Spotted: Bishop of Myra aka St. Nicholas at Trinity Church

For decades, the Bishop of Myra aka St. Nicholas – as played by Woodside resident Dick Livermore – has been visiting Trinity Church in Menlo Park on the Sunday closest to his feast day (Dec. 6).

He was there today — now over 1700 years old — handing out gold candy coins to Trinity kids.

The true tale of the Bishop of Myra, who served in a provincial capital of Asia Minor, is a bit tangled. According to Robert Ellsberg in his book All Saints: “The most curious development in the cult of St. Nicholas has been the amalgamation of this fourth-century bishop with the features of a Scandinavian elf.

“The transformation of St. Nicholas into Santa Claus has been traced to Dutch Protestants living in New Amsterdam. As the story made it its way back to England the familiar features of Father Christmas gradually took shape until he had achieved his eventual iconographic status.”

Photos by Frances Freyberg (c) 2024