In the Rambousek house, we have never focused on Santa Claus. Instead we celebrate St. Nicholas Day (December 6th each year) in honor of the man from which spang the legend. We make gingerbread cookies and share them with our neigbors, have a special dinner, and each member of the family receives a stocking with something good to eat, something mad of paper or wood, something warm, and some money (see the story below for why these particular items).
The rest of the Christmas season, for our family, is focused on Christ. Our family hopes you have many blessings to be grateful for this year.
The following was taken and condensed from Martha Zimmerman' s book, Celebrating the Christian Year, copyright 1993.
THE REAL Santa Claus
There are very few known facts about this person, but we DO KNOW this about him. The man behind the legend was born in AD 280 to a wealthy couple who had been childless for some 30 years. He was named Nicholas. He was born in what is now Turkey. Both his parents died in a plague when he was about 9 years old and an uncle, who was a very devout Christian man, raised him.
In very early manhood, Nicholas became the Bishop of the city of Myra, a small seaport. It is known that he used the wealth of his inheritance to secretly care for the poor and destitute of the city. He served as Bishop for about 50 years and died on December 6, in approximately AD 343.
Two hundred years after his death, the church he served became known as the Church of Saint Nicholas - as the people had elevated him to sainthood long before the formal procedures of canonization were established. Nicholas was officially sainted in the 11th century.
Now for the legend - One of the best-recalled stories of Nicholas explains our current use of Christmas stockings. Nicholas knew a wealthy shipping merchant who lost all his ships and their cargo in a violent storm. The loss meant no dowry was available to ensure a proper marriage for each of his three daughters who were of marriageable age. The oldest daughter offered to sell herself as a prostitute to pay the dowries of her younger sisters. The family was appalled at her proposal.
Nicholas wanted to help. He had the resources, but he knew his friend would be hesitant and embarrassed to take "charity" and would feel obligated to him for life. He would probably never be able to repay him. After dark one night, Nicolas tossed a bag of gold coins through an open window into the daughter's room. Some of the coins fell into a stocking that had been hung to dry; some landed in the girls' shoes and some others on the floor. Nicholas quickly and silently returned to his home to avoid discovery.
Throughout his life, Nicholas consistently cared for the poor. He employed a weaver, a wood carver and a merchant to make clothing, toys and distribute food for the needy. Legend says Nicholas paid each handsomely on the condition that his identity as the benefactor remained hidden. Upon his death the townspeople discovered the Bishop had lived out the words of Jesus in Matthew 25:35-36: "I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink…I needed clothes and you clothed me…"
The Bishop was also notorious for baking bread mixed with sugar and exotic spices. Having no family of his own, Nicholas was a special friend to the children of Myra. He delighted in passing out these "gingerbreads" to the town's children. The children dubbed him, "The Gingerbread Man".
December 6 is still celebrated in many European countries as St. Nicholas Day. Children awake to discover holiday stockings filled with small toys and good things to eat. Families make and decorate gingerbread houses, people and other cookie shapes. In the United States, the holiday has been combined with Christmas as Nicholas' life exemplifies kind deeds and generosity.
In the early 1930's, Santa Claus as we know him was illustrated to be used in a Coca-Cola advertisement that coincided with the Christmas holiday. (If Pepsi had thought of it first, perhaps the Jolly Old Elf would also be sporting some blue in his holiday attire.)
