Here lies Santa Claus
WE think we know where St. Patrick is dead and we don’t know where the unknown soldier lies, writes Michael Mullen.
Where is Santa Claus buried? The present Santa Claus was invented by Coca-Cola or some company like that. He is a large, jolly, happy man, red of cheek, white of beard, and he goes "Ho! Ho! Ho!"
Such a figure is grandpaternal and during the darkest time of the year brings comfort. The ruddy Santa Claus is for children.
When farmer Joe O’Connell first saw a piece of land in Kilkenny 12 years ago, he knew it was special. But little did the Co. Kilkenny farmer know just how unique when he bought the 115-acre Jerpoint Park property and its old manor, Belmore House, just outside Thomastown.
Unbeknownst to him, beneath the dense vegetation of his new property, lay the 12th-century ruins of the Church of St. Nicholas and the grave of the saint himself.
Joe also discovered the remnants of the medieval lost town of Newtown Jerpoint, close to the supposedly haunted Jerpoint Cistercian Abbey.
"I got the greatest fright when I discovered what I’d just purchased, hidden beneath decades of thick, deep brush and forests filled with oak, chestnut, lime, and beech trees," said Joe. "But Maeve and I, along with our children, Nicholas and Annabelle, accepted the challenge of being special custodians."
No wonder that Kilkenny win so many All-Irelands.
It is reputed that St. Nicholas was born in 260AD, in Patara, a coastal town in what is now Turkey. The poor knew him throughout the land for his generosity, his love for children, and for being associated with ships, the sea and sailors.
He was eventually consecrated Bishop of Myra, just miles from his hometown. The beloved bishop died in 343AD.
Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nicholas the Wonderworker. St. Nicholas is the patron saint of sailors, merchants, archers, repentant thieves, prostitutes, children, brewers, pawnbrokers, and students in various cities and countries around Europe. His reputation evolved among the faithful, as was common for early Christian saints, and his legendary habit of secret gift-giving gave rise to the traditional model of Santa Claus. And so he is beloved by everyone.
After his parents died, Nicholas is said to have distributed their wealth to the poor. In his most famous exploit, which is first attested in Michael the Archimandrite's Life of St. Nicholas, Nicholas heard of a devout man who once had been wealthy but had lost all his money. The man had three daughters but could not afford a proper dowry for them. In absence of any other possible employment, they were forced to become prostitutes.
Hearing of the girls' plight, Nicholas decided to help them. He went to the house under the cover of night and threw a purse filled with gold coins through the window opening into the house. He did the same thing the next two nights, giving the man a total of three bags of gold, one for each of his three daughters.
So when you see three balls over a pawn shop, remember this good saint who brought joy to us all.
* Read Michael Mullen's Mullen's Musings column in our print edition every Tuesday