Santa Claus is so intimately connected to Advent and Christmas in modern America. Our modern image Santa Claus comes out of a real person - St Nicholas - whose feast day is today. Nicholas was born in the 3rd century in a Greek speaking community in southern Turkey. Nicholas was arrived in a wealthy Christian family. His parents died when he was young. He gave away all of his riches to the poor, becoming the Bishop of Myra in Turkey as a young man. He was known for his love of the poor and his love of children - we can see how he became the model for Santa Claus. During the era he was Bishop, the Christian faithful were under persecutions from the Roman Emperor Diocletian. Nicholas attended the Council of Nicaea in 325. Tradition hands down that he got into a violent fight with the presbyter Arius at the Council of Nicaea over some heresies. Nicholas is definitely more complex than the warm and fuzzy image we have of Santa Claus, but he is definitely a great Advent prophet that speaks to us in the midst of our journey.
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