St. Nicholas Visit

It is an annual tradition at St. Monica that St. Nicholas visit the children and bring them a gift to celebrate the feast of St.

Nicholas (the original Santa Claus). His feast day is December 6th.
Nicholas was born during the third century in the village of Patara. At the time the area was Greek and is now on the southern coast of Turkey. His wealthy parents, who raised him to be a devout Christian, died in an epidemic while Nicholas was still young. Obeying Jesus' words to "sell what you own and give the money to the poor," Nicholas used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering. He dedicated his life to serving God and was made Bishop of Myra while still a young man. Bishop Nicholas became known throughout the land for his generosity to those in need, his love for children, and his concern for sailors and ships.

Through the centuries many stories and legends have been told of St. Nicholas’ life. One of these stories tells that Nicholas hearing an impoverished father had to sell his three daughters into slavery because he had no money for their marriage dowry, Nicholas threw a small bag of gold into the poor man’s window on three different evenings, and his daughters were able to marry.