![](\"https:\/\/momentchannel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/St_-Nicholas.jpg\")
<\/a><\/div>\nLast night, on our way to Confirmation prep class, #2 was talking about Christmas and Santa Claus.\u00a0 After a bit, I asked him, \u201cDo you still believe in Santa Claus?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d He replied confidently. \u201cLots of my friends don\u2019t, but there are all kinds of things we don\u2019t see or understand and still believe.\u201d\u00a0 My heart both sank and leapt at the gentle trust and faith of my son.\u00a0 \u201cI just tell them they\u2019re wrong, and that it can\u2019t be their parents.\u201d<\/p>\n
I reached over in the dark of the car and held his hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh no.\u201d He whispered.\u00a0 \u201cSay it isn\u2019t really\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you know the story of St Nicholas?\u201d I asked him.\u00a0 \u201cThe real story of the saint?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah\u2026kinda\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c1700 years ago, St Nicholas was a wealthy man who became a priest and then a bishop at a time when it was against the law to be a Christian. He didn\u2019t care what the law was, he loved God and tried to take care of his little corner of the Church as best as he could.\u00a0 He took the wealth his parents had left him and began giving it away to those members of his flock who needed it.\u00a0 Remember, Christianity was illegal, so a lot of people suffered terribly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLike they couldn\u2019t get jobs?\u201d My son asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would assume so.\u00a0 I can\u2019t imagine the people of that area liking these lawbreakers, could you? So, anyway, the Christian people were being persecuted and many were poor.\u00a0 There\u2019s a well-known tale of a family that was so poor that the father was having to sell his daughters into slavery because he couldn\u2019t pay his bills and they couldn\u2019t eat.\u00a0 Can you imagine the sadness of having to sell your children because you had no money?\u00a0 It\u2019s unbelievable almost, that kind of pain.<\/p>\n
Nicholas, the Bishop, heard about this family and wanted to help them, but couldn\u2019t do it where other people could see.\u00a0 The cops already knew that he was a Christian, they had sent him to jail for it.\u00a0 If he was seen giving money to someone, they would be exposed as Christians, too.\u00a0 But Nicholas was clever, and as he walked by their house, he dropped a small bag of coins through the window.\u00a0 Three times he did this, until the family had enough money to not need to sell their daughters.\u00a0 One of those times, the coins landed in one of the girls\u2019 shoes which were sitting by the fireplace.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIs that where the stockings on the mantle thing comes from?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cExactly right.\u00a0 We know these stories and retell them.\u00a0 That\u2019s how most traditions begin.\u00a0 Like St Nicholas.\u00a0 We don\u2019t actually know what time of year it was when he gave the money to the girls, but we know it was cold-ish or her shoes wouldn\u2019t have been near the fire.<\/p>\n
Over the centuries, St Nicholas became more and more loved by people as they heard tales of his goodness and generosity.\u00a0 Eventually, it became a thing for children to put out shoes on his feast day to see if they could get something good in their shoes, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
He sat for a second and thought about it.\u00a0 \u201cSo, how did it end up at Christmas? I know he was a bishop and loved Jesus, but how did we end up with Santa Claus and presents on Christmas Day?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t really know the answer to that, but I have a guess.\u00a0 I\u2019d think it was two things.\u00a0 The first is that his feast day is in December and close to Christmas.\u00a0 The second is the Protestants.\u00a0 They don\u2019t have a love or an understanding of the saints the same way that we do.\u00a0 They also celebrate Christmas way before it actually arrives.\u00a0 That all kind of combined to make the Christmas season come before Christmas Day and St Nick got swallowed up into it all.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo why do we do it?\u00a0 Why do Catholics play this game?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause to us it\u2019s not a game.\u00a0 To us, it\u2019s doing something in memory and in the name of a great and wonderful man.\u00a0 It\u2019s taking a moment to think about the needs and wants of others and then giving generously in the manner of St Nicholas.\u00a0 We do it anonymously, and sign his name to the gift tags.\u00a0 Because, it isn\u2019t about us, it\u2019s about love and kindness.\u00a0 It\u2019s about taking what we have and sharing what God has given us.\u00a0 It may not be an actual physical St Nicholas, or Santa Claus, arriving at our homes on Christmas Eve, but it is those of us who love him and follow his example.\u00a0 In that way, his spirit of unselfish giving lives on along with his great faith and love.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo that makes us his followers\u2026like disciples?\u201d He asked me.<\/p>\n
\u201cOr elves\u2026\u201d I told him.<\/p>\n
He laughed a bit and squeezed my hand.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s kind of like we\u2019re a secret society, The Followers of Nicholas, isn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is.\u00a0 Only you know the thing about a secret society is\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happens in Fight Club stays in Fight Club?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCute.\u00a0 If St Nicholas didn\u2019t tell, then neither should you.\u201d<\/p>\n
I waited a few moments before asking him, \u201cI didn\u2019t just kill it for you, did I?\u00a0 Have I killed the magic for you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u00a0 It\u2019s not the sparkly magic, but it\u2019s kinda better.\u00a0 There\u2019s a secret pact of all the people in the world to love each other.\u00a0 That\u2019s cooler than toy-making elves\u2026.Plus it takes away the creepy part of \u2018He sees you when you\u2019re sleeping\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, #2, do you still believe in Santa Claus?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbsolutely, yes\u2026..even more now than ever before.\u00a0 Now, I get to be a part of it\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Last night, on our way to Confirmation prep class, #2 was talking about Christmas and Santa Claus.\u00a0 After a bit, I asked him, \u201cDo you still believe in Santa Claus?\u201d \u201cYes.\u201d He replied confidently. \u201cLots of my friends don\u2019t, but there are all kinds of things we don\u2019t see or understand and still believe.\u201d\u00a0 My […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1979,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
The Secret Society of St Nick<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Last night, on our way to Confirmation prep class, #2 was talking about Christmas and Santa Claus. After a bit, I asked him, "Do you still believe\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/2012\/12\/the-secret-society-of-st-nick.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Secret Society of St Nick\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Last night, on our way to Confirmation prep class, #2 was talking about Christmas and Santa Claus. 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