You know, lots of people think that St. Nicholas is just another name for Santa Claus
But Santa is also called Father Christmas, Kris Kringle, and some other names
But behind all of these names is a boy who lived in what is now western Turkey about 1700 years ago
His name was Nicholas
Now when Nicholas was a little boy, a plague struck his home town and both his parents got sick and they died
He went to live with his uncle who was a monk in a monastery, who taught him all about God and Jesus
Now when Nicholas' parents died, they left him all of their money
But monks are supposed to be poor, so Nicholas resolved to give it all away, especially to other children in trouble
There's a wonderful story about three girls who cold not get married because they had no dowries
Now in those days a girl had to have a big sum of money, or a dowry, if she was to marry
If she didn't, she'd be sold as a slave
Nicholas heard of this and he came up with a plan
Late at night he tossed a stocking full of gold coins through the bedroom window of the oldest daughter
Soon she married a good husband
She said she had the dowry hidden away in her sock
Nicholas again tossed a sock full of money through the window of the second daughter
She, too, soon married
But when Nicholas crept up to the house with the third sock full of money for the third daughter, he found all of the windows were shut
So he did what boys sometimes do
He climbed up on the roof and he dropped it down the chimney and it landed in the girl's shoes, which were beside the hearth
When she, too, married claiming that her dowry was in her shoes, people were amazed, and they said to one another, "It's some kind of miracle."
St. Nicholas was an orphan boy who became a priest and then a bishop, who loved Jesus and God and gave away all of his wealth to the poor, and especially to children in trouble