These are the correct answers to the quiz in an easy-to-print format for additional study.
1. St. Nicholas became popular in America due to the influence of the Dutch with their beloved Christ-Kindlein.
[Christ-Kindlein was the German 'Christ Child' whose female herald visted homes on Christmas Eve bringing nuts and other treats. The Dutch called Nicholas Sinter Klaas]
2. Nicholas is associated with Myra and Bari, which are actually the Greek and Latin terms for the same place.
[Myra is the place where he served as Bishop; Bari is the Italian city where his relics reside]
3. Putting treats in stockings is based on one version of Nicholas' giving gold for the dowery of the three daughters of an impoverished nobleman.
[Differing accounts have the gold in cloth/sacks given tossed through a window on three separate occasions, another maintains the gold landed in stockings hung on the bed, and still another that he placed the gold in stockings hung by a fire. All agree is was done secretly and at night]
4. Nicholas is shown in red because he died a martyr.
[Nicholas died naturally in AD 342 and is portrayed in the red, the traditional color of a bishop's robe]
5. Nicholas bestowed his gifts from the treasury of his diocese after becoming Bishop, delivering them at night in the spirit of humility.
[Nicholas gave gifts before and after his election as bishop from his personal family inheritance]
6. The 'manna' of St. Nicholas is an oily substance with often miraculous qualities that flows from the saint's relics.
7. Nicholas is the patron of seamen because he first appeared to sailors after his death who called on him for help.
[Nicholas was alive when the sailors' prayed for his interecession: they saw a vision of him at sea, and recognized him when they came ashore]
8. Nicholas saved three innocent men on Myra. Then, he saved the princes who helped him spare those men by appearing to the emperor in a vision.
9. The Feast Day of St. Nicholas is December 26, the day after Christmas.
[His Feast Day is December 6, the day he died]
10. Before his death, Nicholas helped the material prosperity of two Jews in a supernatural way, leading to their conversion.
[The incidents too place after his death. One Jewish man was swindled (and saw his property restored and the dead swindler restored to life), while the second had all of his stolen property returned after he 'beat' the statue of the saint, who appeared in a vision to the thieves. Both Jews converted]
11. Two other miracles of St. Nicholas involve young men appearing in chapels dedicated to the saint: one from a drowning at sea and another from captivity.
12. Clement Moore's 1822 poem. 'A Visit from St. Nicholas', emphasized the saints' noted love of animals by creating reindeer to pull his sleigh.
[Moore's poem gave us the modern 'Santa', but tradition does not record a special love of animals regarding St. Nicholas]
13. All European countries have their version of a St. Nicholas-type figure who brings gifts at Christmas.
[Nicholas was popular (Russian 'Kolya', the Miracle Maker/Father Frost; French Pere Noel; German Pelznickel or fur-Nicholas), but gifts were also brought by the Christ Child {Spanish el Nino Jesus; German Christkindel represented by His female herald), Lady Bufana in Italy (distributing presents on January 6, the Ephiphany) and Babushka in Russia (who gives gifts as penance for mis-directing the Magi)]
14. Nicholas is the patron saint of Russia, Greece and Holland.
[Greece and Russia; he is also patron of brides young grooms, coopers, children, travelers, merchants, sailors, pawnbrokers, as well as numerous regions (i.e. Sicily) in the world]
15. Nicholas was an untiring opponent of paganism and heresy, keeping his diocese free of Arianism and providing a strong voice a the Council of Nicea.
A great resource of catechism...
