Saint Nick - Softcover

Harper, Gary Ogden

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0971263906 ISBN 13: 9780971263901

Publisher: Prairie Valley Films Literary Division, 2001

Synopsis

A comedy play for teenagers and adults about the incredible, but little known life of the original Santa Claus--a fourth century Chrisitan bishop. This is a heartwarming Christmas gift for anyone who has stopped believing in Santa Claus. The real story of St. Nicholas has long fallen through the cracks of history, which--for many reasons contained within this book--may provide further evidence of divine inter-vention in the course of human events.

Now, new playwright Gary Ogden Harper has utilized his doctoral studies research to put these pieces together in a way that lets every reader experience the spiritual wonder-ment and thrill of being a child again, anxiously awaiting the arrival of Christmas morning.

The original St. Nicholas lived in an age of miracles. It was during his lifetime that a series of such events converted the entire Roman Empire to Christianity--thus making it possible for holidays such as Christmas to be developed and publicly observed.

He also had many prophetic dreams throughout his own life in which Jesus repeatedly appeared to him--made all the more unusual and inspiring because several other people whom Nicholas would eventually meet had very similar dreams!

Make Christmas more meaningful for those you love...or share this story of faith, courage and humor with someone who has become hopelessly consumed by the materialism of modern celebrations. The patron saint of merchants turns out to be the perfect antidote!

About this title

From the Publisher:

The Making (Er, Writing) of Saint Nick

It seemed that composing and publishing Saint Nick as a play was the most appropriate literary genre for re-acquainting the general public with the original Santa Claus. After all, it was the Miracle Plays of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries which were responsible for making the fourth century Christian bishop such an integral part of European culture.

Liturgical dramas were first introduced around the year 900 as one of many tactics that churches began using to reverse their falling attendance. Stained glass windows and ornate statues were the other new strategies being used to attract people to worship services. These visual distractions had become necessary because priests were still performing their rituals in Latin, which was no longer a common language. Since most of the congregation couldn’t understand what was being said, at least the religious officials were making it easier for them to daydream.

Over these centuries, plays about Saint Nicholas emerged as one of the most popular. As stories gradually evolved from recitations of Biblical quotes or biographies of martyrs, an especially creative legend pitted old Nick against Satan. Because Gutenberg wouldn’t come along to invent the printing press until 1452, the scripts being performed kept changing as oral traditions tend to do. Among German cultures, the Satan character devolved into a bear led around on a chain while Dutch storytellers turned him into an indentured servant who carried a huge sack on his back.

By my own interpretation, this tiny, impish assistant was the precursor of our modern day elves (and perhaps PigPen too, since he was always covered with soot). His job was to race up and down the chimneys with his bag in hand. But interestingly enough, this bulging sack didn’t contain brightly wrapped packages--it held all the naughty little children who would be taken away to far off Spain.

Now it’s not that Spain was a bad place to be. On the contrary, this was nearly every country’s major trading partner back in those days. Spanish ships would arrive in harbors heavily laden with goods and luxuries. Hence, it was only logical to assume that this was where the generous Saint Nicholas must live. Exchanging presents on his revered Feast Day of Dember 6th had become a common tradition--accompanied by annual performances of his dramatic plays.

From this starting point, I was able to speculatively connect the other chronological dots in my own Saint Nick comedy to explain how his name got changed to Santa Claus, and the physical transformations which exaggerated his appearance and allowed him to travel by flying reindeer. The conversion of Rome to Christianity, the source of the chimney stocking tradition, the imprisonment of Nicholas and impacts of the Reformation on holiday observances are also well documented. And yet, while these elements of my plot are primarily based on historical fact, there is an important departure which was indulged by my artistic license.

Until I can finish my doctoral dissertation (in the form of a novelization of this same play which elaborates on the subjects like the ones addressed in this press release and enables me to cite actual reference sources), I’m relying on clergy, educators and journalists to point out an important inconsistency. While my play focuses mostly on the fourth century Christian bishop, the scene in which the main character raises someone from the dead belongs to an entirely different saint.

In the sixth century, by coincidence, was born another man named Nicholas into the same Lykian province where the first saint had become so well known. Their lives were parallel in many other ways as well, with each being influenced by an uncle living in a monastery. Al-though each man then became a priest, they took different paths to sainthood. The fourth century Nicholas became famous for his prophetic dreams and noble acts of generosity.

The sixth century Nicholas however, exhibited powers of exorcism. He was also reputed to have cured many people of paralysis. Whether it was a loss of limb control or a trance-like coma, such victims in the vernacular of the day were said to be “dead.” After this Nicholas miraculously restored them to health, he was naturally credited with “bringing them back to life!” Still many other sources additionally claim that certain statues of Nicholas have secreted a myrrh-like substance with similar curative properties.

There is ample evidence that the life-giving legends involving Saint Nicholas were not widely circulated prior to the twelfth century. It was as colleges were first being built in northern France that variations of a story about Nicholas and three scholars killed by an evil innkeeper arose. When the saint appears in person (as he had reportedly been doing for so many sailors in distress over the years) and miraculously saves them from death, this legend symbolized his patronage of all students.

Later depictions of this tale in stained glass windows led to misinterpretations about the young men looking more like children. Hence, the confusion of myths subsequently developed as later storytellers tried to turn this into an example of a miracle performed by the living Saint Nicholas during his lifetime. Although an equally strong possibility is that the entire story is just a revision of the fourth century bishop’s intervention in the execution of three generals. This provides an even more plausible explanation for his ability to bring people “back from death.”

A wealth of historical research and theological possibilities relating to the development of our modern Christmas celebrations has been ignored for much too long. Though some of the most inspirational incidents involving the life of Nicholas require a leap of faith, at some level these acts must have some semblance of fact. From the day he was born, this fourth century human anomaly has been attracting recognition and serving as the subject of rumor.

Some sources claim he stood upright for several hours at birth, while the midwife bathed him in the tub. And to further demonstrate his piety, he would then only accept his mother’s breast once on days of religious fasting. Whether such things really happened will always be a matter of conjecture, but the uniqueness of such legends add support to the amazing preservation of his personality. Even as he survived the Reformation, Saint Nick continues to endure the de-Christianization of Christmas by all the materialistic trappings of modern commercialism--if we remember who he really is, was and always will be.

From the Author:

During a year in which a handful of terrorists were able to alter the course of human history, it’s more important than ever to finish the holiday season by remembering an individual who single-handedly exerted such a positive influence on capitalism! Giving away money and gifts was an especially unique attribute back in those days. Find out why Bishop Nicholas inspired so many people to duplicate his revolutionary acts of generosity.

About this edition

• Publisher: Prairie Valley Films Literary Division
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0971263906
• ISBN 13: 9780971263901
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 98