St. Nicholas — The Catholic Bishop Who Punched a Heretic in the Face

In this episode of Everyday Saints, a Catholic podcast telling real saint stories in plain, everyday language, we tell the true story behind the man you already think you know: St. Nicholas of Myra. Before he was Santa Claus, he was an orphan who gave away a fortune in secret, dropping gold through windows in the dead of night so three sisters wouldn't be sold into slavery. Before that generosity ever made it into a Christmas poem, Nicholas spent years imprisoned and tortured for his faith during the Roman persecution under Diocletian — and years after that, according to church tradition, he crossed the floor at the Council of Nicaea and struck the heretic Arius across the face for denying that Jesus Christ is truly God. Two acts from the same man: one done in total secrecy, one done in total fury, both from the same conviction. St. Nicholas is the patron saint of children, sailors, and pawnbrokers, and his real story has almost nothing to do with a sleigh.