you know lots of people think that st nicholas is just another name for santa claus but santa is also called father christmas kris kringle and some other names but behind all of these names is a boy who lived in what is now western turkey about 1700 years ago his name was nicholas now when nicholas was a little boy a plague struck his home town and both his parents got sick and they died he went to live with his uncle who was a monk in a monastery who taught him all about god and jesus now when nicholas parents died they left him all of their money but monks are supposed to be poor so nicholas resolved to give it all away especially to other children in trouble there s a wonderful story about three girls who cold not get married because they had no dowries now in those days a girl had to have a big sum of money or a dowry if she was to marry if she didn t she d be sold as a slave nicholas heard of this and he came up with a plan late at night he tossed a stocking full of gold coins through the bedroom window of the oldest daughter soon she married a good husband she said she had the dowry hidden away in her sock nicholas again tossed a sock full of money through the window of the second daughter she too soon married but when nicholas crept up to the house with the third sock full of money for the third daughter he found all of the windows were shut so he did what boys sometimes do he climbed up on the roof and he dropped it down the chimney and it landed in the girl s shoes which were beside the hearth when she too married claiming that her dowry was in her shoes people were amazed and they said to one another it s some kind of miracle st nicholas was an orphan boy who became a priest and then a bishop who loved jesus and god and gave away all of his wealth to the poor and especially to children in trouble