Twas the history before ‘Twas the night before Christmas’: Adam and Eve didn’t have belly-buttons and Santa Claus never celebrated Christmas. Now I know what you’re thinking: Isn’t Santa a myth?

Though I was never raised to ‘believe in Santa’, I remember being taken to the mall to sit on some guy’s lap, and ask him for presents. It seemed like a huge imposition on him. I thought it was more like a conversation piece, and thought it strange that all these kids lined up to have a chat with a man in a red suit. Why did he want to know what I wanted for Christmas anyway?

            Every year, the traditions are made a little more elaborate. Somehow this story has been circulated To the degree that Santa Claus may be the single most represented figure in films. Cultures celebrate this person under different names and different attire, but everyone at least recognizes the man in the red suit.

Living in Ukraine, we became familiar with ‘Ded Moroz’ (Grandfather Frost), who wears blue and is more associated with the New Year than Christmas. The roots of their tradition began in pagan deities, but adapted the Western version after exposure to Christianity.

Many have probably heard of the legends of the original Bishop of Maya, St. Nicholas. Some may have even heard some of the stories told about him. Somehow his lore has developed until people attribute divine characteristics to him most notably in the song Santa Claus is coming to town. Just think of the words:

“He’s making a list, and checking it twice; gonna find out whose naughty or nice…He knows if you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake”

Saint Nick picked up eight reindeer in 1823, when Clement Clark Moore’s poem, ‘Visit from Saint Nicholas‘ more famously known by its first line, “‘Twas The Night Before Christmas…, was first published in The Troy, NY Sentinel. 40 years later, after wearing green, tan and a variety of colors, the jolly man settled on a red suit, when Thomas Nast illustrated him for Harper’s Weekly. One wonders, if Nicholas could be resurrected brought to the mall to visit Santa, would he even recognize himself?

            Historians confirm the details found in Michael the Archimandrite’s Life of Saint Nicholas, records from the 9th century. St Nicholas’ remains are kept at the Basilica di San Nicola in Bari, Southern Italy. Scientists have even studied his bones and with the aid of modern technology, have reconstructed his facial features, complete with broken nose, to give us an idea of what he might have looked like, so we know that the person was real, but what is the fact portion of our fiction?

Obviously, flying, crimson robed, Arctic gift-bearers are an exaggeration. If anything, the actual man, St. Nicholas, was just a nice old Greek man who did some good things for neighborhood children. Born in the late 3rd century, the church office of bishop hadn’t risen to quite the level of prestige that it had a few centuries later. He was born in a coastal community in ancient Lycean city of Patara in the 3rd century and was imprisoned, persecuted and likely tortured by Diocletian, The last of the Roman persecutors. During his imprisonment, Constantine rose to the throne and ordered the release of Christians imprisoned for their faith.

His wealthy parents died at a young age, and so he distributed his inheritance among the poor, thus earning the reputation he is famous for. In one instance, many early sources claim that he saved three girls from prostitution by paying their dowry so that they could be married. He wanted to do this discreetly, which ended up turning into the tradition that is connected with stockings hung by a fireplace.

By the 4th century, sources contemporary with the time frame of St. Nicholas, record that the pagan celebration Saturnalia was probably still observed from December 17-23. On one of these days, society was flipped, masters of the house gave their servants a day off and hosted guests themselves. Saturnalia was the god of time, agriculture and bounty. With the apparent death of nature each fall, they developed a joyous holiday so Saturnalia might not feel like a failure (nothing like worshiping a deity with self-esteem issues).

Paganism, however, was now in decline. Although many of the traditions continued, they lost their attachment to false gods, and ended up being folded into Christianity. As Christianity spread To Germany, Scandinavia, Britain and Russia, with it came the celebrations that had been adapted and given more meaningful interpretations, and in turn, each culture added to it their own customs. In other words, Santa Claus never celebrated Christmas.

Once Christmas hit America it developed a culture like never before. A man who gave his belongings to the poor now peddles everything from cars to Coca-Cola. The reason he became such a legend was because he sincerely cared about those less fortunate than himself. The mid-winter-gift-giving season as my husband jokingly calls it, is now a stressful time with Christmas programs, Christmas parties, Christmas bonuses, Christmas cards and Christmas shopping. It’s a lot of stress for all of us.

Imagine if we peeled off the layers of 18 centuries of ‘culture’ and just got back to the original message of St. Nicholas? His life was the message of Jesus Christ, simple self-sacrifice and concern for others.  

But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? 1 John 3:17