A few years ago, I met a friend who had been one of my best college classmates. He had not known for a while because years after graduating he had left the country and, at the time of our meeting, he had his residence in Holland but was visiting Venezuela because he wanted to come and visit his family and enjoy his vacation.

In our meeting we talked about everything and everyone. From our couples and jobs to the existing situations in the countries where we lived. And in that process of speaking and listening, he gave me some souvenirs among which was a ceramic figure with a long white beard and a red suit. In relation to such a particular figure, my friend told me, in a forceful way, that:

I looked at the figure in detail and then kept it. Since that time in December when I decorate my house with Christmas motifs, I take the figure out to be part of my decoration, ignoring the information I already had about it. I don't know if I did it by rebellion or because it looks like a saint. What I do know is that every time I dust it off and put it on the counter I remember my friend and our former encounter.

At the beginning of December of this year I read a publication placed by Father Chulalo, a Catholic father whom I follow through social networks, and in whose article he states that Saint Nicholas of Bari is Santa Claus (Santa Claus or Saint Nicholas). What a surprise for me! Of course, I read the whole article and researched in Wikipedia and the story is that in Lycia (now Turkish territory) was born a child whose family was very wealthy. Due to the plague that hit the city where they lived he lost his parents so he receives a great inheritance. Seeing the difficult situation that some of his neighbors were going through due to the above mentioned disease, he decides to distribute to them some of his goods to buy food and medicine.

He then moved to Mira where, at the age of nineteen, he was ordained a priest and eventually became a bishop. It is said that, being already a bishop of advanced age and in spite of all the vicissitudes he went through (he was in prison), he always walked happily, especially when he was surrounded by children to whom he gave gifts while he spoke to them about Christ. This bishop died in 343 in the city of Mira but his remains were later transferred to Bari, Italy, where they are still found.

Because he has been awarded countless miracles, he has been considered a saint, being venerated in many regions especially in Holland. So when the Dutch emigrated to the United States and founded New Amsterdam (later called New York), they brought with them the veneration they have for Sinterklaas, a name that was later transformed into English for Santa Claus and Spanish for St. Nicholas.

The commercial image we know today of Santa Claus, a robust man with a long beard and a sack full of gifts, was made by the German cartoonist Thomas Nast for Harper magazine in 1864, inspired by Clement Moore's poem entitled "The Night Before Christmas". Over time the image was added color and has been used for many advertising spots.