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Is Santa Claus a Catholic Priest?

Most of us realize that Santa Claus is based upon Saint Nicholas of Myra. But I think most miss the point that Saint Nicholas was a Roman Catholic priest who became the Bishop of Myra (now in Turkey) while still relatively young. The Bishop was persecuted ruthlessly during his life (Diocletian was emperor and didn’t approve of Christians) and spent lots of time in prison. However, he did attend the Council of Nicaea in 343 AD in which the Nicene Creed was defined to counter the claims of Aryanism.

So, Santa Claus should really be depicted with a Roman Collar bringing the good news of Christ Jesus to us. It’s fascinating to me that in recent years we’ve even seen the addition of a “Mrs. Claus” in many interpretations of the fable.

The History of Santa Claus
To give you a short history of how we arrived at this point, we can start with the myth that began the story. Good Old Saint Nick was an extremely generous priest who gave away a sizable portion of his inheritance to the poor. In addition, he was revered as a “protector of children”. The classic story of Saint Nicholas can be read at the St. Nicholas Center website:

One story tells of a poor man with three daughters. In those days a young woman's father had to offer prospective husbands something of value—a. The larger the dowry, the better the chance that a young woman would find a good husband. Without a dowry, a woman was unlikely to marry. This poor man's daughters, without dowries, were therefore destined to be sold into slavery. Mysteriously, on three different occasions, a bag of gold appeared in their home-providing the needed dowries. The bags of gold, tossed through an open window, are said to have landed in stockings or shoes left before the fire to dry. This led to the custom of children hanging stockings or putting out shoes, eagerly awaiting gifts from Saint Nicholas. Sometimes the story is told with gold balls instead of bags of gold. That is why three gold balls, sometimes represented as oranges, are one of the symbols for St. Nicholas. And so St. Nicholas is a gift-giver.

But the author Washington Irving got things started again with Knickerbocker’s History of New York in 1809:

In January 1809, joined the society and on that year he published the satirical fiction, Knickerbocker's History of New York, which made numerous references to a jolly St. Nicholas character. This was not a saintly bishop, rather an elfin Dutch burgher with a clay pipe. These delightful flights of imagination are the origin of the New Amsterdam St. Nicholas legends: that the first Dutch emigrant ship had a figurehead of St. Nicholas; that St. Nicholas Day was observed in the colony; that the first church was dedicated to him: and that St. Nicholas comes down chimneys to bring gifts. Irving's work was regarded as the "first notable work of imagination in the New World." (source)

Saint Nicholas is Lost
The tragedy lies in the real Saint Nicholas and the good he did being lost to our children and their lives. One of the most powerful aspects of Catholic Saints is in the example they have set for our children. Through Mother Theresa we know that it is possible to give up the world of money in order to serve God. Through Saint Peter we know that even a fallen man can be used by God in powerful ways. And Saint Nicholas shows us the power of generosity – a man can give up the wealth of the world and gain the kingdom of heaven.

Personally, I do not teach my children the fable of Santa Claus, rather I explain the life of Saint Nicholas. They are still small, but they have a different perspective on the fat, jolly man who has become the secular symbol of Christmas (maybe I should say the materialistic symbol . . . ). I believe the gain so much in knowing the Truth than in believing a fable.

The next time you see Santa Claus, remember that he was a faithful Catholic priest who loved children, God, and the Church very much.

God bless,
Jay