The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1919-12-26

XR&1H "a Nicholas was not q German
EWA%3 ia Saint--that will please all good
lrSNA Americans. The saint Of children
has not come to us from the
people who so wantonly/ abused
the children of France and Belgium. When we
cah ST. Nicholas Santa Claus" we are merely
saying in orr own way San Nicolaas,' as the peo-
pie of Holland say it. For the Hollanders, who
settled in New York and New Jersey 300 years
az" at the very beginning of our country, brought
san N'coiaaS with them, and it was not long be-
lore Americans were saying Santa Claus"
why, st. Nicholas belongs to all the world.
hundreds of churches in England bear his name.
mere are more than n hundred St. Nicholas
churches in Belgium. Thousands Of such churches
are scattered all over Europe.
The queer thing about it is that st. Nicholas
was really born in Asia Minor, in Panthera, in the
pr"VLhce OF Lycia, in the sixth century. St. Nicho-
las OF Bari, he is Oftenest called by Europeans. but
"hiy the bones of st. Nicholas reposing for eight
centuries in the crypt of a handsome cathedral at
barr, italy, have given him that title. He never
iNed IN Bari. Italian sea traders, who worshiped
nm as their especial protector, stole his body
IRON us resting place in Myra i'm the twelfth CEN
fury and brought it to the italian seaport. Since
That time the celebration held there in the saints
honor is unique.
The eastern world knew and loved him first. but
1t is from western Europe that we learn of many
or the quaint customs connected with the celebra-
'ioh o, ms birth. In Lycia he lived to Il good old
age, hiiing his days even in childhood by doing
good deeds and giving lavishly to the poor of the
fortune he inherited. 1t was Christlike to give.
so. as a steward of God, his wealth belonged TO
Gods children. Nicholas believed. Finally he was
made bishop of Myra, where he went to live after
Il pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
IT was not strange that after such a life of
charity he should become a saint of the common
people, even rs st. George was d saint of KNIGHT.
hood. He was invoked by the laborer toiljng for
his daily bppDd nv moriparc NV ,orob,,. =
was protector of the weak against the strong, the
poor against the rich, the captive, the prisoner,
the slave. He was especial guardian of maidens.
schoolboys, the orphan poor. Throughout most of
Europe children are taught to reverence him. and
to believe if they are docile and attentive to their
duties he will fill the cap or stocking with dain-
ties; II they are naughty or idle, he certainly has
a rod In pickle to bring along for them.
Here Is what the Encyclopedia Britannica has
TO say about st. Nicholas:
"St. Nicholas, bishop of Myra. in Lycia. q saint
honored by the Greeks and the Latins ON the
sixth of December His cult is as celebrated as
his history is obscure. All the accounts that have
come down 10 us are Of q purely legendary char
actcr, and 1t Is impossible to find any single in
cident confirmed historically. The main facts of
his life are usually given as follows:
lie was bishop of Myra at the time of tbe
Emperor Dioclctian, was prosecuted, tortured for
the faith, and kept in prison until the more fol
Grant reign of Constantine, and was present at
the council OF Nicaea. 1t should be observed that
this last circumstance is ignored by all histor-
ianS and that st. Athanasius, who knew all tho
notable bishops Of the period. never mentions
Nicholas. bishop Of Myra. The oldest known
monument Of the cult of ST. Nicholas seems to he
the Church of SITS. Phiscus and Nicholas built at
Constantinople by the Emperor Justinian. In the
West, the name of st. Nicholas appears in the
ninth century martyrOlOgies, and churches dedi.
Gated to him are to be found at the beginning os
the eleventh century.
II rs more especially, however, from the time
OF the removal OF his body to Bari, i'm Apulia. that
his cult became popular. The inhabitants of Bari
organized an expedition, seized his remains nv
means of a ruse, and transported them to Bari
where they were received in triumph on the ninth
of May, 1887, and where the foundations were laid
Of a new basilica i'm his honor. This was the
origin Of a famous and still popular pilgrimage.
"There are nearly 400 churches i'm England dedi.
Gated to st. Nicholas. He is the patron saint OF
Russia the special protector of children, schoI.
ars, merchants and sailors; and is invoked nv
travellers against robbers. In art st. Nicholas Is
represented with various attributes, being most
commonly depleted with three children standing
in a tub By his side. OF the various lnterpreta-
lions Of this, none Is absolutely certain. One ex.
PLANTATION has been sought in the legend of st.
Nicholas miraculously restoring to life three rich
youths, who had been murdered, cut up, and con.
cealed IN q shifting tub by q thievish innkeeper
or butcher. In whose house they had taken lodg.
Ing.