THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 22, 1994 TAG: 9412210050
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY WILLIAM DAVID SROUFE, SPECIAL TO THE DAILY BREAK
LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines
FOR SOME people, growing up means to stop believing in Santa Claus. But the truth is that Father Christmas did exist.
His name was Nicholas and he was born in Patara, Turkey. He became a bishop of Myra in that country and was famous for the miracles he performed.
He was later the patron saint of Greece and Russia, as well as of children, sailors, merchants and scholars. He is still invoked by those unjustly imprisoned, by travelers against the threat of robbers and by those in danger at sea.
In the West, of course, he's best known as Santa Claus, giver of gifts to children at Christmas. His patronage of children derives especially from one of his exploits.
It's said that, hearing of a distinguished citizen who had fallen into poverty an was unable to find dowries for his three daughters, Nicholas secretly threw purses of gold into the house by night, thus enabling the daughters to find a suitable marriage; hence the secret bestowal of presents to children at Christmas.
Many other tales are told of Nicholas' wonderful powers in rescuing prisoners, shipwrecked sailors and travelers, parting the waters of a swollen river, bringing the dead to life, recovering lost property and in other ways answering the prayers of the distressed.
On occasion, he appears as the savior of his city. Once, in a time of famine, a fleet of ships carrying corn from Alexandria to Byzantium called at Andriace. Nicholas, hurrying to the harbor, ordered the captains to surrender 100 bushels from each ship, which they unwillingly did; when the fleet eventually arrived in the capital, the cargo was found to be intact. The corn secured by the saint sufficed the citizens miraculously for two years and still left enough for sowing.
Even when he was a young man, his exceptional nature was clear. When a church in the course of building collapsed and buried him, upon his mother's lamentations the stones fell apart and he emerged unscathed.
When Nicholas died, on Dec. 6, A.D. 342, he was buried in this same church. But the grave didn't remain forever undisturbed.
In 808, the Saracens occupied Myra, and their commander is said to have attempted to destroy the tomb, but the saint contrived that he should instead smash another sarcophagus that stood close by.
In April 1087, however, a band of men from Bari, Italy, broke open the tomb. After digging some way they uncovered a sarcophagus of brilliant white marble. On smashing its lid they were almost overcome by the powerful fragrance of myrrh; it's said that is where Myra gets its name. One of the men plunged his hand in and found the holy bones swimming in the myrrh. They were reverently removed and put on board the ship.
Nicholas however, seems not to have resented the intrusion. While the ship was headed home, he appeared one night to one of the sailors and said, ``Be not alarmed, for I am with you. Be assured that within 20 days we shall be together at Bari.''
The Barians built the church San Nicola di Bari to house their relics.
By their exploit the men of Bari forestalled the Venetians, who also had been contemplating the theft of the saint's bones. The Venetians declined to recognize the removal to Bari and claimed to have themselves discovered and removed the body at a time of their expedition to Jerusalem during the First Crusade. But no credence is given today to this, any more than to a similar Russian claim.
At the church in Myra, the monument displayed as the tomb of St. Nicholas consists of a plain marble sarcophagus in a niche, fenced off by a decorated marble screen between pillars. The men of Bari found their tomb underground beneath a stone pavement. If this is true, either the sarcophagus has been moved from its original place or this is not the tomb that they opened.
At the same time it is recorded that a certain Mitylenean presbyter in the ninth century set out for Myra with the intention of doing reverence ``to the precious coffin'' of St. Nicholas and collecting from it myrrh for the protection of his family. This certainly suggests the tomb accessible above ground.
So whether you believe that St. Nicholas, Santa Claus, is a patron saint or giver of gifts to children at Christmas time, or whether he has certain powers or was buried in a tomb above or below ground, the truth is that St. Nicholas did exist and continues to live in the hearts and minds of people all over the world. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
WILLIAM STROUFE
A statue honors St. Nicholas at the church in Myra, Turkey, where he
was a bishop.
by CNB