Should You Tell Your Children About Santa?

[mortify]

Cmom and ArcheologyCat, both great posts.

[Socrates]

Around the feast of St. Nicholas, my pastor gives a great sermon which begins by denouncing a great heresy rampant in the Church, which he reveals to be denial of the existence of Santa Claus. He then goes on to preach about the life and deeds of Santa Claus (Saint Nicholas), and how this saint should be remembered for his great deeds of charity, and inspire this virtue today.

The contemporary Santa Claus figure is a secular commercialization of old German/Dutch traditions concerning St. Nicholas (Santa Claus).
Santa Claus should not be denied or eliminated from children's Christmas traditions, but returned to his Catholic roots, and honored as an exemplar of Christian love and charitable giving.

Edited October 10, 2008 by Socrates

[CatherineM]

[quote name='Socrates' post='1673826' date='Oct 9 2008, 09:52 PM']Around the feast of St. Nicholas, my pastor gives a great sermon which begins by denouncing a great heresy rampant in the Church, which he reveals to be denial of the existence of Santa Claus. He then goes on to preach about the life and deeds of Santa Claus (Saint Nicholas), and how this saint should be remembered for his great deeds of charity, and inspire this virtue today.

The contemporary Santa Claus figure is a secular commercialization of old German/Dutch traditions concerning St. Nicholas (Santa Claus).
Santa Claus should not be denied or eliminated from children's Christmas traditions, but returned to his Catholic roots, and honored as an exemplar of Christian love and charitable giving.[/quote]

The same with St. Valentine's Day, and St. Patrick's Day.

[mcts]

I always had Santa while I was growing up, but my mom was always VERY careful to let us know that Santa was here because it was Jesus' birthday.

[T-Bone _]

Why lie to your children? Let them know the truth, and then play the game anyway.

[Mr.Cat]

[quote name='Socrates' post='1673826' date='Oct 9 2008, 10:52 PM']Around the feast of St. Nicholas, my pastor gives a great sermon which begins by denouncing a great heresy rampant in the Church, which he reveals to be denial of the existence of Santa Claus. He then goes on to preach about the life and deeds of Santa Claus (Saint Nicholas), and how this saint should be remembered for his great deeds of charity, and inspire this virtue today.

The contemporary Santa Claus figure is a secular commercialization of old German/Dutch traditions concerning St. Nicholas (Santa Claus).
Santa Claus should not be denied or eliminated from children's Christmas traditions, but returned to his Catholic roots, and honored as an exemplar of Christian love and charitable giving.[/quote]I have the suspicion that the denial of “Santa Claus”, Saint Nicholas of Myra, or even some of the legends around this holy Saint could not be considered “heretical”. The accusation and addressing of heresy to me is a serious issue. While it may have been an inspirational speech ([i]I was not there[/i]) I think the good Priest, whom are the special children of Our Lady, should of chose a different method to grab the attention of the audience.

[Socrates]

[quote name='Mr.CatholicCat' post='1673872' date='Oct 9 2008, 11:25 PM']I have the suspicion that the denial of “Santa Claus”, Saint Nicholas of Myra, or even some of the legends around this holy Saint could not be considered “heretical”. The accusation and addressing of heresy to me is a serious issue. While it may have been an inspirational speech ([i]I was not there[/i]) I think the good Priest, whom are the special children of Our Lady, should of chose a different method to grab the attention of the audience.[/quote]
It was a rhetorical device (I'd have to quote it exactly to get the right effect.) He speaks of a heresy in the Church, gives a list of serious heresies of which he is not speaking of that night, then concludes "I speak, of course, of the denial of the existence of Santa Claus."
The effect is to make you laugh, and make the sermon entertaining - more like a joke than a serious accusation.
(If you heard it, you would not be offended.)

Edited October 10, 2008 by Socrates

[ardillacid]

Santa Claus is not something to be joking about

[Mr.Cat]

[quote name='Socrates' post='1673887' date='Oct 9 2008, 11:38 PM']It was a rhetorical device (I'd have to quote it exactly to get the right effect.) He speaks of a heresy in the Church, gives a list of serious heresies of which he is not speaking of that night, then concludes "I speak, of course, of the denial of the existence of Santa Claus."
The effect is to make you laugh, and make the sermon entertaining - more like a joke than a serious accusation.
(If you heard it, you would not be offended.)[/quote]Not offended...

[picchick]

wait...what are you guys saying????

LOOK! Santa comes to my house every year! We all hide in my brother's room and he comes to visit! He comes and brings me all these good awesome gifts. How dare you people even insinuate that his existence!!

Ok, so my kids are going to have a santa.

[misereremi]

[quote name='Archaeology cat' post='1673484' date='Oct 9 2008, 10:17 PM']In some countries, St. Nicholas comes (on 6 December) and leaves presents, and Christmas is separate. Or they have some small presents on St. Nicholas' Day and then the Christ Child brings presents on Christmas (I believe this is the standard for Germany & Austria). I personally like that, but we haven't decided how we'll handle it yet.[/quote]
Yes, I do this with my kids. But they get candy on the 6th and a gift from St Nicholas on Christmas. I tell them he comes in when we are all at midnight Mass. I guess when they find out it was me, they'll know indirectly it was him all along. My son believes that praying for the intercession of St Nicholas gets us through the hard no-money Christmases. I believe it, too. Most of the prezzies under the tree are from relatives and we have one person read out the names 'to' and 'from'. I think it's fine to exchange gifts, too.

[quote name='cmotherofpirl' post='1673549' date='Oct 10 2008, 12:19 AM']O and I forgot to mention my kids always get candy for St Nicholas feastday, and something on Jan 6th for the Magi, usually more candy. Its not someting we generally had in the house so it was always a real treat. I always tried to keep catholic thru out the year .[/quote]
I like that. I give them candy on the 6th but we say it is from the Befana. She's an Italian folklore old lady who gives candy to the good kids and coal to the naughty kids. I make coal-looking candy or give them crystallised ginger to tease them. maybe that's mean...but they enjoy the idea.

[quote name='Socrates' post='1673826' date='Oct 10 2008, 04:52 AM']Santa Claus should not be denied or eliminated from children's Christmas traditions, but returned to his Catholic roots, and honored as an exemplar of Christian love and charitable giving.[/quote]
That sums up nicely how I feel about this.

[puellapaschalis]

Here Sinterklaas comes at the beginning of November, and Santa Claus is an American import.

[Ziggamafu]

[i]Santa Clause[/i] [St. Nicholas]
[i]travels to every home[/i] [Heaven being outside of time/space]
[i]on Christmas day[/i] [the Church Triumphant celebrating liturgical "time" of Church Militant]
[i]and gives presents[/i] [gifts of grace by means of intercession]
[i]to all the good boys and girls[/i] [obedient people with living faith]
[i]and lumps of coal[/i] [condemnation from Heaven]
[i]to the naughty boys and girls[/i] [disobedient people in mortal sin or constant venial sin]

I bet there are christo-centric, Catholic explanations for most (if not all) pictorial / literary traditions and legends surrounding Santa (with the exception of Coke). Let's not forget the many probable inventions and myths attached to so many other famous saints, which, though not literally "true", do indeed express the truth surrounding their faith and saintly life.

I have - no joke here - found the Catholic "belief in Santa Clause" to be a major bridge with some people; it is such an appealing method of reclaiming the innocence and memory of one's youth. When people find out about the historical and logical basis for Catholic doctrines concerning the communion of the saints - and by extension, apply it to Santa - a real, child-like joy is produced.

Silly? Maybe. But useful? Definitely.

[jeffpugh]

[quote name='Ziggamafu' post='1674188' date='Oct 10 2008, 09:24 AM'][i]Santa Clause[/i] [St. Nicholas]
[i]travels to every home[/i] [Heaven being outside of time/space]
[i]on Christmas day[/i] [the Church Triumphant celebrating liturgical "time" of Church Militant]
[i]and gives presents[/i] [gifts of grace by means of intercession]
[i]to all the good boys and girls[/i] [obedient people with living faith]
[i]and lumps of coal[/i] [condemnation from Heaven]
[i]to the naughty boys and girls[/i] [disobedient people in mortal sin or constant venial sin]

I bet there are christo-centric, Catholic explanations for most (if not all) pictorial / literary traditions and legends surrounding Santa (with the exception of Coke). Let's not forget the many probable inventions and myths attached to so many other famous saints, which, though not literally "true", do indeed express the truth surrounding their faith and saintly life.

I have - no joke here - found the Catholic "belief in Santa Clause" to be a major bridge with some people; it is such an appealing method of reclaiming the innocence and memory of one's youth. When people find out about the historical and logical basis for Catholic doctrines concerning the communion of the saints - and by extension, apply it to Santa - a real, child-like joy is produced.

Silly? Maybe. But useful? Definitely.[/quote]
With the coal thing, I imagined fire raining from the skies... ahh! it burns

[Slappo]

[quote name='cmotherofpirl' post='1673549' date='Oct 9 2008, 03:19 PM']My neighbor's children simply handed their parents their list, and their parents simply bought every single item on it and handed them the stuff Christmas morning. Its been that way for 25 years now. There are no surprises, no mystery, and to me its just an exchange day for them. The mum starts her shopping in July, and spends the remaining months til Christmas focusing on her lists.
O and I forgot to mention my kids always get candy for St Nicholas feastday, and something on Jan 6th for the Magi, usually more candy. Its not someting we generally had in the house so it was always a real treat. I always tried to keep catholic thru out the year .[/quote]


Cmother can i just say I love you? THAT IS AWESOME. I want that so badly for my children and my family. Hopefully my wife will be as excited about the Catholicness of the Church year round!