HOW SANTA CLAUS CAME TO BARI

Cue (NZERS), Issue 13, 15 December 1944, Page 4

HOW SANTA CLAUS CAME TO BARI

SO you don’t believe in Santa Claus I You have allowed the beauty of a childhood myth to be exploded by choosing to accept the fact that Dad tip-toed to the foot of your bed to fill your stocking. Well, for this once you are wrong There is a Santa Claus and you can see him for yourself—at least, what remains of him.

(By

C.F.)

Go into the Church of St. Nicholas, near the waterfront in Bari, down the stairs into the crypt, and, behind sliding doors under the silver altar, you can see (between 3 and 3.30 p.m.) what is left of Santa Claus. Yes, St. Nicholas is Santa Claus, even if he is known in different countries by different versions of the same name. Sometimes he is called San Clausen. We call him Santa Claus.. In Bari, they call him San Nicola. , ,

Don’t expect to see much of Santa Claus because there is not much to be seen. There won’t be much to be seen of you, either, when you have been dead as long as he has—l6oo years to be exact. But the remains are authentic, and there is a "curious thing about them. For 1600 years the bones have continued to sweat a liquid called «manna.» Several times a year this «manna» is collected because of its allegedly remarkable curative powers. Yet, every scientific analysis has proved that the substance is chemically no different from pure water.

Santa Claus, or St. Nicholas, was born at Patara, in Licia, Asia Minor, and died Bishop of Myra in 326. He was distinguished because of his love for the poor and his happy knack of arriving at the right time with the right gift for those in need, t

p' History records a typical example. Three sisters, very much in love with their husbands-to-be, were heartbroken when they discovered that their father could not provide the necessary dowries. Gone were the visions of marital bliss ! Nothing was left but to bid a long farewell to their lovers a dire fate even in those days ! But Santa Claus, learning of their plight, collected sufficient for their dowries, put the money into three bags, and surreptitiously tossed them through the window, or over the garden wall. One pictures how the overjoyed damsels

But they were unwilling to hand over their treasure to the enthusiastic throngs that had received word of their coming. They demanded a special church for the safe-keeping of the relics. In the meantime, the remains were housed in a Benedictine near the old port. After two years, tn crypt of the present Q church of b • Nicholas was finished and consecrate by Pope Urban 11. The church itsen

quickly donned their bridal gowns and lived happily ever after.

St. Nicholas is one Tof the most remarkable of the miracle-working saints. In consequence, a vast amount of literature, tradition and custom has accumulated around him in every country of Europe. He was born of noble and wealthy parents, and at an early age resolved to model his life to an heroic degree on that of his Divine Master. By reason of his sanctity, he was a constant source of edification to his people, and it is not surprising that he was appointed, however unwillingly, to the Bishopric of Myra.

His fame spread throughout Europe, and after his death he was chosen by mariners as their particular advocate in heaven. Even today, sea-going men of' the Mediterranean bid one another goodbye with the words: «May Saint Nicholas be at your helm.»

In 1087, the remains of the Saint were brought to Bari from Asia Minor. That year, the city of 7 Myra was attacked and occupied by, the Moslem Saracens. So 47 stalwart sailors from Bari put their heads together and resolved to save the bones of the Saint from desecration. With the aid of two priests, Lupo and Grimaldo, they found the tomb in a lonely hollow, guarded by four monks. On opening the tomb, they found the bones floating in the « manna.» They placed the bones in a barrel- to save the « manna,» set sail for Bari, and arrived on May 9.

was completed in 1108, over ; 800 years ago. Since then it has been the object of constant pilgrimages, not merely from Western Europe, but from Asia Minor, the Balkans and Russia.

A visit to the church is worth while, in spite of the work of reconstruction now going on. The building is one of the finest examples of Romanesque architecture in Apulia. Unfortunately, the magnificent painting by Carlo de

Rosa is mostly hidden behind scaffolding, but the sections over , the main altar are visible. Behind the main altar is the tomb of Bona Sforza, Queen of Poland from 1499 to 1559, and over the tomb there is a splendid window- of Italian alabaster. In a side chapel" at the rear of the church is a silver crucifix containing a splinter from the True Cross. ;?

The most interesting part of the church is the crypt which contains the silver altar built over the bones of St. Nicholas. This crypt is supported by 26 columns of old marble, sculptured in the Byzantine manner. The votive offerings around the altar, are the gifts of various kings and princes.

Today, after nearly a thousand years, the old church still stands. It has seen much violence, for Bari has had a violent history since it was settled in very ancient times. The Phoenicians were there, but the Greeks pushed them out and called the seaport Barion. Later, the conquering Romans Latinised the name to Barium. In r the fifth ; century Bari reverted from Roman to Greek rule. In the seventh, the city was conquered by the Lombards—a Teutonic race from the Lower Elbe. After 200 years • the Lombards were ousted by the Saracens —Moslem

Arabs from Tunisia. When the Saracens withdrew, Bari came under the Byzantine Greeks for . 300 years. But in 1071 along came Robert Guiscaid and his fighting JMormans. They ruled the city for a century and, during that time, the Church of St. .Nicholas was built.

As if Bari hadn’t had enough trouble and bloodshed, William the Bad, King of Sicily, destroyed the city in 1156, sparing only the Church of St. Nicholas. j Fifty years later Bari came under the rule of the Hohenstaufer Emperor, Frederick 11. At the end of another century, it had new masters, the Houses of Anjou and Aragon. This regime lasted a mere 35 years, after which Bari stood on its own feet for 200 . years as the capital of an almost independent feudal principality. Then came more trouble, and the city was made subject to the crown of Naples under Spanish rule. After that, the city remained enclosed within its walls until 1860, when following the victories of 'Garibaldi,Bari became part of the new Kingdom of Italy.

Since then, of course, the Fascist regime has left its impress on the city. Then came the cohorts of Adolf Hitler.

Probably after, the present war, Bari will renew and rebuild itself as it has always done after a dozen earlier conquests. But the Kiwi somewhat like Macaulay’s. New Zealander, surveys the crumbling ruins of the old city and the back-alley squalor of the new, and he mutters: « This place is a . dump. It’s all washed up. Bari has ’had it’.» But if St. Nicholas could speak from his tomb in the crypt, perhaps he would reply, « I’ve heard that one before.»