I trust that all of you are enjoying this Christmas season, for it is truly a special time of the year.  May God’s greatest gift to us, His Son, continue to bless you during this most blessed time and throughout the New Year.

While the following is not Christmas trivia in the true sense of the word, it is connected to St. Nicholas.

Most of you probably know that Pope Paul VI demoted Saint Nicholas (along with dozens of other saints) by removing him from the Vatican’s liturgical calendar of saints.  The grounds for this banishment were that there was no real proof he ever existed.

This created a huge problem on Italy’s lower Adriatic coast, where, in the city of Bari, St. Nicholas is the patron saint and where his bones are reputed to be buried.  Interestingly, he is venerated for things having nothing to do with Yuletide.  For example, he is the patron and protector of shipwrecked sailors and also the guardian of young girls without a dowry.

In Bari, the big day for St. Nicola (Italian for St. Nicholas) is not at Christmas but in May, on the anniversary of the day in 1087 when sailors came back from Asia Minor with Nicholas’ body, and the fourth-century bishop was declared a saint by the Barese people, who built a large basilica in the old city in his name.  To honor the anniversary of St. Nicola, Bari’s entire flag-decorated fishing fleet takes a symbolic casket out to sea and brings it into port, amid feasting and street parades.

In addition to the fact that there is no record of the canonization of St. Nicola by the Vatican, what are the other grievances that Vatican has against this “saint.”

The first is that around the altar where the Saint’s holy bones were buried is an intricate design on the floor with a few Arabic words imbedded that say: “There is no God but God, and Mohammed is his prophet!”  Apparently the Arab artists who were commissioned for the work in the eleventh century imbedded in their design the creed of the Moslem religion, and it was several centuries later that the trick was discovered.  When word got out, Bari’s local priests did not want to ruin the exquisite floor, nor could they raise the necessary funds to alter it.  The Vatican disapproved of their decision to leave the floor alone but offered no money for alterations.

The second Vatican grievance is simply that the saint has taken on the role of Santa Claus.  The Vatican’s weekly newspaper said in an editorial that St. Nichola represents a monstrous substitution for the Christ Child, which offends the faith.

While I can see where the inscription could be an embarassment for the Church, I disagree with the editorial finding the idea of Santa Claus offensive to the faith.  The basic idea of Santa Claus and giving seems very Christian to me—the offensiveness, I believe, comes when individuals allow the idea of Santa Clause to become more important that the Christchild.

With all the law suits that take place, have you ever wondered if the Holy Father has ever been sued?

William Sheffield, a California law student, sued Pope Paul VI for the sum of $428.50 because a Swiss monastery did not deliver the St. Bernard puppy he had purchased.

Headlines at the time read: Pope loses Pip of a Suit over a Pup.  Another read, Vatican Is Dogmatic in Court.

Now an attorney in Sant Ana, Mr. Sheffield is the only person ever to have sued a pope.  An Alameda County judge awarded him the $428.50 for the puppy because a Roman Catholic monk in Switzerland never delived it.  The suit took six years of litigation and was filed against the Holy Father because, according to the litigation, the pope is ultimately responsible for the Church’s business obligations.  Just FYI, Sheffiels has never been able to collect.

Have a great week and may the Christchild bless each and every one of you.

Jim Beane