Interesting Information - Does Santa Claus really exist? So, before we answer that question, we, the Sulawesi Blogger Community (KBS), would like to wish you a Merry Christmas 2018, may God's love protect us all, amen...
Is it true that Santa Claus exists? Yes, Santa Claus really exists. However, we know him better as St. Nicholas. Unfortunately, we have little historical evidence regarding this popular saint. According to tradition, St. Nicholas was born in Patara in Lycia, a province in Asia Minor, into a wealthy Christian family; he was fortunate to receive a strong Christian education. Some say that at the age of five he began to learn the teachings of the Church. He always tried to practice benevolence and mercy.
St. Nicholas' parents died when he was young and left him a large inheritance, which he used to do many good deeds. A famous story tells of a widower who had three daughters. The father wanted to sell his daughters into prostitution because he was unable to provide the dowry needed for their marriage. St. Nicholas heard of the terrible fate that befell these three girls and decided to help. In the dark of night, he went to their house and threw a bag of gold through an open window in the widower's house, thereby providing the money necessary for a proper dowry for the eldest daughter. Two consecutive nights later, St. Nicholas did the same thing; His generosity saved the three girls from an unfortunate fate.
St. Nicholas' reputation as a saint spread widely. When the Bishop died, St. Nicholas was chosen to succeed him as Bishop of Myra. Some accounts agree that St. Nicholas suffered imprisonment and persecution for the faith during the persecution of Emperor Diocletian around 300. Some sources confirm that after the legalization of Christianity, he was present at the Council of Nicaea (325) and took part in condemning the heresy of Arianism which denied the divinity of Christ. The story goes on to tell how St. Nicholas intervened to free three innocent people sentenced to death by a corrupt governor named Eustathius, whom St. Nicholas opposed and moved to repentance. St. Nicholas died in the fourth century between 345 and 352 on December 6, and was buried in his cathedral.
St. Nicholas has always been revered as a great saint. In the sixth century, Emperor Justinian I founded a church in honor of St. Nicholas in Constantinople, and St. John Chrysostom included his name in the liturgy. In the tenth century, an anonymous Greek writer wrote, “Both West and East praised and glorified him. Wherever people are, in villages and cities, in hamlets and on islands, in the most remote parts of the earth, his name is honored and churches are built in his honor. All Christians, young and old, men and women and children alike, honor his memory and cry out for his protection.”
After fanatical Seljuk Moslems invaded Asia Minor and brutally persecuted Christianity, St. Nicholas' body was rescued by Italian merchants from desecration in 1087 and reburied in a new church in Bari, Italy. Pope Urban II, a staunch defender of the faith and an advocate of the crusades, blessed the new tomb with solemn ceremonies. Since then, devotion to St. Nicholas has increased throughout the West. For example, more than 400 churches in England are dedicated to him. For some time in the Middle Ages, his tomb became a pilgrimage site most visited by pilgrims from all over Europe. Interestingly, because of the aroma of incense that wafted around his grave, he soon became known as the patron saint of perfume entrepreneurs.
According to tradition, St. Nicholas is associated with giving gifts at Christmas, because of his story about the widower and his three daughters. In the Netherlands, where this custom seems to have originated, St Nicholas (or Sint Klaas or Santa Claus) would come on the night before his feast (December 6) bearing all kinds of gifts for adorable children; often by stuffing them into their wooden shoes. Many Christmas ornaments from the Netherlands and Germany depict St Nicholas wearing bishop's clothing with a miter and crozier in his hand, accompanied by a helper angel carrying a list of names of good children.
The devotion to St. Nicholas was distorted by Dutch Protestants, who wanted to eradicate the “Catholicity” of St. Nicholas. They stripped him of his episcopal authority, and made him more like a European Father Christmas in red. They also linked it to several legends surrounding the god Thor who rode in a chariot and who came to visit homes through chimneys.
In the 19th century, American writers also played a role in eliminating the image of St. Nicholas as a bishop. In 1820, Washington Irving wrote a story about Santa Claus flying in a carriage to distribute gifts to children. Three years later, Clement Moore wrote A Visit from St. Nicholas (better known as The Night Before Christmas), describing Santa Claus as a “witty old dwarf” with a pot belly like a barrel, cheeks red as roses, and a nose like a cherry. 1882, Thomas Nast painted a picture of Santa Claus based on the description given by Moore and even added North Pole as his residence. And finally, Haddom Sundblom, an advertising artist from Coca-Cola changed the figure of Santa Claus into a figure dressed in red, big, and even fond of drinking cola, as we can easily imagine in our minds today.
So, does Santa Claus or Santa Claus really exist? I remember once reading the response of the editor of The New York Sun in 1897 to the same question asked by an 8-year-old girl named Virginia. Part of that answer, which is still relevant today, was, “Yes, Virginia, Santa Claus really exists. It exists, as real as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they exist in abundance and fill your life with the most extraordinary happiness and joy. How unfortunate! How bleak the world would be if there was no Santa Claus! It would certainly be as bleak as it would be if there were no Virginias. Because, if so, there would be no childish faith, no poetry, no romance that would make life bearable. We will not enjoy joy, except in what we think and see. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world will disappear. ... No one has ever seen Santa Claus, but that doesn't mean that Santa Claus doesn't exist. The most real things in the world are things that neither children nor adults can see. ... Thank you Lord! Santa Claus exists, and he will exist forever.”
To me, the above statement is quite a testimony to St. Nicholas and the joy he brings to our Christmas celebrations. May St. Nicholas inspire us with his prayers and his example so that we can celebrate Christmas with full faith.
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