Yes, Timmy, there really is a Santa Claus

If you said 'no' to a little one who happens to come to you and ask if Santa is real, would that be lying? Not really, but it would not be the truth.  

 
 

Santa Claus is real. He was a real man who was born in the Lycea region of Turkey, in the 3rd century. Nicholas' parents died when he was a young boy and Nicholas used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering. A devout Christian, he dedicated his life to serving God and was made Bishop of Myra while still a young man and he became a saint in the 9th Century. 

St.Nicholas became known throughout the world for gift-giving, which led to the tradition of hanging up our stockings over the fireplace.

How St. Nicholas is celebrated throughout the world

St. Nicholas is the patron saint of nearly everyone: 
Archers
Apothecaries (pharmacists)
Armed forces police
Bakers - which makes Dec 6th a perfect day to start your Christmas cookies!
Bankers
Bargemen
Barrel makers
Boatmen
Boot blacks
Bottlers
Boys
Brewers
Brides
Businessmen
Butchers
Button-makers
Candle makers
Captives
Chandlers (suppliers of ships)
Children
Choristers
Citizens
Clergy
Clerks
Cloth trade & merchants
Coopers (barrelmakers)
Corn measurers & merchants
Court recorders, registrars, clerks
Dock workers
Drapers
Druggists
Embalmers
Falsely accused
Ferrymen
Firefighters
Fishermen
Florists
Grain dealers & merchants
Grocers
Grooms
Haberdashers
Infants
Infertile
Judges
Lace makers & sellers
Lawsuits lost unjustly
Lawyers
Lemko people, Ukraine
Linen merchants
Longshoremen
Lovers
Maidens
Mariners
Merchants
Military intelligence Millers
Murderers
Navigators
Newlyweds
Notaries
Oil merchants
Orphans
Packers
Parish clerks
Paupers
Pawnbrokers
Pedlars
Perfumeries
Perfumers
Pharmacists
Pilgrims
Pirates
Poets
Poor people
Preachers
Prisoners
Prostitutes
Pupils
Rag pickers
Ribbon weavers
Robbers & thieves
Schoolchildren
Sailors
Scholars
Sealers
Seed merchants
Shearmen
Shipwreck victims
Shipwrights & gaugers
Ships carpenters
Shoemakers
Shoe shiners
Shopkeepers
Skippers
Soldiers
Spice-dealers
Spinsters
Students
Tanners
Teachers
Thieves
Timber merchants
Travelers
Unjustly condemned
Unmarried men
Unmarried women
Virgins
Watermen
Weavers
Wine porters, merchants & vendors
Women, desirous of marrying
Woodturners  

Here's a children's poem by Father Victor Hoagland

THE STORY OF SAINT NICHOLAS


Once there was a little boy who lived by the shore of the sea.
He watched the ships go sailing by all wrapped in mystery.

“What do you carry, where do you go?”he said as he saw them there.
I hope you bring many good things to girls and boys everywhere.

Nicholas was the little boy’s name, in case you’d like to know.
He loved surprising others with gifts and seeing their faces glow.

Then he would hide and no one would know,
the one who loved them, who loved them so.

Once a father had grown so poor as to sell his daughters three.
Three nights to his window Nicholas came with gold to keep them free.

Nicholas went to church one day and all the people stood:
“You have a heart like God’s,”they said, “A heart that is so good.
Will you be our bishop And lead us as God would?”

When Nicholas died God welcomed him to heaven with great applause:
“Well done, well done, good Nicholas, for serving well my cause.”

Now every Christmas Nicholas comes with gifts for girls and boys.
You know his name as Nicholas, but it’s also Santa Claus.

O Good St. Nicholas, children’s friend, Friend of girls and boys,
through the clouds come again, And fill your bag with toys.

Give me too a giving heart, for loving others too,
I want to know how good it is to give good gifts like you.

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