Tuesday, December 6, 2022
Commemoration of St. Nicholas of Myra
- Reflection by Connor Freeman
“Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.”
This was the response of The Sun when, in 1897, eight-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor, inquiring:
Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
Papa says, ‘If you see it in The Sun it’s so.’
Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?
“Virginia, your little friends are wrong,” began the now-famous reply, which appeared in the editorial pages on Sept. 21, 1897:
[…] Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.
Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! […] Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.
You may tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.
No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.
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I have a very clear memory of my mother reading this letter to me when, as a young boy, I confronted her about the reality of Santa Claus. I sat patiently next to her in the sunroom armchair and listened politely to the entire thing … after which, my mom asked: “Now, does that answer your question?”
“No.” was my stubborn reply.
Alas! even at that age, I already had a legalistic mind. “That was all very nice, I said… “but is there an actual, literal man with a literal beard who lives in the North Pole and literally flies around the world to give children literal presents?”
Even my mom, in her infinitely delicate parenting wisdom, had only answer that she could furnish in good conscience to that question. And it made me cry for a while.
Today, December 6th, is the day that Christians all around the world — east and west; Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant — pause to commemorate Saint Nicholas of Myra. St. Nick was a literal man with a literal beard who lived in what is now literally southwestern Turkey. He died in Myra around 343 AD. And while he may not have flown around the world giving presents to children, he certainly led a remarkable life. Among the many stories of his ministry, he is said to have rescued children from prostitution, saved innocent prisoners from execution, been imprisoned himself for his Christian faith, and had a hand in developing early Nicene theology; he was eventually elected Bishop of Myra. As with many great Christians of his age, the precise details of Nicholas’ life are rather fuzzy. What he literally did is the subject of much dispute. But who Nicholas was seems clear; he was a person whose faith in the love and peace of Christ, which surpasses all understanding, inspired him to lead a life of warm and compassionate service to the poor, the margianlized, and especially to children.
The stories that the Christian community tells about Saint Nicholas have grown and spread and sometimes even become pretty silly in the 1,679 years since his death. The legalistic boy that I am at heart is still troubled by that sometimes. But as a child of God who has learned to love mystery, fantasy, and wonder, I also find delight in such things.
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. There was once a man called Nicholas who loved to love his neighbors. There are stories about him that inspire others to do the same. There is a spirit in the holidays that unites people, that causes them to pause and dwell in the turning of the earth. It nudges us to share the warm fire that lives within us with people whose fires may be growing dim. There is a wonder in the world, perhaps especially in this cold, slow, beautiful season of putting up lights in the darkness, that defies all our attempts to describe it “literally.”
Above all, there is a promise affixed to this time of year. It is a promise that Nicholas knew well: a promise of peace, comfort, joy, and holy mystery. It is coming soon! and it is very real, indeed.
