Many years ago (back in the 300's AD), in Myra- which is in present-day Turkey- there was a Bishop named Nicholas. Bishop Nicholas was known for his kindness to the people of the town, and the people loved him.
One of the most-often told stories about Bishop Nicholas goes as follows:
There was an old man in Myra who was widowed with three daughters. He was poor (as were most of the people of the town), and it made him sad to think his daughters might never marry- or worse, need to turn to unsavory occupations- simply because he had no money for dowries for them.
(As an aside, a dowry was money paid by the bride's family to the groom's family...the reason for it was that the husband's family was taking on an extra mouth to feed. It also provided for the items needed to set up house.)
Bishop Nicholas felt sorry for the old man and wanted to help, but either out of his own humility- or wanting to spare the old man the embarrassment - he came up with a solution. One night, he walked past the little family's house and threw a bag of gold coins in the window- which happened to land in one of the shoes placed below the window.The next morning, the man awoke and found the gold coins in the shoe- enough for a dowry for the the oldest daughter, who was soon married off.
Another set of coins appeared for the middle daughter, who married. Seeing a pattern, the old man decided to hide so he could learn just who the generous benefactor was. Bishop Nicholas saw him, however, and dropped the third bag down the chimney- where it landed in one of the stockings of the youngest daughter, who had washed them and hung them by the fire to dry. The old man was able to live out his days in peace, knowing his daughters were married to good men.
Bishop Nicholas' love for his God and for his fellow man are still remembered to this day. This VERY day, in fact. Tonight, Christian children all over the world will leave out their shoes- or Christmas stockings- to see what Bishop Nicholas - who we know as Saint Nicholas- will leave for them on his feast day, December 6th.
Saint Nicholas... Sant Niklas...Sinterklaas....Santa Claus....
We still remember the generosity of the ancient Catholic Bishop who became Santa Claus.
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