The Santa You May Not Know
Devotional 14
Blessings to everyone this beautiful season. I’m sharing some expanded thoughts for everyone in this devotional I originally wrote for our beloved St. Nicholas’s Feast Day (December 6) in Behold a Great Light: A Daily Devotional for the Nativity Fast Through Theophany (Ancient Faith Publishing, 2023). I hope it blesses you!
The year was 270 AD. The place was Patara, a small city-port in present-day Turkey. Blues and greens and bone-colors of water, sky, and rocky shore reflected above and below, crowding out every other sense beyond sight.
And the boy was Nicholas, although most of the world would come to know him as “Santa.”
Born on March 15, 270, Nicholas, who was raised by pious Christian parents until their deaths, would spend most of his life just beyond the green hills surrounding Patara in the nearby city of Myra. It was in Myra around the year 300 that Nicholas - a lifelong believer, earnest adherer, and unfailingly generous follower of Christ - was ordinated a bishop. Having survived the brutal Diocletian persecution in his youth, he would live out Christ’s words in such a way that his ministry would focus almost exclusively on caring “for the least of these:” primarily the sick, poor, hungry, imprisoned, and downtrodden of his bishopric. For this and the well-known examples of his ample generosity and zealous defense of Christianity, he would eventually become one of the world’s most beloved wonder-working saints, inspiring legends and stories long after his death.
To understand who St. Nicholas really was, however, and how we should respond to him today is to first understand his iconography.
In iconography of St. Nicholas, he’s often depicted in thick, heavy vestments of blue, red, or black-and-white geometric patterns that nearly dazzle the eyes. These fabrics vary by artist and tradition, but in every icon you will always see two things: the saint draped in an omophorion, the undeniable stole of a bishop, and his hand holding the Gospel book.
Both things boldly and outwardly proclaim the Cross and St. Nicholas’s true profession to the viewer: he was first and foremost, until his death on December 6, 3431, an ordained bishop - a serving, self-sacrificing Christian - who was responsible for shepherding and ministering to his flock and spreading the Good News of Christ’s Incarnation, death, and glorious Resurrection.
This reality never changes, for you see, St. Nicholas’s role - as so aptly portrayed in the theological teaching of his iconography - was to present, very publicly, his complete service and commitment to Christ.
He continues to present this to us today, and it is something we must think about and consider very deeply as Christians during this season and beyond.
How are we to openly and publicly profess Christ to the world? What do we want to be “draped” in? How can we be generous, open, committed to our faith in such a way that we, too, might proclaim the Good News and minister courageously to those in need? St. Nicholas, I believe, gives us very good examples of where to begin.
Christ is in our midst, and He is coming into our midst again very soon. May you be blessed this season as you await the Light!
For your comtemplation:
Although there are some positive traits associated with today’s “Santa Claus,” there’s no denying that secular versions of him miss (or purposely omit) key points about St. Nicholas’s life. How does the “real” St. Nicholas of the 3rd and 4th centuries differ from the “Santa Claus” of today, especially in secular storytelling, music, and marketing you encounter?
Like the bold crosses displayed on St. Nicholas’s stole and the Gospel book he holds in his hand, we, too, can boldly and publicly confess Christ and our commitment to Him. How do you feel you currently do this in small or large ways? Take some time to list some concrete examples.
Next, consider reading the lovely Akathist to St. Nicholas. What traits of St. Nicholas do you endeavor to embody or would like to embody more? We may not be wonder-working saints, but we can certainly work wonders through small acts of generosity, kindness, “healing” (of heart and soul), and selflessness.
Lastly, take some time to brainstorm a few small acts of mercy or charity that you could do individually, as a family, or with friends this season. I think you will find that doing them in the spirit of the real St. Nicholas - and the Christ Whom he served - will bless you in a new way.
Thank you so much for reading. Did you enjoy this devotional? If so, please feel free to leave a comment or share this post or Writing from the Desert Places with others. Subscribing to this publication is also a way to get new devotionals and meditations!
Interested in Behold a Great Light: A Daily Devotional for the Nativity Fast Through Theophany, which provides a daily reading and meditation for the entire Nativity Fast through Theophany? It’s available from Ancient Faith Publishing, and 100% of sale proceeds go to Ancient Faith Ministries!
Some sources state his death to be slightly earlier or later. Dionysios & Eglé-Ekaterine Potamitis, My Synaxarion (December): A Saint for Every Day (Thessaloniki, Greece: Potamitis Publishing, 2024).
You have such a way of drawing the reader in. Thank you for providing something I can share with those who don’t know the real St. Nicholas.