Who could not think of the spirit of Christmas? Of course, a lot knows about Christmas but most people doesn't know who is Christ, or if they knew, they would disregard him as the true source of Christmas. Saint Nicholas is also commercialized by greedy people so that people will not see who he is really.
But to those people like me that believed in true Christianity, Saint Nicholas is a defender of Orthodoxy, against the heretical Arian. He is also the saint of sea-farers and miners. Why is he so?
His feast was being celebrated by the time of St. Justinian two centuries after his death. After Methodius' life of Nicholas became available, Nicholas was acclaimed and honored throughout Europe and especially in Italy. When Myra was captured by the Saracens in 1034, many Italian cities planned to "rescue" his relics. In 1087, forces from Bari, Italy, attacked Myra and carried away his relics from the lawful Greek guardians in Myra to Bari where they were enshrined in a new church. His fame increased. The story of his rescue of sailors in the Aegean Sea during his lifetime established him as the patron of mariners. His popularity in Russia rose to the point that almost all churches had some sort of shrine honoring St. Nicholas.
He is a well known saint in Russia, Greece and some Slavas in Serbia are dedicated to him. With that said, would you still believe Santa Claus is fiction amd is just a gift giver to children?
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