All About Santa

In Greece, he is the patron saint of sailors, in France he was the patron of lawyers, and in Belgium the patron of children and travellers. Thousands of churches across Europe were dedicated to him and some time around the 12th century an official church holiday was created in his honor. The Feast of St. Nicholas was celebrated December 6 and the day was marked by gift-giving and charity.

After the Reformation, European followers of St. Nicholas dwindled, but the legend was kept alive in Holland where the Dutch spelling of his name Sint Nikolaas was eventually transformed to Sinterklaas. Dutch children would leave their wooden shoes by the fireplace, and Sinterklaas would reward good children by placing treats in their shoes. Dutch colonists brought brought this tradition with them to America in the 17th century and here the Anglican name of Santa Claus emerged.

In 1822 Clement C. Moore composed the poem A Visit From Saint Nicholas, published as The Night Before Christmas as a gift for his children. In it, he portrays Santa Claus:

He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly,
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

Other countries feature different gift-bearers for the Christmas or Advent season: La Befana in Italy ~ The Three Kings in Spain, Puerto Rico, and Mexico ~ Christkindl or the Christ Child in Switzerland and Austria ~ Father Christmas in England ~ and Pere Noël, Father Christmas or the Christ Child in France. Still, the figure of Santa Claus as a jolly, benevolent, plump man in a red suit described in Moore's poem remains with us today and is recognized by children and adults alike around the world.

Religious Tolerance org. Reports some fascinating facts.

Santa delivers gifts to about 156 Million places and about 667 Million Children a year. It's reported that his Sleigh, though carrying about 156,000 Tons of gifts. goes 3.6 Million MPH.

Each Christmas Eve,   NORAD   costumarily reports tracking a Sleigh on its Radar screens. Track Santa Yourself this year at www.noradsanta.org

And here's a web site that lets you and your kids keep track of Santa at the North Pole (its a non-commercial site) Kids can learn about life at the North Pole and read Santa's Diary of visits with children and find out what other kids say and write to Santa. www.santaandmaggieclaus.com 

In 1914, John D. Gluck of New York city created the Santa Claus Association "to preserve children's faith in Santa Claus." He managed to get the U.S. Post Office to cooperate. Today we all know how many letters are written each year by children, addressed to the North Pole. It's nice to know someone is making sure those letters are being answered.

If you believe in King Arthur and Knights of the Round Table, you might believe the legend that he was the first person in England to celebrate Christmas

Where did the spelling "XMAS" come from? "X" is the Greek equivalent of CH, and is also a symbol of Christ

As a grown-up he became bishop of Myra in Lycia, a province of the Byzantine Anatolia, now in Turkey, where, according to legend, he only did good deeds.

One of the deeds later associated with Nicholas as Santa Claus or gift donor took place when he saved a family from poverty one night by throwing money through their window. But Nicholas was capable of much more than that. He could, by the power of God, bring the dead back to life and save sailors from storms. Therefore, Nicholas (later known as Santa Claus) was beatified and initially, was mostly honored by the sailors.