NOT ALWAYS A JOLLY OLD ELF: THE LEGEND OF SAINT NICHOLAS

O who loves Nicholas the Saintly,

O who serves Nicholas the Saintly,

Him will Nicholas receive

And give help in time of need.

Holy Father Nicholas.

-- "Hymn to Saint Nicholas"

The Eastern Slovakian Church

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care

In hopes that Saint Nicholas soon would be there.

-- Clement Moore

"A Visit from Saint Nicholas"

When Vicki Raines of Cape Girardeau was growing up, her family celebrated the coming of Santa Claus not on Christmas Day but nearly three weeks earlier on Dec. 6, the feast day for Saint Nicholas.

She and her older brother and sister would hang up stockings -- actually her brother's tube socks -- which would be filled by St. Nick with an orange, a candy cane and a quarter.

"We always had to have our socks out before the 6th," she said. "I probably put mine out midway in November just to make sure."

As they grew older their mother embroidered special Christmas stockings which they hung.

Raines said she did not know the history and tradition that surrounded the day.

"If they told us, I don't remember," she said. "I just know that it was a special day."

The present image of Santa Claus as a fat, jolly old elf who rides in a miniature sleigh pulled by reindeer owes much to the poem "A Visit from Saint Nicholas" written by Clement Moore and published in 1833. It is actually an image far removed from the real Saint Nicholas.

Many of the stories and legends surrounding the fourth-century saint were reported in the sermons of St. John Chrysostom and St. Bonaventure.

Nicholas was born in Patara, a small town on the Mediterranean coast about AD 280. His parents, who died when Nicholas was young, were very wealthy and left young Nicholas their fortune.

Tradition has it that Nicholas' parents had no children to inherit their wealth and remained childless until they were old. God had pity on them and gave them a son -- Nicholas.

As a child, Nicholas was trained in theology by his uncle, also named Nicholas, who was the bishop of Patara. The young Nicholas also traveled to Egypt and Palestine during his youth.

Although he wanted to live a life of solitude and prayer, Nicholas was called by God to preach and serve in the church.

Under the rule of Roman emperor Diocletian, Nicholas was imprisoned for his religious beliefs. Diocletian viewed the Christian faith as profane and persecuted many in the church. Nicholas spent more than a year in prison during which time he continued to minister to other prisoners and to preach to his captors.

When Constantine became the emperor, Nicholas was finally freed and allowed to fulfill his calling. He was eventually elected Archbishop of Myra on the coast of what is now Turkey.

A devoted protector of the faith, Nicholas gained a reputation for physically defending his religious beliefs against all who would challenge them. During the Council of Nicea, Nicholas became so incensed at the heretic Arius, who did not support the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, that Nicholas actually slapped Arius.

Because of the assault, Nicholas was expelled from the council. But he was reinstated after several bishops had dreams in which Christ and the Holy Spirit stood on either side of Nicholas restoring him to the office of bishop.

From that time until the Middle Ages, Nicholas was known as "the brawling saint."

But the legend that most often is associated with Nicholas and which gave him his reputation as a giver of gifts involved a man and his three daughters.

The daughters were all maidens, and their father, who was quite poor, could not afford the dowries needed for the young women to marry. So poor were they that the father considered selling one or even all the daughters into prostitution.

When Nicholas, who was a young man at the time, heard the news, he went to his home, got a bag of gold and tossed the bag into an open window in the man's home, thus giving the man enough money for the oldest daughter's dowry. A few days later, the young woman was married.

Nicholas returned shortly with a second bag of gold that he also threw into the father's house. Soon, the second daughter was married.

When Nicholas returned with a third bag of gold, the father was waiting for him. He recognized Nicholas, fell at the young man's feet and wept in penitence and gratitude.

Some versions of the legend say that when Nicholas heard of the family's poverty and plight, he took three bags of gold and threw them down the chimney. The gold fell into the stockings of the three young women which were hung by the fire to dry.

Nicholas died on Dec. 6 sometime between AD 345 and 352. His relics have been preserved at the Church of San Nicola is Bari, Italy.

By 1100 the reputation of Nicholas had spread throughout Europe, and Nicholas became a popular symbol of gift giving.

To this day he remains the patron saint of school children, sailors, bakers and pawnbrokers. He is also the patron saint of Russia and Greece and of cities such as Frisbourg, Switzerland, and Moscow.

After the Protestant Reformation, the influence of Nicholas was still felt, though the veneration of the saint changed. Nonreligious figures replaced him in Germany, England and countries in northern Europe.

The Dutch brought the figure of Sinterklaas with them when they settled the city of New Amsterdam, now New York. Eventually, his name was Anglicized and became Santa Claus.

The traditions for St. Nicholas Day continue throughout many European nations. Men in bishops' robes pose as St. Nicholas, visit the children of the community, examine them on their prayers, urge them to be good and give them gifts.

Raines said that she and her husband, Tim, have been carrying on the tradition of St. Nicholas Day with their 5-year-old son, Adam. On Sunday, Adam's stocking will have a small Lego set, an orange and a candy cane.

"And a quarter," she said. "There are some things you just like to pass down."