D' Original Santa Claus

As the door of my four-year-old nephew’s kindergarten class swings open, a small and shaggy-looking creature runs inside, eliciting startled shrieks from the children. Surprise quickly turns to awe as a towering white-bearded man dressed in flowing robes and a miter regally strides in. The man introduces himself to everyone as St. Nicolas and tells the children not to be afraid of his strange companion, Knecht Ruprecht (servant Rurprecht). They have come, he says, to announce that “Christmas is nigh and soon the Christ Child will come!” He asks everyone to gather around and explains that every year during Advent, Mother Mary asks him to journey down to earth on his white horse. His mission is to bring gifts to children and to gather up the warmth of their love, which is like a magical thread for the clothes of the baby Jesus. He takes out a golden book and calls the children one by one. During my nephew’s turn, St. Nicholas quietly tells him that he has been a good boy but that he should play more often with his other classmates. After giving him a golden chestnut necklace and a bag of Advent cookies, he then gently adds, “And perhaps you are now also ready to go to school by yourself…”

One of the unique ways the children of the Manila Waldorf School celebrate the Advent and Christmas seasons is through its St. Nicholas festival. During the festival, St. Nicholas visits each of the kindergarten classes. Although he does not show himself to the older grades, he leaves behind a personalized verse, a piece of charcoal, and sweets for each one of them outside their classroom door. St. Nicholas of Myra is the patron saint of children. He is also the saint behind Santa Claus. The tall, thin, and stately man clad in bishop’s clothes is acknowledged by historians as the original Santa Claus. The round, plump, and red-suited Santa of today evolved much later and is really an Americanized version.

Nicholas was born during the third century in the southern coast of Turkey. After serving as the abbot of a nearby monastery, he was later appointed Bishop of Myra. Nicholas had wealthy parents but was orphaned at a young age and he used his entire inheritance to help the poor. He was a champion of children and the needy and was legendary for his kindness and generosity. He also had a reputation for secret gift-giving and thus became the model for the modern-day Santa Claus. One of the most well-known stories about him is how he helped three poor Italian maidens, who, because their father could not raise enough dowries to get them married, were destined to become prostitutes. When St. Nicholas heard about their plight, he secretly tossed bags of gold coins down their chimney at night. According to legend, a bag miraculously fell into each of the sister’s stockings which were hanging by the fire to dry. This story not only illustrates the kindness of St. Nicholas but is said to have led to the later Christmas traditions of hanging stockings by the fireplace and of Santa entering houses through their chimneys. Like many Christians during his time, Nicholas suffered for his faith. He was exiled and imprisoned during the reign of Roman Emperor Diocletian. He died on December 6, AD 343 and his death anniversary is considered his feast day. Given the proximity of his feast day to Advent and the very compassionate manner in which he lived, he is also referred to as the Advent Saint. Many Christian Churches, including the Roman Catholic Church, recognize Nicholas as a saint and his feast day has been widely celebrated in Europe throughout the centuries. 

While the European immigrants to America also brought with them the story of Saint Nicholas, what eventually emerged there was a popularized version of the saint’s life that portrayed him more as some kind of superhero. They called him in Dutch, “Sinterklaas” (meaning St. Nicholas), but it was often mispronounced by the English-speakers that it became “Santa Claus.” Many of the modern images of Santa Claus took root after the highly popular poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” (now better known as “The Night Before Christmas”) by Clement Clarke Moore was published in New York on 1823. In the poem, he is no longer the stately European bishop but is described as a jolly old elf that flew around in a sleigh and entered chimneys to deliver gifts. He continued to be portrayed in different forms and colors but by the 1920s, the now familiar jolly heavy-set man with the white beard and red suit finally became the standard. For sure, there were genuine intentions of making him more family-friendly. Businessmen, however, were also quick to recognize his commercial potential and his appearance in the Coca-Cola advertisements of the 1930s firmly established him as “an icon of contemporary commercial culture.” Jeremy Seal, author of Nicholas: the Epic Journey from Saint to Santa Claus notes that “As all these changes took place, he became more and more associated with commercialism, which is understandable, but a corruption of what he originally meant. In the medieval period, he was a symbol and icon of charity. I am not sure that is true anymore; he seems to (now) be a strange mixture of charity and rampant commercialism.” Yet despite the many criticisms of the modern Santa, some argue that, “If you peel back the accretions, he is still Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, whose caring surprises continue to model true giving and faithfulness.” Indeed, I think Santa Claus isn’t bad at all. It’s just that St. Nicholas is better. He is D’ Original, as they would say in classic Filipino buko-pie phraseology. And perhaps it’s time to re-emphasize the original Santa Claus. In so doing, we can hopefully help restore more spirituality to our Christmas celebrations, which have sadly become too materialistic and stressful.

After his conversation with Saint Nicholas, my nephew slowly walks back to his seat. His mother, who has been reporting to class with him for the past month that the school is now thinking of charging her separate tuition fees, smiles and whispers, “See, St. Nicholas says you can now go to school by yourself.” My nephew solemnly looks at St. Nicholas and Ruprecht. He then turns to her and whispers back, “No! I’m not going to school without you!” Sigh. Unfortunately for his mother, that’s one miracle St. Nicholas can’t help her with. My daughter later told us that she believed that the St. Nicholas that went to her young cousin’s classroom was a fake. But she also said that the impostor was just trying to help the kindergarteners understand better. The real St. Nicholas, she stressed, is invisible and works behind-the-scenes. And the same thing is true with Santa. Be that as it may, the inevitable question from some of you out there might be, “How about you? What do you believe?” Well … I believe that my daughter is really one smart Advent cookie!

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Much of the information about St. Nicholas in this article was obtained from the St. Nicholas Center, a virtual center and website about the saint.

Please e-mail your reactions to kindergartendad@yahoo.com.