December 1, 2014 at 2:26 p.m.
Get to know St. Nicholas at St. Augustine's Church in Rhinelander
Get to know St. Nicholas at St. Augustine's Church in Rhinelander
By Kayla Thomason-
Visitors will learn stories about St. Nicholas, a real man who showed such compassion that he would be remembered thousands of years later.
Guests can also participate in several crafts such as coloring and making buttons to pin on shirts and making "wooden" paper shoes that will be stuffed with goodies before the children leave.
According to legend, on his feast day St. Nicholas leaves chocolate coins and other treats in children's shoes.
"(In) my wife's family it was just candy and in my family it was candy and an orange," said Father Dean Einerson, pastor at St. Augustine's.
When Einerson's wife was a child, St. Nick would knock on the door and throw candy and goodies into the house and "the children would scramble for it," he said. At his house the goodies could be found in their shoes.
Some children also receive little presents.
The St. Nicholas Center, has sent a package of about 20 displays about St. Nicholas, the real Nicholas and how he was morphed into Santa Claus.
"I think that one of the things that's so important about St. Nicholas is his generosity is generally directed toward people that are marginalized in one way or another," Einerson said.
Some well-known stories about St. Nicholas include the time when he gave wedding dowries to three girls whose father couldn't afford it.
"He saved several men from being executed who were convicted unjustly," Einerson said, referring to another story.
St. Nicholas, patron saint of sailors and children, saved some sailors from being caught in a storm.
"All these people are vulnerable, whether it is the girls are vulnerable to patriarchal notions of dowries and marriage and the boys are vulnerable to predators and the sailors - even though they are pretty tough guys - they are just as vulnerable as little children in the face of storms," Einerson said.
St. Nicholas was a real man who lived in the fourth century A.D. He was the bishop of Myra, a town in Asia Minor located in what is now Turkey.
"He was a real person and for some reason this sense of compassion gets attached to people's memory of him," Einerson said. "Nicholas must have been someone who somehow connected with the lives of the people in the city."
There is another story that shows Nicholas' compassion and explains why in the Orthodox church St. Nicholas has two feast days and another saint, Cassian, has one every four years.
"The legend is Cassian and Nicholas were supposed to have a meeting with God to tell him how things were going here on Earth and so they took a walk and they ran across a guy whose wagon had tipped over into a ditch and Nicholas said 'we'd better help him,'" Einerson said. "Nicholas goes down into the mud and gets his clothes all dirty helping the guy and Cassian says 'We can't get our clothes dirty because we have a meeting with God.'
So they get up to the meeting and God says 'Why are you all muddy, Nicholas?' and Nicholas explains and God is happy with Nicholas and gives him two feast days and Cassian only gets the one every four years."
St. Nicholas is celebrated all over the world.
"Nicholas is so interesting, we kind of associate him with Holland and he's a major cultural figure there," Einerson said.
Every city celebrates Sinterklaas around his feast day, which is Dec. 6, according to Einerson.
"I'm always amazed at how many people in Wisconsin - especially people from German Catholic communities - remember getting stuff on the morning of Dec. 6," Einerson said.
In some parts of the world people celebrate St. Nicholas more than they do Santa Claus.
"I think that in terms of mythology Nicholas is about so much more than just filling up the Christmas living room with as much stuff as you can," Einerson said. "Nicholas is about the lives of people here and now. That makes it worth calling attention to him. It's frankly just fun at this time of the year. The whole reason for calling attention to the saints is they're people that show us how to live like Jesus in their time and place so that we can kind of take their examples and apply it to our time and place."
The St. Nicholas Center's list of comparisons between the thin St. Nicholas and the jolly Santa Claus puts the thin man in a radiant light.
"Santa Claus belongs to childhood; St. Nicholas models for of all life," according to the center.
Santa Claus was created to boost Christmas sales while St. Nicholas tells the story of Christ and peace.
"Santa Claus encourages consumption; St. Nicholas encourages compassion."
Santa is seen and heard for a short time each year while "St. Nicholas is part of the communion of saints, surrounding us always with prayer and example."
Santa flies in a sleigh pulled by reindeer while St. Nicholas walked the earth.
For some people Santa Claus replaces Jesus while St. Nicholas points to the "Babe of Bethlehem."
"It's not that Santa Claus is bad it's just Nicholas is better," Einerson said, quoting a saying from St. Nicholas Center's website.
Einerson encourages parents to bring their children to the exhibit.
"I think the best way to see it is with a little kid," he said. "I'm glad that the St. Nicholas Center makes this available and I'm glad that St. Augustine's can make it available to Rhinelander. It gives people a chance to see the broader picture of Santa Claus."
Kayla Breese may be reached at [email protected].
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