“Yes, Virginia, there really is a Santa Claus!” The famous quote comes from an editorial in The New York Sun, from September 21, 1897. The editor, Francis Church, was responding to a letter sent to him by the eight-year-old daughter of Dr. Philip O’Hanlon. Virginia had asked her father whether there really was a Santa Clause and he suggested that she write to the Editor of the Sun. Virginia O’Hanlon died in 1971.
While I am not going to take this in the same direction as Editor Church, I will say, “Yes, Virginia, there really was a Saint Nicholas!” He was Bishop of Myra, a city on the south-eastern coast of modern day Turkey, during the first half of the fourth century. Bishop Nicholas died in A.D. 346.
The kind pastor was well-known for his generosity to the poor and advocacy for any who had been wronged.
- One story tells of a local man who in financial desperation feared that he would have to sell his daughters into prostitution. The bishop aided the man with three small bags of gold, symbolized today by the three gold balls that mark a pawn shop.
- Another story tells of his bringing small gifts to poor children.
It all a far cry from what “Santa Claus” has become today, still, in every “heresy” there is a kernel of truth. So when you hear of Santa Claus, Saint Nick, etc. know that there is a kindly pastor beneath the red suit!
