you. In fact, you have been the pa tron saint for the whole of Russia for many centuries until lately, when they have had no use for saint or Saviour. Many queer customs h a v e arisen over your memory. They say you were greatly loved during your lifetime because of your habit of giving unexpected gifts to your friends and needy parishioners. And now, on the eve of St. Nicholas, the children of the Netherlands fill their wooden shoes with hay and place them for your white horse to eat as you leap from house-top to house top leaving candles and toys. Here in America, and / warn you that you may not like this, we have made your name into a contraction of the Dutch San Nicholas. We call you Santa Claus. To us you have become a legendary figure, quite in dispensable to our celebration of Christmas which is a day intended rather to commemorate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Christmas today is celebrated by saint and sinner alike. In fact, the sinners have almost taken it over entirely. The thing that l am sure would be most displeasing to your
Dear St. Nicholas: This is one letter written to you this year that w ill not be filled with requests for presents. It isn’t that I don’t believe in you, for I do. At least I believe that you once lived on this earth. If you should really make an appearance on this earth, as people say you do each Christmas Eve, I’m sure you would dislike what you would see. From what I’ve read about you, you were probably a true Christian. They say you were Bishop of Myra during the time of Diocletian; that you were persecut ed, imprisoned for years, tortured and finally martyred for your faith in Christ. This strikes a warm spot in mv heart, for I, too, love the same Lord for whom you died. You would be interested to learn that in the ninth century you were sainted by an ecclesiastical hierar chy and that hundreds of churches have been dedicated to your name. You have been named as the special protector of children, scholars, mer chants and sailors; and travelers in voke your help against robbers be fore they begin their joiirneys. Sev eral Russian czars were named after
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