ORIGINAL SANTA FOUND? Bone ‘from 4th-Century St Nicholas’ who inspired Father Christmas is found in a US church

Guy Birchall

Source: The Sun

December 6, 2017

    

SCIENTISTS think they can finally prove an ancient bone belonged to the fourth-century saint who inspired Father Christmas.

Oxford University researchers carbon-dated the relic – said to belong to St Nicholas – and found it dates to the right period.

While the boffins cannot conclusively prove the bone is from the venerated Turkish [this is a rather absurd journalistic error--St. Nicholas was a Byzantine saint, and there was no such country as Turkey in his lifetime.—O.C.] saint, they have managed to pinpoint its age to the fourth century AD.

St Nicholas is said to have died around the year 343.

Professor Tom Higham, director of the Oxford Relics Cluster at Keble College’s Advanced Studies Centre said: “Many relics that we study turn out to date to a period somewhat later than the historic attestation would suggest.

“This bone fragment, in contrast, suggests that we could possibly be looking at remains from St Nicholas himself.”

The bone that was analysed is owned by Father Dennis O’Neill of the St Martha of Bethany Church in Illinois.

St Nicholas is believed to have been a generous, wealthy man famed for giving gifts, a trait believed to have inspired the story of Father Christmas.

...Read the rest at The Sun.

Guy Birchall

12/12/2017

See also
St. Nicholas’ grave discovered, Turkish archaeologists believe St. Nicholas’ grave discovered, Turkish archaeologists believe St. Nicholas’ grave discovered, Turkish archaeologists believe St. Nicholas’ grave discovered, Turkish archaeologists believe
Turkish archaeologists believe they may have discovered the tomb of St. Nicholas below a church in the Demre district of Turkey’s southern Antalya Province. 500,000 venerate relics of St. Nicholas in St. Petersburg, nearly 2.5 million overall 500,000 venerate relics of St. Nicholas in St. Petersburg, nearly 2.5 million overall 500,000 venerate relics of St. Nicholas in St. Petersburg, nearly 2.5 million overall 500,000 venerate relics of St. Nicholas in St. Petersburg, nearly 2.5 million overall
About 500,000 pilgrims traveled to St. Petersburg over a period of 15 days to venerate the relics of St. Nicholas, Vice-Governor Alexander Govorunov of St. Petersburg said in a press conference on Thursday How His Beatitude Onuphry Witnessed a Miracle by the Prayers of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker How His Beatitude Onuphry Witnessed a Miracle by the Prayers of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker How His Beatitude Onuphry Witnessed a Miracle by the Prayers of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker How His Beatitude Onuphry Witnessed a Miracle by the Prayers of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker
Metropolitan Onuphry (Berezovsky)
His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry speaks on the most important miracle in every man’s life, and the speedy aid and miracles of St. Nicholas by prayers to him.
Comments
Emile Hesta12/16/2017 11:20 pm
How is it possible to use the word "Turkish"by the original article in "The Sun",also about the confusion with "Santa Claus"and "Father Christmas",this,of course,completely wrong and shocking for orthodox christians and even other ones,but also part of some Turkish evil propaganda to eradicate the hole of the memory of ancient christian and Greek presence in Anatolia,long time before the invasion of the Seljuk turkish tribes after the battle of Manzikert in 1071.
We know that he was present at the Concile of Nicea in 325.
If he was an ethnical Greek is not sure because at that time there were a lot of people of very diverse origin in Anatolia,but all Hellenized,as our Cappadocian Father too.
Bill12/13/2017 4:42 pm
He was indeed a Byzantine, but Byzantine is not an ethnicity. He was a Greek.
Anthony 12/12/2017 11:51 pm
This coming from the pornographic western britisher publication ''The Sun''. Brill.
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