“You appeared to your flock as a rule of faith, and image of humility and a teacher of
abstinence; because of your lowliness, heaven was opened to you; because of your poverty,
riches were granted to you, O holy bishop Nicholas, pray to Christ our God to save our souls” [Troparion to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, bishop of Myra in Lycia]
A true Orthodox Christian doesn’t have to have a sense of humor, but it helps when comparing our faith with the fantasies of the society we share with the non-Orthodox. Take for instance the platitudes surrounding St. Nicholas, a.k.a. Santa Claus. “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus,” children are told despite their misgivings. And what is Santa Claus like? Well, let’s visit him at his cathedral—the department store on the mall. Here are the directives given to those whose job it is to play Santa:
“Santa is even-tempered. Santa does not hit children over the head that kick him. Santa uses the term folks rather than Mommy and Daddy because of all the broken homes. Santa does not have a three-martini lunch. Santa does not borrow money from store employees. Santa wears a good deodorant” [NY Times]
(Directive to employees of Western Temp Services, largest supplier of Santa Clauses)
So what was the real flesh and blood saint really like? We know a great deal about his life. He was the only child of eminent and wealthy parents who lived in Patara, city of Lycia in what is today Turkey. He adored his uncle Nicholas, he was named after him, and like him became a monk in his teens. When his parents died, he distributed the property and wealth to the poor, keeping nothing for himself. He became bishop of the region, and in that capacity was noted for being fearless, humble, meek, and devoted to serving the needs of his flock. Yawn. Sounds like what you would expect the Church to write about one of its greatest and most famous saints. But wait.
Bless him for his temper, which gives hope to those of us with volatile natures. When he attended the First Ecumenical Council held in 325 at Nicea, a suburb of Constantinople, he became carried away by the heat of the argument between the Orthodox and those who denied that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, equal in essence with the Father and the Spirit. It wouldn’t suffice for him to respond in words to the leader of the anti-Orthodox, Arius; he gave him a sound drubbing, boxing his ears. For that the horrified bishops censured the wonderful saint, deposing him for a time from the rank of bishop and forbidding him to wear the omophorion, the sign of a bishop’s status. He was even placed under guard. Later he was pardoned and restored to the dignity of bishop.
That side of his many-sided personality is not revealed from his icon. Who would have thought it from this image of humility and teacher of abstinence? Come to think of it, I doubt that he would be hired to play Santa Claus at Macy’s or even Wal-Mart. But why indeed do we continue the charade of pretending that we care about these strangers whose personalities we know nothing about and that are in effect irrelevant, men who are interchangeable and who take a job for the holiday season for little reason other than the salary? And why do parents feel it obligatory to go through the drill of placing their kids on their laps to “tell Santa what you want for Christmas”? The authentic Santa Claus knew what his parishioners needed, and he found ways to enhance their lives by assuring them that they would not starve, nor be imprisoned, not put to death, nor be forced into a marriage they would loathe only because their father did not have the means to provide them a suitable dowry. Those were real problems that he solved, not presents few need and less appreciate. And that’s the authentic Orthodox spirit of Christmas.