Yesterday
Sinterklaas has arrived in the Netherlands. Who? Well, Saint Nicolas, the
patron of sailors, thieves and children. Every year around this time he arrives
from Spain with his ship and leaves in the night of 5 to 6 December. As long as
he is here, children, when going to bed, can put now and then their shoe next
to the chimney (by lack of chimneys the central heating is also allowed) and
the next morning they find a small present in it. On the evening of the 5th
of December there is the grand finale: Sinterklaas is then celebrating his
birthday, but instead of accepting presents, he gives presents away to children!
Various
things are utterly wrong from a historical point of view: he is not from Spain,
but from Asia Minor, it is not his birthday, but his death that is celebrated
on the 6th of December - in earlier times a new day started at the
sunset - and finally, he is not alive anymore. My parents told me that when I
was 7 or 8 and as a staunch believer in Sinterklaas I was shocked. My dear
daughter spoiled the fun for me when she was 6. Having watched the arrival of
Sinterklaas at the place where my parents live, she said: `Dad, it is
impossible that the same man arrives in various places at the same time and
besides he has a false beard!’
Contrary
to many early saints, Saint Nicolas was real, living from 270- 6th
December 343. He was bishop of Myra, modern-day Demre on the Turkish Mediterranean
coast. He was from rich parents and used his wealth to help poor people. That
is to say according to legend, but as after his death his tomb soon became a
pilgrim place, he must have been a remarkable man and there might well be some
truth in the legend. Saint Nicolas has become one of the most popular saints
both in the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches.
It
is from Sinterklaas that Santa Claus has been evolved, that obese and ugly
fellow. When in 2000 the Russian government donated a statue of Saint Nicolas
to Demre to be put in the centre of the city, the following happened (I quote
from the wiki link below): `In 2005, mayor Suleyman Topcu had the statue
replaced by a red-suited plastic Santa Claus statue, because he wanted the
central statue to be more recognizable to visitors from all over the world.
Protests from the Russian government against this action were successful only
to the extent that the Russian statue was returned, without its original high
pedestal, to a corner near the church.’ How tasteless!
The
following extract is taken from the Legenda
Aurea by Jacobus de Voragine (1228/9 – 1298). The Legenda Aurea is a large collection of the lives of saints and
became widely popular in the late Middle Ages. To be honest, after reading 3
lives it becomes pretty boring and predictable.
Saint
Nicolas hears that out of poverty one of his neighbours has no other option but
to let his three daughters work as prostitutes. He decides to help the poor
children.
Tunc quidam contermineus suus satis
nobilis tres filias ob inopiam prostituere cogitur, ut sic earum commercio
aleretur. Quod ubi sanctus comperit, scelus abhorruit et massam auri panno
involutam in domum eius per fenestram nocte clam iecit et clam recessit. Mane
autem surgens homo massam auri reperit et Deo gratiam agens primogenitae
nuptias celebravit. Non multo post tempore Dei famulus simile peregit opus.
Quod rursus ille reperiens etiam laudes immensas prorumpens de cetero vigilare
proposuit, ut sciret, quis esset, qui suae inopiae subvenisset. Post paucos
etiam dies duplicatam auri massam in dornum proiecit, ad cuius sonitum ille
excitatur et Nicolaum fugientem insequitur talique voce alloquitur: “Siste
gradum teque aspectui ne subtrahas meo.” Sicque accurrens velocius Nicolaum
hunc esse cognovit. Mox humi prostratus osculari volebat pedes eius, quod ille
refutans ab eo exegit, ne eum, quamdiu viveret, publicaret.
contermineus
= neighbour
satis nobilis
= though of noble birth
ob
inopiam = because of poverty
commercio,
-onis = income (commercio
is mediaeval Latin for commercium)
alo alui altum/alitum
= to feed, nourish, increase
comperio peri pertum
= to gain knowledge of
scelus, sceleris
(n) = shameful deed
massa
= mass. With this gold the neighbour had a dowry for his eldest daughter.
pannus
= piece of cloth
involutus (involvo)
= wrapped
clam
= secretly
reperio repperi
(reperi) repertus = to find
primogenita
= firstborn daughter
nuptiae – arum
= marriage
famulus
= servant
perago opus
= perform a work
rursus
= again
ille:
the poor neighbour
prorumpo rupi ruptum
= to break out
de cetero
= for the rest
propono posui positum
= propose, decide
subvenio
+ dat. = come to the help of
sonitus , -us
= sound
excito
= to rouse
talis
= such
Siste gradum teque
aspectui ne subtrahas meo: Stop your pace, in order
that you do not withdraw from my sight.
velocius
= faster
mox
= soon
humi
= on the ground
osculor
= to kiss
refuto
= to refuse
exigo egi actum
= to demand
publico
= to make known
Translation
(the extract is the third paragraph)
A
Russian icon of Saint Nicolas from 1294
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