St. Nicholas, aka James M. Rosenthal, brings Christmas cheer to New York
Episcopal News Service. December 5, 2007 [120507-04]
It was neither Santa Claus nor Father Christmas who made his way through the busy streets of New York December 5. It was jolly old St. Nicholas the bishop who marched from St. Thomas' Episcopal Church down Fifth Avenue to the Rockefeller Center, telling the story of how St. Nicholas of Myra was once the patron saint of New York.
The man behind the beard and miter is none other than the Rev. Canon James M. Rosenthal II, long-time director of communication for the Anglican Communion and editor of Anglican Episcopal World magazine.
"It is like finding one's roots, that is the reclaiming of the St. Nicholas tradition versus Santa Claus," said Rosenthal, president of the U.K.-based St. Nicholas Society. "Santa means saint and Claus is a short form of Nicholas. Why not be fair and regain the integrity and purpose of the beloved saint."
St. Nicholas was born in 260 AD in Patara (now Turkey) and died on December 6, 343 AD. His feast day, St. Nicholas Day, is December 6.
Rosenthal said it is important to bring St. Nicholas' Christmas cheer to New York because of the saint's historic significance in the city -- the first church in Fort Washington was called St. Nicholas and St. Nicholas Avenue is a main thoroughfare. "One of New York's great hotels was St. Nicholas on Broadway and the Russian Orthodox has its glorious St Nicholas Cathedral on 97th," he said. "St. Nicholas, of course, is the name of the church destroyed at 9/11, and whose return as a church many eagerly await."
Along his jovial journey, amid flurries of seasonal snow, passers by greeted St. Nicholas with friendly gestures and wide smiles, suspending their pre-Christmas shopping sprees for photo opportunities with the bishop, especially with the Rockefeller Christmas tree in the background.
"Santa is not bad, St. Nick is more honest and yes better," says Rosenthal. "St. Nicholas leads his followers to the true essence of Christmas and the miracle of Bethlehem. Many of us eagerly await the return of St Nicholas Church crushed by 9/11," he said.
After New York, St. Nicholas will visit London and Canterbury and then Beit Jala near Bethlehem.
Further information about St. Nicholas is available here.