Nicholas
was born in the third century to wealthy parents who believed in God and taught
Nicholas, their only child, to follow God too. Nicholas loved God from the time
that he was a young child; he prayed, fasted, and went to Church regularly. When
Nicholas was still young, his parents died, leaving him an orphan. His uncle,
also named Nicholas, was a bishop, and he took care of his nephew and helped
him to follow Jesus. Nicholas's parents had left him an inheritance when they
died, and he used this money to help the poor whenever he could. He would give
this money and other gifts in secret, because he did not want people to thank
him but only to praise God for the gifts they had received. His uncle, the
bishop, made Nicholas a priest, and then Nicholas became a bishop too. The
younger Bishop Nicholas was very well loved by the people he served. Everyone
knew how much he loved God, how very generous he was, and how many miracles
were performed through him by God’s power. Nicholas became a saint long before
the Church created a formal process for naming saints (canonization). His feast
day is December 6, and Nicholas—the patron saint of children popularly known as
Santa Claus—remains a beloved saint in the both Eastern and Western rites of
the Church.
Source: saintofthedayforkids.com