Relic of ‘Father Christmas’ makes historic Russian tour
FOR the first time in nearly 1,000 years, relics of the saint who inspired the legend of Father Christmas have been allowed to leave Italy to be venerated by the Russian Orthodox Church.
The supposed remains of St Nicholas have been kept in Bari in southern Italy since 1087, when they were stolen from what is now Turkey.
Encased in a specially made golden ark, a four-inch piece of rib arrived in Moscow on Sunday. The relics will be moved to St Petersburg next month before being returned in late July to Bari.
The decision to allow the relics to leave Italy was the result of a historic encounter between Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, in Cuba last year. The Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches split in 1054 and have been riven by mistrust and suspicion ever since.
Nicholas was the Bishop of Myra, which is now Demre in southern Turkey. His reputed habit of giving gifts gave rise to the legend of Santa Claus.
He is said to have dropped gold in the stockings of three daughters of a poor man who worried that they would be sold into slavery if they could not marry.