The saints

Saint Nicholas of Myra

Bishop · Feast day December 6 · About 270 to 343 · Myra, Asia Minor · Also known as Nikolaos, Sinterklaas, Santa Claus

Saint Nicholas was the fourth-century bishop of Myra, famous for a generosity so secret and so great that his memory grew, over the centuries, into the beloved figure of Santa Claus. Behind the legend stands a real and holy bishop who loved the poor and defended the faith.

But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:Matthew 6:3 (KJV)

The generous bishop

Nicholas was born to wealthy Christian parents in Asia Minor, in what is now Turkey, and was left an orphan while young. Rather than keep his inheritance, he gave it away to the poor and gave himself to the church, becoming bishop of the city of Myra while still a young man.

The most famous story tells of a poor man with three daughters who had no dowry, and so faced being sold into slavery. On three nights Nicholas secretly tossed bags of gold through the window, or, in another telling, down the chimney, saving all three, and doing it in secret so that only God would know. From that hidden generosity, done for love and not for thanks, grew the whole tradition of gifts given quietly in his name.

Shepherd and defender

As a bishop Nicholas was a shepherd to his people, known for his care of children, sailors, and the poor, and for standing against injustice, once, tradition says, saving three innocent men from execution by confronting the governor. He suffered imprisonment during the persecution of the emperor Diocletian, holding firm to his faith when it might have cost his life.

He is remembered among the bishops at the great Council of Nicaea in 325, which defended the full deity of Christ against those who denied it. Whatever the details lost to time, he stood among the fathers who confessed that Jesus is truly God, of one being with the Father, the confession the church still makes in the Nicene Creed.

From Saint Nicholas to Santa Claus

After his death on December 6, Nicholas was honored across the Christian world, and countless churches were dedicated to him. His secret gift-giving became a cherished custom, especially on his feast, when children would wake to find small gifts left in shoes or stockings.

In the Netherlands his name, Sint Nicolaas, softened into Sinterklaas, which travelers carried to America and turned into Santa Claus. The jolly figure of the modern season is a distant echo of a real bishop who gave everything away in secret for the love of Christ and the poor.

Why Nicholas still matters

Beneath the tinsel, Nicholas calls us back to the heart of giving: to give in secret, expecting nothing in return, so that the left hand knows not what the right hand does, and the Father who sees in secret is the only reward. He is the patron of children and sailors, and every hidden kindness done in his spirit keeps his true memory alive.

A note for all traditions: the saints are honored across the church as examples of faith and, in the Catholic and Orthodox traditions, as friends who pray with us, never worshiped, for worship belongs to God alone. What Scripture records and what later tradition holds are distinguished above. In every tradition there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, and every believer, not only the saints, is called to follow him.

Related: Saint Nicholas Day · Patron saint of children · Saints for December 6 · Saint of the day