Twas the night before Christmas
And all thru the City
Peoples were alone for
the season
Which was such a pity
The Church was the one
place
Where they never felt
alone
As they were welcomed
And made to feel at
home
Saturday, 6 November 2021
TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS # 42
THE LEGEND OF ST NICHOLAS THE RED SUITED SANTA Part three – The literal St Nicholas
After the demise of the puritans in Europe and America the St Nicholas legend went from strength to strength.
He has over recent
centuries become known by different names for example in Holland he is known as
Sinter Klaas and when the Dutch arrived in New York or New Amsterdam as it was
then the red suited Sinter Klaas arrived with them but the name has since
become Americanized into Santa Claus.
The first time the
Name Santa Claus appeared in print was in 1773 but the first description of the
most traditional image of Santa Claus was by popular author Washington Irving
In his History of New York, published in 1809.
But he was finally
immortalized along with his eight reindeer in 1823 in the poem “A Visit from
Saint Nicholas” more commonly known to all of us as “The Night Before
Christmas” written by Clement Clarke Moore an Episcopal minister.
Moore, who wrote the
poem for his three daughters, depicted Santa Claus as a "right jolly old
elf" with a supernatural ability to ascend up a chimney with a simple nod
of his head.
The familiar round
jolly white bearded image of Santa Claus was definitively illustrated by the
political cartoonist Thomas Nast for Christmas issues of Harper's Weekly
magazine in 1881.
It was Nast who
revealed the details of Santa's workshop at the North Pole and alerted the
world to the existence of what have become known as the naughty and nice lists.
Haddon Sundblom further reinforced Santa’s image when, in 1931, he drew a
representation of the jolly red faced Saint for the Coca-Cola Company as part
of their advertising campaign which was so successful that he has been used
every year since.
Through literary
references and descriptions of Christmas the legend of St Nicholas spread and
became ingrained in all of us and Along
the way the legend of the gift giver became intertwined with other country’s
myths and folk lore figures and St Nicholas became known by a wide variety of
names.
As well as Santa Claus or Sinter Klaas he is named Father Christmas, Kris
Kringle, Père Noël, der Weinachtsmann and Papa Noel to name but a few.
So I can say to you
all with hand on heart to young and old wherever you might live there is most
definitely a Santa Claus.
SHOPS IN THE HIGH STREET
Shops in the high street
Are full to
overflowing
With irate customers
Franticly to-ing and
fro-ing
The shopkeeper delights
While prices are
rocketing
Happy in the knowledge
Of the profits he’s
pocketing
And in his smug
contentment
He rubs his hands with
glee
“Merry Christmas you
mugs
And a prosperous new
year, for me”
THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – RANDOM ACTS OF CHRISTMAS
The George’s are a modern successful family who seems to have it all, until they don’t, when David George (Kevin Sizemore) loses his job just before Christmas.
When Julie (Claudia
Esposito) finds out they decide not to tell children Nick, Natalie and Nina
(Barrett Carnahan, Emily Capehart and Siomha Kenney) and enjoy Christmas
regardless as everything had already been purchased and David is certain he
will find another job in the New Year.
Life doesn’t always
work out how you hope it will and the new job never materialises and as the
year passes the bills just keep rolling in, eating away at their savings and
the kids college funds, until finally the bank repossess the house and they end
up living in a motel.
But things go from bad
to worse when Julie is forced to get provisions from the food bank and then are
evicted from the motel as they can’t pay the bill.
After taking refuge in
the church Henry Banks (Terry Kiser) who was on the receiving end of a random
act of kindness by David the previous Christmas, offers them a place to live
and work on his Christmas tree farm.
But even then they
still have a fight on their hands to save the farm from
Senator John Cutter
(Michael Guy Allen) who was to develop the land into warehousing in order to
get himself re-elected.
This is a warm-hearted
Christmas tale to remind us that in the holiday season, the best gifts in life
are the simple ones, and that miracles do happen, if you believe.
TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS # 41
Twas the night before Christmas
And all thru the Barn
In fact, not a
creature was stirring
At all on the farm
They were bedded down
warmly
In the fresh laid hay
And slept in quiet
harmony
THE LEGEND OF ST NICHOLAS THE RED SUITED SANTA Part two – Growth and Prohibition
In the eyes of the Catholic church, a saint is a person who’s lived such a holy life that even after death and their ascent to heaven they are still able to help the earth bound souls.
It was believed that
the white bearded St Nicholas clad in his red bishop’s robes continued to help
the less fortunate through his gift giving.
So In the years
following his death the St Nicholas legend grew.
As Christianity
flourished within the Holy Roman Empire so did St Nicholas and by the year 450
many churches in the Eastern provinces of the empire in Asia Minor and Greece
were being named to honor him and by the year 800 he was the most popular saint
in the Eastern Catholic Church.
Such was his growing
popularity as a Saint and his high regard amongst Christians that his mortal
remains, which had been held in his church in Myra since his death, were stolen
by a band of Italian sailors in 1087 A.D. and taken to Italy where they remain
to this day, housed in the Basilica de
St. Nicola in Bari.
The St Nicholas legend
spread ever wider around the world and in 13th century France
December sixth became the feast of St Nicholas or Bishop Nicholas Day
And as the his fame spread north his red bishops robe was replaced by
more practical suit of clothes, still red, but trimmed with white fur and his
bishops mitre was replaced by red fur trimmed hat.
Then By the end of the
15th century, St Nicholas was with the exception of Jesus and Mary
the most popular religious figure in the Christian world.
Even after the
protestant reformation when the worship of saints and relics was discouraged
the people kept faith with Nicholas.
When in the 17th
century the puritan Oliver Cromwell became Lord Protector of England he banned
anything about Christmas the might be construed as enjoyable.
He banned any kind of
feasting, drinking or dancing he even banned the hanging of holly.
In America the
puritans went further by banning even
the mention of St. Nicholas as well as gift-giving, candle-lighting and
carol-singing.
But this only served to make people believe in St Nicholas even more
SCROOGE LIKE
They say the perfect Christmas
Is blessed with family
and friends
I say the fewer the
better
Otherwise the present
buying never ends
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