happy Svaty Mikulas day!.. he saved 3 girls from the life of prostitution. encouraged as that is my focus here in London at the moment. here is a little more about him...honoring the Saints and the testimonies of their lives that were spent sacrificing, serving and loving God and others.
"Saint Nicholas (or Svätý Mikuláš in Slovak) was a pilgrim and later a bishop and a saint born in the year 270AD in the town of Myra, in the present-day Turkey. He became famous for his extended generosity, secret gift-giving and performing miracles for the poor and the unlucky. As such, he became the patron of humanitarian brotherhoods, sailors, unmarried women, tradesmen, students and so on. He is also the patron saint of Russia and Greece. Saint Nicholas Day celebrates the life of this philanthropist, who passed away on December 6th, 346AD.
Among his most famous good deeds was saving three girls from the life of prostitution. According to the legend, their dad, a poor man, could not afford the dowry. Since he didn’t want his daughters to remain unmarried, he forced them to work this way to earn some money. When St. Nicholas learned of this misgiving, he started throwing sacks of gold coins through the girls’ windows. After three days (or three years, depending on the source), the father realized the error of his ways (or had enough money saved up). There are many variations of this story. In some, St. Nicholas tosses the coins down the chimney. In others, the coins land in one of the girl’s stockings, which she left out to dry.
Does this sound bit like the story of the American Santa Claus? Well, it ought to! See, the Dutch name for St. Nicholas is Sinterklaas, which had morphed into Santa Claus. Santa even looks very much like St. Nick. The difference is that St. Nicholas is wears a bishop’s hat (rd to match his coat) and holds a long bishop stick capped with a spiral."
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