St. Nicholas is one of the more popular saints in the Christian
world. Considered the patron saint of children, his name has been
corrupted to the form "Santa Claus". The Bishop of Myra in
Lycia (south-eastern Asia Minor), St. Nicholas is thought by many to have
attended the First Ecumenical Council at Nicea, here he purportedly confronted
Arius, whose decension was the cause of the Council. St. Nicholas' popularity
increased in the West after 1087, when the residents of Bari, Italy, claimed
to be in possesion of his relics
Photo by John Washinsky
Text by the Ken Mitchel Family
