Your Email:

Subject:

Message:
Entry: The Real St. Nicholas Link: http://www.takimag.com/site/article/the_real_st_nicholas#10627 Post contents: The history: 1. Henry the Horny Tutor abolishes Catholicism in his realm, and thus abolish the cult of saints. 2. The Calvinist Puritans go to the extreme (or the logical consequence) and abolish all religious holidays, The Nativity of Christ included. 3. The Puritans, regrettably, shape Gringo religious practices. 4. As a result of the Revolution of 1848, or its failure, lots of Middle Europeans immigrate into Gringoland, bringing the cultus of St. Nicholas with them, dressed as a bishop, with miter and red cope (red for martyr). Both Lutherans and Catholics have this tradition, and (I think) even Swiss and Dutch Reformed (Calvinist). 5. As a utter and sheer anti-Catholic Know Nothing and Anglo-Saxon Nativist gesture, Yankeedom -- ever Puritan -- replaces the saint with a fat man in a fireman's suit (when they weren't going around putting up NINA signs). I don't know about Moore (poet of "Twas the night before Christmas"), but Thomas Nast, the first illustrator of The Fat One, was viciously anti-Catholic, enough to make "Peter Ramus" look like a blue eyed boy member of The Holy Name Society. The rest is history. Santa Claus is anti-Catholic. Bring back the Middle European custom: The kiddies tell The Bishop Saint their requests on 6 December. He in turn tells the Christ Child, and then the Christ Child brings the gifts on the Day of the Nativitas Christi. Better yet, follow the Southern European custom, and let the Magi bring the gifts 6 Jan, Epiphany. And best of all, downplay this kitsch and carbohydrate holiday and put the emphasis back on Easter -- exactly the emphasis that most Christians the world over have. By the way, according to the Liturgical Calendar, Pentecost Sunday (really a week) is a Solemnity equal to the Bah Humbug! holiday. The Paschal Triduum surpasses both. I kind of like the other saint who got sucked up into The Nativity of Christ: the cultus of St. Lucy (Lucia = Lux), martyr. a festival of lights. Is it true that the Scandinavians do something on her day? Meanwhile, it ain't Christmas yet, whatever the hucksters over at the shopping male might say otherwise. It's Advent. Sent at: 2008 10 06