“But our world has turned its back on beauty. And because of that, we find ourselves surrounded by ugliness and alienation. I want to persuade you that beauty matters, that it is not just a subjective thing, but a universal need of human beings. If we ignore this need, we find ourselves in a spiritual desert. 

I want to show you a path out of that desert — it is a path that leads to Home.”

So how did St. Nicholas of Myra — also known for (literally) fighting heresy — become Santa Claus? As the National Geographic says, “Nicholas was neither fat nor jolly but developed a reputation as a fiery, wiry, and defiant defender of church doctrine during the Great Persecution in 303, when Bibles were burned and priests made to renounce Christianity or face execution.”