Today is the feast of St. Nicholas. If you follow the link to the Daily Office on our online Advent calendar you will find a nice essay by James Kiefer on the real St. Nick called “Nicholas of Myra: Friend of Children, Giver of Gifts, Climber of Chimneys, etc.”
The mother, or maybe it is father, of all St. Nicholas sites, however, is maintained by the Saint Nicholas Center, founded by Carol Myers and our friend and colleague Jim Rosenthal, director of communications for the Anglican Communion. There you can find the saint’s bio, info on how his feast is celebrated in other countries, and some online children’s activities of which I am envious, and, as they say on television promos, much, much more.
The only thing missing, to my way of thinking is a podcast of Maurice Chevalier’s version of Jolly Old St. Nicholas. Something about the way he articulates the words “Millie wants a picture book,” always brings a smile to my face.
By the way, Jim and co-author Joe Wheeler have written St. Nicholas: A Closer Look at Christmas, which you can learn about here.
Update: Ruth Gledhill of the Times covered the saint’s visit to Sloan Square on the 6th.