Saint Nicholas The Real St. Nick
Sorry folks, but the real St. Nick was actually quite skinny, so skinny he could literally slide down a chimney. And he was not always jolly either.
After the sign of Christ (a Chi-Rho) appeared in the clouds (in 312 AD), all of the elect of the Church were gathered together to Nicea with a loud trumpet (as foretold by Jesus in Matthew 24:31). There, at the first ecumenical council, attended by 300+ bishops and Cardinals, St. Nicholas slapped Arius the heretic so hard that it made his teeth rattle and his knees buckle.
But yes, St. Nicholas was jolly around little kids. He was the cardinal (wearing a red robe) who attempted to figure out when Christ was born – on December 25th he determined, although he was a little off on the date.
The bright Star in the East (Venus) that the Magi followed actually appeared over Bethlehem on March 27th, we now know -- from running any star-tracking software back to 4 BC, to the day King Herod went mad and slew hundreds of innocents. Herod even killed his own son on that fateful day, prompting Caesar to say, “I would rather be one of Herod’s swine than one of his sons.”
Nonetheless, on December 25th, in the tradition of the wise men (or Magi), St. Nicholas started bringing presents to little children who had been good, and thus were deserving of a present he said. St. Nicholas especially liked to treat the under-privileged children in his Diocese (in present-day Turkey).
And that is how a great tradition was born. And there is nothing wrong with celebrating the birth of Christ again on March 27th -- or even year-round!
From Barry and Russ at the Last Days Chronicle, Have a Merry Christmas everyone!
