 1860s and \u201870s. It was his pen that fleshed out the image\u2014and the frame\u2014of Santa Claus. But underneath it all, there is still the robed gift-giver of Myra\u2014Nicholas.<\/p>\n Actual devotion to St. Nicholas is largely submerged in contemporary Santa Claus extravagance and lost among a million independent Clauses. Still, some stubbornly celebrate on Santa\u2019s original feast (Dec 6) with a St. Nicholas breakfast. In honor of this Byzantine bishop\u2019s justice and generosity, food and clothing are collected for people in need\u201d (The Catholic Source Book<\/em>, p. 341).<\/p>\n I don\u2019t know about you, but the idea of a St. Nicholas breakfast sounds really great! After a\u00a0 quick search, it seems that a St. Nicholas breakfast could include any of the typical foods we would eat for breakfast, along with any cultural foods, special drinks, and treats. If you happened to miss celebrating a St. Nicholas breakfast on Dec 6, I would encourage you to make it up on Sunday! =)<\/p>\n