December 6: the feast day of St. Nicolas, whose name, over the 1700 years since he lived, has morphed into Santa Claus.
In paintings, he does have a beard, but there are no reindeer in view. What is known is that he was a Greek bishop in the city of Myra in what is now Turkey. And he is said to have saved three young sisters from a miserable life on the street by valuable gifts, delivered secretly, at night, as Santa Claus is now believed to bring gifts.
It might be expected that Nicolas would be the patron saint of children, but he is revered also as the patron of a number of others, including sailors, merchants, archers, pawnbrokers, brewers and repentant thieves.
We're hoping ink-stained scribes may squeeze in there, as well.
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