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MORE POWER TO THEM!!!

We taught our children about SAINT NICOLAS, a servant of our Lord Jesus Christ.

A bishop in 3rd century Lycia (SW modern Turkey). reknown for his lifesaving of shipwrecked sailors and special concern for students and children in general. A member of the council of Nicea (Nicene Creed).

The following is an article my son wrote for an imaginary 12th century newspaper for his 10th grade history class:

Sankt Nikolas Returns with Crusaders!

Nürnberg, den 7 Dezember
Many Nürnberger parents were puzzled yesterday by their children returning from their errands in town with stories of a kind old gentleman giving them treats. Or perhaps they saw the white-bearded bishop for themselves as he strolled around the marktplatz in his vestments. Many of us saw the church patriarch handing the young people pastries and small coins and wondered who he was. So too, did not a few us enjoy a good chuckle when a rude or unchurched youth was chased and switched by the man's dark-skinned (a Muslim?) companion!
Well, this is to notify everyone that he was St Nikolas and he was accompanied by his servant, Knecht Ruprecht. His presence in our city is due to the wish of our beloved prinzess to establish the custom that was related to her by several of our valiant knights just recently returned from the holy land. During the crusade, many of our knights spent time in the area of southwestern Turkey. There, in the region known as Lycia, they learned of a quaint custom of the local inhabitants to keep the memory of one the early church fathers alive. The story of St Nikolas goes all the way back to the very earliest days of Christendom. Nikolas was the bishop for the people of Lycia during the first part of the fourth century. He was a representative at the council of Nicea and helped codify our beliefs into the simple statement of faith that we now know as the Nicene Creed. In his parish, Nikolas was famous for saving innumerable sailors’ lives, many miraculously, of those shipwrecked along the coast, Yet, what was most endearing to his flock was his special concern and love for the students and young people in general. Illustrative of this love is this story they tell of a poor, but proud man with two daughters that in lived in one of the parish towns. When the eldest daughter came of marriageable age, she hoped to be wed to a local nobleman's son whom she was in love with, but her father was too poor to provide a dowry. When the young couple's plight came to Nikolas’s attention, he sought to help, but he knew the girl's father was too proud to accept charity. So, late one night, Nikolas crept into their home and left a pouch of gold and silver coins from the parish's treasury on the family's table. The girl's father was very embarrassed upon finding the money, but not knowing whom to return it to, thanked God for the anonymous donor, and gave it to his daughter for her dowry. The girl and her betrothed were married soon after. Not too long later, the man's youngest daughter found herself in similar circumstance, and her father took to locking his door and shuttering his windows at night to prevent any recurrence of the mysterious charity.
However the bishop, finding the house well secured, climbed onto the roof at night and dropped the sack of money down the chimney!
These deeds and countless others made the bishop so beloved of the people that, when he passed into glory, they strove to emulate his love for children. They remembered his giving-spirit by reenacting the secret nocturnal charities with their children in the wee hours of every Dezember sixth, the day he cast off his mortal shell. It is the hope and desire of our prinzess that this beautiful custom be adopted by all Nürnbergers and that 6 Dezember will henceforth be known as Saint Nikolas Day. She makes one additional request: do not let your children lose sight of the fact that this wonderful man is a faithful servant of our Lord Jesus Christ and seeks no glory for himself.