#WingedWordsWindsday: 2023/12/06 -- St. Nicholas' Day!

 

WINGED WORDS WINDSDAY

Compiled & Edited by Rob Chappell (@RHCLambengolmo)

Vol. 3, No. 6: December 6, 2023

 

 

St. Nicholas’ Day!

 

Editor’s Note

                Now that the holiday season has more-or-less “officially” begun, I have some poetry and prose to share with you about the Yuletide gift-giver who is most familiar in North America – Santa Claus. Despite the misappropriation of this beloved figure by commercial interests each December, Santa’s core message remains the same from one generation to the next, and it’s a message that isn’t limited to a single holiday or religion or culture or nation. Here’s how Fred Astaire summarized the message of Santa Claus in the closing narration of the classic Rankin-Bass holiday special, Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (1970):

“But what would happen if we all tried to be like Santa and learned to give, as only he can give: of ourselves, our talents, our love and our hearts? Maybe we could all learn Santa’s beautiful lesson, and maybe there would finally be peace on Earth and good will toward men.”

                 First of all, I’d like to share with you the most famous newspaper editorial in American history – to remind us all that we have a wonderful opportunity to share our stories, insights, and encouragement with a world that stands in desperate need of HOPE. And now (drumroll, please) – without further delay (cue the spotlight) – here’s the most famous newspaper editorial in American history!

 

“Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus” (1897)

By Francis Pharcellus Church

Source: http://www.newseum.org/yesvirginia/

“DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, ‘If you see it in THE SUN it’s so.’ Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?

VIRGINIA O'HANLON

115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET”

                VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great Universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge

                Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

                Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

                You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

                No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

 

Selections from My Remarks at the ACES Honors Symposium

Friday, April 13^th, 2007

Editor’s Note: Here are some of my own reflections on the message of Santa Claus – a message for all people, all over the world, especially for children, their families, and their caregivers.

                In L. Frank Baum’s classic holiday tale, The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (1902), we meet a young man named Claus, a human foundling raised by the immortal denizens of an enchanted forest. In his young manhood, he chose to dwell among mortal humans because he wanted to share the joys of his own happy childhood with the children of humankind. At first he simply played, sang, and shared stories with the children who lived near his home in the Laughing Valley of Hohaho, but afterward, he “invented” the first toys and spread the joy of giving Yuletide gifts around the world.

                Claus obtained endless life within the circles of the world, when the immortals who had raised him endowed him with the Mantle of Immortality. They gave Claus such a momentous gift because Claus had seen that the lives of mortal children in that long-ago time were filled with drudgery and misery, and he had determined to correct this injustice by sharing with them the fruits of his experience – namely, that a happy childhood, filled with kindness and giving, could lay the foundation for a better world when the children grew up.

                Baum summarizes so eloquently the lessons to be drawn from his mythical biography of Santa Claus that they require no further comment on my part. He writes:

·         Everything perishes except the world itself and its keepers. But while life lasts, everything on Earth has its use. The wise seek ways to be helpful to the world, for the helpful ones are sure to live again. … Yet every man has his mission, which is to leave the world better, in some way, than he found it. (Book I, Chapters 6 & 7)

·         [Santa Claus] brought toys to the children because they were little and helpless, and because he loved them. He knew that the best of children were sometimes naughty, and that the naughty ones were often good. It is the way with children, the world over, and he would not have changed their natures had he possessed the power to do so.  And that is how our Claus became Santa Claus. It is possible for any man, by good deeds, to enshrine himself as a Saint in the hearts of the people.  (Book II, Chapter 9)

·         It is true that great warriors and mighty kings and clever scholars of that day were often spoken of by the people; but no one of them was so greatly beloved as Santa Claus, because none other was so unselfish as to devote himself to making others happy. For a generous deed lives longer than a great battle or a king's decree or a scholar's essay, because it spreads and leaves its mark on all nature and endures through many generations. (Book II, Chapter 11)

·         “In all this world there is nothing so beautiful as a happy child,” says good old Santa Claus; and if he had his way, the children would all be beautiful, for all would be happy. (Book III, Chapter 3)

 

Some Historical Background on St. Nicholas and Santa Claus

                The historical St. Nicholas was an early Christian bishop in the city of Myra, located in present-day Turkey. Born around the year 270, he was imprisoned for his faith during the last Roman persecution of Christians by the Emperor Diocletian in the early 4^th century CE. Nicholas was released following the proclamation of religious tolerance by Constantine the Great, the first Christian Roman Emperor, in 313. Nicholas was well-known for his care for the most vulnerable members of society, especially widows, orphans, and the poor. In 325, he attended the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, which formulated the earliest version of the Nicene Creed.

                After his death in 343, Nicholas’ fame as a gift-giver spread far and wide throughout Christendom. On December 6^th, children across Europe still eagerly await St. Nicholas’ annual visit, hanging up their stockings the night before, in the hope that the saintly bishop will leave them some candy, fruit, or small gifts. In North America, thanks to the influence of the poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” children await the annual visit of “Santa Claus” on Christmas Eve.

 

Painting of the historical St. Nicholas, in bishop’s regalia, by Jaroslav Čermák (1831-1878). (Image Credit: Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

 

“A Visit from St. Nicholas”

(“The Night Before Christmas”)

By Clement Clarke Moore (1823)

 'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds;

While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;

And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,

Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap,

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash,

Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow,

Gave a luster of midday to objects below,

When what to my wondering eyes did appear,

But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer,

With a little old driver so lively and quick,

I knew in a moment he must be St. Nick.

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,

And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:

"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now Prancer and Vixen!

On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donner and Blitzen!

To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!

Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"

As leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;

So up to the housetop the coursers they flew

With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too —

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof

The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.

As I drew in my head, and was turning around,

Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,

And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;

A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,

And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.

His eyes — how they twinkled! his dimples, how merry!

His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!

His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,

And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow;

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,

And the smoke, it encircled his head like a wreath;

He had a broad face and a little round belly

That shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,

And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head

Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,

And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,

And laying his finger aside of his nose,

And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,

And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.

But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight —

“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”

 

“A St. Nicholas Verse”

(Traditional German Rhyme)

     Upon his snow white steed

    With wind and lightning speed

    St. Nicholas leaves the sky

    And comes a riding by.

 

    The little hare hops nigh

    And lifts his nose up high.

    The stag, with pointing horn,

    Jumps over bush and thorn.

 

    And all the creatures dear

    Are drawing quickly near.

    Before St. Nicholas bow

    Their little heads so low.

 

    But we will learn a tune

    Of sun and star and moon,

    And sing our happy lay,

    Sing on St. Nicholas day.

 

“Up on the Housetop” (1864)

By Benjamin Hanby

(Lyrics Slightly Updated)

 1. Up on the housetop, reindeer pause;

Out jumps good old Santa Claus!

Down through the chimney with lots of toys,

All for the little ones’ Christmas joys.

 

Refrain:

Ho, Ho, Ho! Who wouldn't go?

Ho, Ho, Ho! Who wouldn't go?

Up on the housetop, click, click, click –

Down through the chimney with good Saint Nick!

 

2. First comes the stocking of little Nell.

Oh, dear Santa, fill it well!

Give her a dolly that laughs and cries,

One that will open and shut her eyes.

 

(Refrain)

 

3. Next comes the stocking of little Will.

Oh, just see what a glorious fill!

Here is a hammer and lots of tacks,

Also a ball and a duck that quacks.

 

(Refrain)

 

Cover of the original 1902 edition of The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum. This book was a favorite Yuletide story in the home of the Editor’s great-grandparents during the early 1900s. (Image Credit: Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)