Who is Santa Claus?

It’s the Christmas Season. The most waited month of all.

Almost the entire world is in Christmas fever right now.

US stops working; Europe takes a Vacation, Indians work double and the folks all around look earnestly for rest and a gathering.

Santa is the talk of the town. Children await the gifts that he would bring as a present.

The elders solemnize the season with dazzling trees and decors.

Its all good when we truly rejoice. Do you know who Santa is? Do you like to know about this iconic figure?

Please read ahead:

Santa Claus, also known as St. Nick, Kris Kringle and Father Christmas, is known across the globe as a jolly fat bearded man sporting a red suit trimmed with white fur.

On Christmas Eve Santa Claus enters the home of good children, usually via the chimney, bearing gifts of toys that his elves have been busy making all year long. Parents know Santa Claus as a symbol of the magic and joy of childhood, if not a bruise to their pocketbooks!
Despite the well-known attributes of the man named Santa Claus, he actually has a long, rich history. The western idea of Santa Claus is a combination of the European traditions of Kris Kringle, Father Christmas and the Christian Saint Nicholas.

Kris Kringle derived from the German "Christkindl" which translates to Christ Child in English. The German version of Kris Kringle portrayed a sprightly young boy that brought gifts to the children in the Germanic countries. Although Kris Kringle is used interchangeably with Santa Claus in the U.S., the traditional Kris Kringle is very different from the modern idea of Santa Claus. In fact, the idea of Santa Claus as we know him today has been imported to these countries replacing the traditions of the Christ Child.
Like Chris Kringle, Father Christmas shares some attributes with Santa Claus. Father Christmas was a traditional figure during the Pagan celebration of the Winter Solstice. Instead of bringing gifts to homes, Father Christmas also known as Old Man Winter, would travel from home to home where the people would offer him food and drink. In return he would grant them the blessings of a kind winter.

During the 1800s, the American version of Santa Claus spread to Britain where Father Christmas assimilated Santa’s attributes. To this day, Father Christmas serves as Britain’s version of Santa Claus. Like Chris Kringle, Father Christmas is used interchangeably with Santa Claus in the United States.
St. Nicholas was the biggest influence on the Santa Claus we know today. St. Nicholas was a man of Greek origin born in the third century C.E. His family was very wealthy but both died in a plague. Surviving the epidemic, St. Nick took his strict Christian upbringing very seriously and devoted his life to God.

St. Nicholas rid himself of all his material possessions and set out to help the poor, the infirm, or anyone else who was suffering. Word of his generosity and kindness spread and he quickly earned the reputation of a gift giver and saint. The historical St. Nicholas died in December of 335 C.E. As often happens, stories of his good deeds became grander and grander and it is difficult to determine fact from fiction.
One popular story of St. Nicholas describes how he secretly left bags of gold to three poor women who had no dowries. In St. Nick’s time, a father could only secure the marriage of his daughters by providing a dowry to her would-be husband. If a father could not afford a dowry, his daughters would likely be sold into slavery. In order to prevent this, St. Nicholas threw the bags of gold through a window which landed in stockings left by the fire to dry. News of this deed resulted in children leaving their stockings out for St. Nicholas to fill with goodies.
The stories of St. Nicholas certainly did not die with him. In fact St. Nicholas achieved a sort of immortality as the man behind the legend of Santa Claus.
 

I hope you read about this legend. But my message is yet to be complete. The truth of Christmas is neither Santa nor the celebrations.

It is the Birth of our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus.

This truth is robbed many times in homes, streets and even in countries.

Its time to restore the true Christmas reason in this season.

Lets not Proclaim the Lord’s birthday alone but also His Second coming…..

I wish you all that this Christmas eve would reveal to you the real joy and fervor of our Lord’s birth. Amen