Did you know that December 6 is the feast day for Saint Nicholas?  It sure is! And some of my readers know very well that I cannot let this day pass unnoticed.

Let’s see what Wikipedia has to say about it:

Saint Nicholas (Greek: Ἅγιος Νικόλαος, Hagios Nikólaos, Latin: Sanctus Nicolaus); (15 March 270 – 6 December 343),^[3][4] also called Nikolaos of Myra, was a historic 4th-century Christian saint and Greek^[5] Bishop of Myra (Demre, part of modern-day Turkey)^[6] in Lycia. Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker (Νικόλαος ὁ Θαυματουργός, Nikolaos ho Thaumaturgos).

Like I said, it’s all Greek to me.  Or, maybe I didn’t say it, but I thought it.

Nicholas had a reputation for secret gift-giving, such as putting coins in the shoes of those who left them out for him, a practice celebrated on his feast day―St Nicholas Day (6 December in Western Christianity and 19 December in Eastern Christianity);^[7] and thus became the model for Santa Claus, whose modern name comes from the Dutch Sinterklaas, itself from a series of elisions and corruptions of the transliteration of “Saint Nikolaos”.

Goodness gracious it is so much easier to quote Wikipedia than to explain all this myself. I love living in the 21st century!

His reputation evolved among the faithful, as was common for early Christian saints.^[8] In 1087, part of the relics (about half of the bones) were furtively translated to Bari, in Apulia, Italy; for this reason, he is also known as Nikolaos of Bari. The remaining bones were taken to Venice in 1100.

Hmmm…where is Bari?

Is Bari notable?

Why, yes it is, thanks for asking! Wiki, whadya say?

Bari is the capital city of the province of Bari and of the Apulia (or, in Italian, Puglia) region, on the Adriatic Sea, in Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy after Naples, and is well known as a port and university city, as well as the city of Saint Nicholas. The city itself has a population of about 320,475, as of 2011, over 116 square kilometres (45 sq mi), while the fast-growing urban area counts 653,028 inhabitants over 203 square kilometres (78 sq mi). The metropolitan area counts 1 million inhabitants.

Bari is made up of four different urban sections. To the north is the closely built old town on the peninsula between two modern harbours, with the Basilica of Saint Nicholas, the Cathedral of San Sabino (1035–1171) and the Hohenstaufen Castle built for Frederick II, which is now also a major nightlife district. To the south is the Murat quarter (erected by Joachim Murat), the modern heart of the city, which is laid out on a rectangular grid-plan with a promenade on the sea and the major shopping district (the via Sparano and via Argiro).

And then that makes me wonder about this:

Basilica di San Nicola

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Basilica of Saint Nicholas Basilica di San Nicola
The Basilica di San Nicola by night.

The interior.

The Basilica di San Nicola (Basilica of Saint Nicholas) is a church in Bari, southern Italy, that holds wide religious significance throughout Europe and the Christian world. The basilica is an important pilgrimage destination both for Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians from Eastern Europe.

The basilica was built between 1087 and 1197, during the Italo-Norman domination of Apulia, the area previously occupied by the Byzantine Catapan of which Bari was the seat. Its foundation is related to the stealing of some of the relics of St. Nicholas from the saint’s original shrine in Myra, in what is now Turkey. When Myra passed into the hands of the Saracens, some saw it as an opportunity to move the saint’s relics to a more hospitable location. According to the justifying legend, the saint, passing by the city on his way to Rome, had chosen Bari as his burial place. There was great competition for the relics between Venice and Bari. The latter won, the relics were carried off under the noses of the lawful Greek custodians and their Muslim masters, and on May 9, 1087, were safely landed at Bari. A new church was built to shelter Nicholas’ remains and Pope Urban II was present at the consecration of the crypt in 1089.

There it is again, that pesky East meets West conflict.  Can’t we all just get along?  Ever?

And that is all you really need to know about St. Nicholas today. Thanks for stopping by and keeping the original St. Nick’s memory alive!