Who is Santa Claus?
Santa Claus has a variety of different names in different languages, but they all refer to the person of St. Nicholas who was born many centuries ago in the 4th century (born c 245 AD, and died c350 AD, various sources list various dates) in Lycia, Anatolia, a province on the southwest coast of Asia Minor (present day Turkey). He was born in Patara, a seaport, and traveled. St. Nicholas became a bishop of the church at Myra. Few documents exist which mention him, however legends of his generosity exist throughout most churches. Thousands of churches in the Middle Ages were dedicated to him. St. Nicholas performed a number of miracles, all associated with gift giving. His feast day was December 6, so think of St. Nicholas on December 6th and December 25th. In 1823, Clement C. Moore wrote “A Visit from St. Nicholas’, which showed Santa Claus driving a sleigh drawn by “eight tiny reindeer” and in doing so he created an image we all have today. Thomas Nast drew Santa Claus based on Moore’s
