Wednesday, December 25, 2013

How St. Nicholas became Santa Claus

NatGeo looks at the slow process of a Greek saint, born in the year 280, becoming the patron saint of children, and ultimately Santa Claus:
In the better-known tale, three young girls are saved from a life of prostitution when young Bishop Nicholas secretly delivers three bags of gold to their indebted father, which can be used for their dowries. 
"The other story is not so well known now but was enormously well known in the Middle Ages," Bowler said. Nicholas entered an inn whose keeper had just murdered three boys and pickled their dismembered bodies in basement barrels. The bishop not only sensed the crime, but resurrected the victims as well. "That's one of the things that made him the patron saint of children."