St. Nicholas was born in the town of Patara in 245 A.D.
When he was young, his father died and left Nicholas
a great fortune. Instead of spending it on himself,
Nicholas started anonymously giving
the money to the needy, especially children.

Nicholas eventually became the Bishop of Myra
(modern-day Demre in Turkey), where he
performed several miracles, including saving sailors
from drowning and resurrecting three boys who
had been killed by an evil butcher. Today,
St. Nicholas is the patron saint of children,
sailors, teachers, students and merchants.

But the most famous St. Nicholas story led to the
legend of Santa Claus. A nobleman who lived
with his three daughters had fallen on hard times.
The daughters had no chance of marriage,
since their father could not pay their dowries.

One night, St. Nicholas threw a sack of gold through
a window of the nobleman's shabby castle,
which was enough for one daughter's marriage. The
next night, he tossed another sack
of gold through the window for the second daughter.

But on the third night, the window was closed. So,
St. Nicholas climbed onto the roof and dropped
the sack down the chimney. The next morning, the
daughters found the gold in the stockings
they had hung to dry by the fireplace.

Hence the tradition of hanging stockings on
Christmas Eve, awaiting a visit from St. Nick.