Saint Nicholas Symbols

December 6th is the feast day of Saint Nicholas. His life, for the most part, is a mystery but we know he was the bishop of Myra (now Mugla in southwestern Turkey) during the fourth century. He is known as a bishop of loving kindness and there are many legends associated with him. He is said to have saved three girls from prostitution by providing three gold bags for dowries, three unjustly condemned men from death and rescued three sailors from drowning (thus the image we saw last month.) In all cases, three is a symbol of the trinity (Father, Son and Holy Ghost.) Many of his patronages come from these stories and the most popular are his patronage of children. In the Low Countries (Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg), he associated with giving presents to children on his feast day. This is the basis of the modern Santa Claus. In Dutch settlements of North America, he was known as Santa Claus and it was merged with Scandinavian folklore tales about a wizard who rewarded good children with presents.