New book by SNS founder
praises St Nicholas tradition

29 September 2005

You may be receiving a surprise visit this coming Advent from a bishop, yes a bishop, complete with mitred hat and shepherd’s crosier. Well this is the case if you seize the challenge offered in a new book soon to be released, ST NICHOLAS -A Closer Look at Christmas by Joe Wheeler (USA) and Jim Rosenthal (UK). Yes it is goodbye to Santa Claus and Father Christmas, it is welcome home to the original true and only such figure of the season, Nicholas, Bishop of Myra and Saint in Bari.

“St Nicholas takes us out of the pressures of endless fantasy, to point us to the true Christmas celebration of the Bethlehem miracle over 200 years old,” says Canon Jim Rosenthal, the co-author and founder of the St Nicholas Society. “St Nicholas is fun, faithful and his story is fascinating to say the least,” he said. “He points beyond himself, he is more than a ho-ho-ho!.”

The book traces the history, life and customs of the St Nicholas tradition and pleads with the reader to make a return to this historical character rather than the rolly-polly elf-like fictional Santa and to stop telling children what is untrue.

Splendid photos and hundreds of antique illustrations fill the pages of the “coffee table” book published by the famous Bible publishers, Thomas Nelson Inc, Nashville, USA. ($34.99 US, £20.99 UK) ISBN: 1418504076

St Nicholas was born in what is now Turkey in 260 AD and died on December 6, 343 AD, the day set aside to honour him, falling in Advent. His shrine, complete with relics, is in Bari, Italy where it was established in 1087 AD. He is the patron saint of children, sailors and many others. The book features many orthodox images. The vats majority are from Roman Catholic sources world-wide, a rare selection.

You may wish to visit www.stnicholassociety.com to learn more.

Book details at NELSON PUBLISHING:
http://www.thomasnelson.com/consumer/product_detail.asp?dept_id=210900&sku=1418504076&TopLevel_id=210000

ST NICHOLAS SOCIETY UK/USA
Contact: StNicholasMyra@aol.com – Phone: +44(0)780 389 4751

Santa Claus has just passed by again. Has he become Christmas? What has happened to Mary and Holy Joseph and the babe lying in the manger, and shepherds and carols and all. Are Frosty the Snowman, I Dreaming of a White Christmas ala Bing Crosby, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, and Santa Claus is coming to town with Nat King Cole, the themes of your Christmas. Well if you keep Santa and not Jesus on your lawns, windows, cards and gift-wrap, don't be surprised, the Bethlehem story will vanish, just like the Christian people in Bethlehem itself, where the annihilation of Palestinian Christians is on the agenda of some powerful people.

In all this Santa Claus still smiles. He is omnipresent and urging us on to delight in him, not leading us to Bethlehem, but hoping we get the message that Christmas is simply not religious, is it? Or is it?

We only have ourselves, the in-crowd, to blame. We are often very vitriolic about the purging of Santa from our Christian Christmas thinking. I am here to tell you it doesn't work. And it is not good. So what do we do? Maybe we need a wonder-worker to step in, someone with a pedigree beyond repute. Well, who could it be? The answer lies in the perceived problem itself. St Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, Saint in Bari, lover of children, protector of sailors and saint of those on the margins (and who isn't on the margins), this is our true and undeniable Santa, and long may he live.
Santa Claus is simply translated Santa means saint and Claus is a shortened Nicholas.

A real person, a priest and bishop, a devout Christian imprisoned for his faith (look at the current persecutions of Christians in Congo, India, Pakistan, Sudan and Palestine just to name a few), a person we need to embrace. A man filled with the essence and being of Christ, just like us, at least may it be so.

I am proud that St Luke's was one of the first churches in the USA to support the work of the St Nicholas Society that has the wife of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Mrs Jane Williams as the patron. In Beit Jala Palestine we helped some 1000 children have at least one Christmas present and the gifts were received with great delight. St Nicholas is the patron saint of Beit Jala and one can see the Israeli bullets holes in the doors and windows of the church where legend says St Nicholas lived for a time. It should be a great site of pilgrimage and tourism, instead it is locked tight and looks like an air-raid shelter. How tragic!

So rejoice in God's saints. Let Nicholas guide us to Bethlehem where he joins us in worship, awe and wonder, as we look in patient hope for greatest gift ever given to humanity – the gift of the God-made-man, Jesus cradled in the arms of the Mother of God, and offering to us the chance to rid ourselves of stress, and strife, anxiety and fear, even if just for a short time.

The Lord is glorious in his saints, come let us adore him and for Nicholas we give a special thank you and receive the gifts he too offers

SO when you see Santa next, say, you better watch out, you better not cry…cause good St Nick is coming to town and we are happy to greet him.

AMEN.