In Britain, children call him Father Christmas. In Germany, he is Kriss Kringle. And of course, you know him as a Santa Claus. But do you know that hundreds of years ago, Santa Claus was called by the name 'St. Nicholas'? The true story of Santa Claus begins with Saint Nicholas of Myra. Though he is one of the most popular saints in the Greek as well as the Latin Church, there is scarcely anything historically certain about him except that he was was a fourth century saint and Greek Bishop of Myra. He was born in the fourth century in Patara, Asia Minor (modern day Turkey) Born the only son of wealthy Christian parents Theophanes and Nonna. His mother, Nonna, after giving birth was immediately healed from illness. The newborn infant, while still in the baptismal font, stood on his feet three hours, without support from anyone, thereby honoring the Most Holy Trinity. St Nicholas from his infancy began a life of fasting, and on Wednesdays and Fridays he would not accept milk from his mother until after his parents had finished their evening …show more content…
Nick in jail, but St. Nicholas was a prisoner for Christ. In A.D. 303, the Roman Emperor Diocletian ordered that all Christians be persecuted. Those suspected of following the Lord were ordered to sacrifice to pagan gods. Nicholas and thousands of others refused. Christians believed in one god and one god alone, so their conscience would not allow them to obey the Emperor's order. Angered by their stubbornness, Diocletian warned the Christians that they would be imprisoned. The Emperor carried out the threat and St Nicholas who resisted too was also imprisoned. For more than five years, St Nicholas was confined to a small cell. He suffered from cold, hunger, and thirst, but he never wavered in his beliefs. In 313, when Diocletian resigned, and Constantine came to power Nicholas was released, and he returned to his post as Bishop of Myra.
Chapter 6: “Don’t Shoot Me Santa” – The Killers In chapter 6, during a conversation between Milkman and Guitar, Milkman questions Guitar about his secretive behavior, to which Guitar first denies, but then explains; he is involved in a secret black group called the Seven Days. In the Seven Days, each of the seven members is assigned to a day of the week and randomly kill a white person every time a black person is murdered. These killings are done on the same day of the week as the original black murder was committed, and Guitar considers the Seven Days works as acts of revenge that are necessary to keep the ratio of blacks to whites balances. Milkman expresses his concern for Guitar, saying that his killings are crazy and becoming a
The Hero’s Journey is a cyclical journey commonly used in literature. Joseph Campbell was the first to realize this pattern is frequently used in stories, movies, and fairytales. The cycle contains twelve significant milestones that occur as a hero explores an unknown special world. This cycle resembles a clock in a few ways. The twelve hours represent the twelve stages.
Document Study 1, Ignatius of Antioch Ignatius of Antioch is also called Ignatius Theophoros, meaning “God Bearer” (Greek). He was the second Bishop of Antioch in Syria at the time of his arrest- 107A.D. He is mainly known from seven highly regarded letters that he wrote during a trip to Rome, as a prisoner condemned to be executed for his belief and is believed to have died c.110, in Rome by martyrdom during Trajan’s reign (AD. 98-117).
Following the precedent of past Roman emperors, Diocletian presented himself as divine, thus invoking the reverence and loyalty of his subjects (Brownworth 6). However, although pagan citizens readily adapted to this declaration, Christians, due to their monotheistic beliefs, were unable to acknowledge and give sacrifices to Diocletian. Consequently, Diocletian, in what would become one of the most monumental blunders of his career, issued an edict to force Christians to sacrifice to him at the threat of death (6-7). From here, his policy only became more extreme. Christians were persecuted, temples were desecrated, and holy texts were burnt.
1. Constantine was a former soldier that was given the title of Cesare of the West (in the Roman Tetrarchy created by Diocletian), and was assigned to the furthest reach of the empire which was the English city of York. 2. Constantine issues the Edict of Milan which declared official tolerance for Christianity. He also demanded the Christians to change their day of worship from the Hebrew Sabbath to the Roman day of the Sun.
Rather than subjecting their faith towards Roman Gods, they decided to not acknowledge them and were persecuted until Constantine took order and converted to
The bible tells us of a man known as Pontius Pilate. At the time, he was a cruel Roman governor of Judea under emperor Tiberius. He is widely know as the man who gave the final \order for the crucifixion of Jesus. The governor is looked at as both good and bad. In fact, many scholars think that he was possibly the first ever Christian.
The fact that the Edict of Milan must guarantee the right to worship to Christians shows that they were persecuted for their beliefs. The document requires that the land of the Christians be returned to them. This means that before this decree, the Christians had their property stolen. Overall, the status of Christians in the Roman Empire prior to the Edict of Milan was a poor
The Grinch Who Stole Christmas The Grinch who stole Christmas is one of my favorite Dr. Seuss books and one of my favorite Christmas movies. I found 3 things similar to one another in the book and the movie which had the Grinch who hated Christmas, the Who’s who loved Christmas, and the Grinch stole all of the presents and food. One identical thing I found in the movie and book was that the Grinch hated Christmas. If they didn’t put the Grinch’s hate for Christmas in both the book and, he would have no reason to steal Christmas and it wouldn’t have been a very good movie.
Once Constantine became Emperor, he created freedom of Religion. Constantine was an influential role in the proclamation of the Edict of Milan, partially because he had converted to Christianity a year before the Edict of Milan was signed and agreed to. The Edict of Milan was a document, created in 313, that granted tolerance toward Christianity. The document had benefits for Christians, which legalized their
Life of Saint Athanasius Saint Athanasius spent over seventeen years being banned from his own country by four different emperors. There were many great theologians and Church fathers, but Athanasius was one of the most important Church Fathers in ecclesiastical history. Saint Athanasius of Alexandria was born in 293. He was a theologian, ecclesiastical statesman, and a leader of Egypt. He had a lot of enemies, and defended against heresies.
Diocletian tormented many of the Christians until they perished (Alchin). After about three hundred years, it became easier for the Christians. Constantine, the emperor of Rome at the time, converted to Christianity. This resulted in the end of the persecutions and the beginning of Christendom. In the year 313, Constantine issued to Edict of Milan.
Compare and Contrast Rusty Eric once said that “As long as greed is stronger than compassion, there will always be suffering.” Greed is something that is all too common in our world. It has taken over many lives in the past, present, and it will still continue in the future. Ebenezer Scrooge, an old, cruel man in the a drama A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, is one of the many who have been consumed by the lonely, suffering life of the greedy. In this drama, Scrooge has lost all liking for Christmas and has shut himself off from the world until he is visited by three ghosts that show him the true meaning of Christmas, and restore the love he once had for his family and friends.
He told Fabius about Christians being forced to sacrifice and some attempting to flee. Those who attempted to flee would be captured, bonded, and imprisoned. If they still refused to sacrifice after their imprisonment, they would most likely be tortured (Novak 122). The bishops of Rome, Jerusalem, and Antioch were all arrested in the early stages of the decree. The bishop of Rome was an early victim of the persecution (Green 144).
The sound of birds chirping garishly outside my window, wakens me from a deep slumber. Opening my eyes, I see the morning sun’s rays illuminating my room. I’m longing for sleep to engulf me back into its warm embrace. My father ruins any hope of going back to sleep as he hollers upstairs that breakfast is ready. Standing up and doing a morning stretch is when I first smell it.