Nicholas was born and raised in a wealthy and godly home, and he gave his inheritance away to the needy. His uncle was the Archbishop of Myra, an important seaport of the early Christian centuries, in Lycia (an area now in Turkey). Nicholas was ordained to the priesthood by this uncle, and was appointed abbot of a monastery. Upon the death of the Archbishop, Nicholas was elected to the vacant see. He was jailed and tortured during the persecution of Christians by Emperor Diocletian, but was later freed by Constantine. He took part in the Council of Nicaea in 325. This Council produced the Nicene Creed, which is recited at every Sunday Mass, and Nicholas must surely have taken part with his brother bishops in its composition. 

Nicholas was well known and much beloved for his kindness, holiness, and charity. He lived to be very old, and died a peaceful death at Myra on December 6, 350. After the fall of this region to the Muslim Saracens, the relics of the saint were transferred to the church of San Nicola in Bari, Italy in 1087. It is said that many miracles occurred at his tomb. Of the many legends that arose about St. Nicholas after his death, two will live forever in our Christmas traditions, although his name (or, at least his Christian name) may be forgotten by the secular culture. 

The first of these legends told of Nicholas' restoring life to three murdered children, which led to his being invoked as the patron saint of children. For this reason, it became a popular custom in Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands to give children some small gift on December 6, the Feast of St. Nicholas. This tradition of gift-giving was later moved to another day of that month: Christmas. American consumer culture turned this practice into the orgy of materialism it is today. 

The other legend which became intertwined with our Christmas traditions concerned a man who was too poor to give his three daughters marriage dowries. Without these dowries, the father planned to sell the three virgins into prostitution. When Nicholas learned of this, he was determined to save the girls from this fate without embarrassing their father. Some variations of the story say he melted gold jewelry into three balls (the three gold balls which are today a symbol of pawn shops derive from this legend); other versions hold that he simply put gold into three bags. The legend continues with Nicholas throwing the gold down the family's chimney (or through a window); these gifts landed in the stockings (or shoes) which the girls had drying by the fireplace. The immediate result was that the girls were saved from prostitution; a later result was that we received several great Christmas traditions! 

European children loved St. Nicholas, usually portrayed as a thin man with a flowing white beard dressed in red bishop's robes, as the mysterious gift giver at Christmastime. After the Protestant Reformation, this custom was deemed to be "too Catholic" in certain nations. The "Popish" St. Nicholas became a new creature named Santa Claus (from the Dutch Sinterklaas) in some places, or Father Christmas in others. His red Mass vestments were replaced by a red fur coat, his bishop's mitre gave way to a winter cap, and his crosier (the pastoral staff carried by bishops) was exchanged for a cane or walking stick. This figure was brought to America by Dutch Protestant immigrants. Clement Moore, author of A Visit From St. Nicholas, and Thomas Nast, a newspaper cartoonist infamous for several anti-Catholic and anti- immigrant drawings, later transformed the gaunt Dutch figure into a fat "jolly old elf". This is the Santa Claus that America has exported to the rest of the world. 

This window portrays St. Nicholas putting his faith in Christ into action, giving alms to the poor. An ill-clad beggar kneels before the good Bishop. With his left hand the saint gives the man bread and with his right he gives him a garment. Behind Nicholas a young man holds a basket, perhaps filled with more bread and gifts to be distributed to the poor. Two women stand by; desperation can be read in the face of one and in the posture of the other. They appear well-dressed; their needs may be spiritual rather than temporal. The child kneeling in this scene reminds us of Nicholas' special patronage of children. 

The crafters of this beautiful window have taken some artistic license, picturing the saintly bishop standing in the doorway of a Gothic cathedral, complete with a stained glass window (architectural elements not developed until several centuries after Nicholas died). He is depicted here in red mitre and robes. Perhaps he has just celebrated Mass on the feast of a martyr. It is more likely that he is depicted clad in red so that the German immigrant children of St. Martin's parish would recognize their beloved December gift-bringer. 

Besides being the patron of children, St. Nicholas is also invoked as patron of pawnbrokers, merchants, brewers, sailors, virgins, brides, condemned prisoners, and the nations of Greece and Russia. By remembering the reasons why St. Nicholas became associated with gift giving, perhaps this window and his life story can inspire us to again make Christmas a time of giving to the truly needy. 

- William Walsham How (1823-1897) 

- St. Ignatius Loyola (1494-1556)