Athens 1890

The Historic Saint Nicholas

The real Saint Nicholas who inspired the modern idea of Santa Claus was Saint Nicholas of Myra, a Greek Catholic bishop. He was born into a wealthy family in 270 and was religious from a young age. When he devoted his life to religion, he used his immense inherited wealth to benefit the poor, paying dowries for young ladies so that they wouldn't have to engage in prostitution and provided much support for the less fortunate. His generosity was what led to him becoming associated with the gift giving of the Christmas season; eventually inspiring the idea of Santa Claus.

How Do You Solve a Problem Like Macrina?

Everything we think we know about nuns and monastic life today was actually created by a lesser known Saint from the 300s- Macrina the Younger. 

 

Prior to Macrina, nuns were expected to be virgins and virtuous from the very beginning. Nunneries would not accept a widowed woman or anyone who might have come into their religious awakening late in life. Macrina actually was a virgin when she joined a convent, but coming from a wealthy family, she was forbidden from taking vows by her father. He betrothed her to a similarly wealthy young man from another prosperous family who passed away before they were actually old enough to marry.

Macrina took advantage of the situation; while her father sought another young suitor for her, she declared herself a "spiritual widow," since she had been betrothed to another. Her father gave into her wishes and she eventually setup a convent of her own. In her thinking, however, a woman (or anyone for that matter) could become a virgin by taking vows and becoming chaste. As long as someone committed to it, one could join her convent.

 

Eventually, her widowed mother would join Macrina, becoming a nun in Macrina's convent after Macrina's father passed away. Oddly enough, despite her father's reluctance, Macrina's family would have three saints in it- Saint Basil, Saint Gregory of Nyssa and herself. Her brother's hagiography of her life would cement her religious achievements. While she has become a lesser known Saint these days in the western world, she is a hugely popular one in the Eastern Orthodox Church.