10 Famous Saints Associated With Christmas

Christmas as we know it has been significantly molded and shaped over the last two thousand years. Our modern-day celebrations, with which we are all so familiar,  have evolved from many centuries of tradition. Originally, the season of Advent and the twelve days of Christmas revolved almost entirely around a variety of famous Saints and Martyrs.

Who were they? What made them worthy of Sainthood? How do we commemorate their lives on their given Feast Days? And how are their stories still relevant to our present Christmas festivities?

Saint Nicholas is surely everyone’s favorite Christmas Saint. Everybody in the world has heard of him, and every hopeful and well-behaved child dreams of his annual visit on Christmas Eve.

Saint Nick. Father Christmas. Santa Claus. Klaus. Sinterklaas. Kris Kringle. Yes, Saint Nicholas goes by many different names. What you call him may depend on your religion, your native language, your location, your family traditions, or even your personal preference.

How this happened nobody quite knows, but the changes to his character have been immense. For example, Saint Nicholas was born in Patar in Asia Minor; Santa Claus lives in the North Pole. Saint Nicholas died during the year of 343; Santa Claus does not appear to have aged a day over the last 17 centuries. Saint Nicholas is depicted with the robes, miter, and crozier of a Bishop; Santa Claus wears black boots and a red velvet suit and carries a sack of presents over his shoulder. Saint Nicholas was an undoubted historical figure; Santa Claus is a figure of our imagination. Whimsical. Magical. Legendary.

Something Saint Nicholas and Santa Claus do have in common is their generosity and their genuine love of children. Christian history is filled with stories regarding Saint Nicholas, his good deeds, and his generosity, so much so that his secret gift-giving is one of the most common scenes in European devotional art.

Saint Nicholas is now remembered as the Patron Saint of countless communities and causes. These include children, coopers, travelers, sailors, repentant thieves, pawnbrokers, prostitutes, brewers, pharmacists, and archers.

The Feast Day of Saint Nicholas falls annually on the sixth of December. In many European countries, children celebrate Saint Nicholas’ Day by leaving out their shoes, which in the morning would be filled with small, personal gifts from Saint Nicholas himself.

Saint Ambrose lived between the years of 340 and 397. During this short time, he managed to gain a reputation as the most influential religious figure of his era.

Saint Ambrose is best known for being the Bishop of Milan, a Doctor of the Church, and for his mellifluous epithet—“the honey-tongued doctor”—which refers to his style of preaching. He is fondly remembered in this way not only for his patronage of bees but also for his kind and enlightening words which were said to have been “as sweet as flowing honey.”

Legend has it that when he was a baby, a small swarm of bees settled on the tongue of this future Saint as a sign that he would be a great preacher. It is for this reason that he has become particularly linked with bees.

As his Feast Day falls on the 7th of December, (the date on which he was consecrated Bishop), Saint Ambrose is one of the many Saints who has become associated with the seasons of Advent and Christmas.

In many regions of Italy, the Feast of Saint Ambrose is a public holiday, so that residents honor his memory by enjoying a day off from work and school. Traditionally, one may celebrate the Feast of Saint Ambrose either by attending Mass or by making and lighting candles of beeswax. Saint Ambrose is the Patron Saint not only of bees and beekeepers, but also of candlemakers, domestic animals, geese, livestock, police officers, and university students.

Imagine, for a moment, that you are seated in your favorite Cathedral. The date is the 13th of December; you have just spent the day preparing for your fast-approaching Christmas celebrations. It is seven o’clock in the evening; it has been dark for many hours already.

The Chancel is dimly lit; the congregation are weakly illuminated in pools of candlelight. At the back of the Cathedral stands a young lady of around twenty years old; she is draped in a dress of white velvet, and a band holding four candles balances delicately on her head.

What are you doing? You are celebrating the Feast of Saint Lucy, of course. You can be sure of a delightful evening of peace, tranquillity, Christmas atmosphere, and unequalled joy. This is all thanks to a brave, third-century Saint named Lucy (or Lucia). Undoubtedly, hers is the most beautiful of any Christmas Feast.

Saint Lucy was born during the year of 283, and was martyred in 304 at the age of just 21. Her Feast Day has been celebrated on the 13th day of December since the 6th century. As this date falls reliably in the middle of the Advent Season, her story has naturally become associated with the coming of Christmas.

Traditionally, to mimic her nightly ritual, a Saint Lucy’s Day Procession is held. One young lady from the parish is chosen to represent Saint Lucy. She is dressed entirely in white and adorned with a headband on which to safely carry her candles. These candles are carried on the head for a very significant reason.

Each evening, just after darkness had fallen, Saint Lucy wished to distribute food and household goods to those in need. Cleverly, she would light her path with candles balanced on her head instead of in her hands. This she did so that she could carry more in her hands for the poor.

As the Mass begins, the girl slowly processes down the aisle. Behind her, a trail of other young girls, also dressed in white and also carrying candles, continue the procession. All the while, the choir sings an unaccompanied rendition of the most sublime of hymns—Santa Lucia. 

Saint Lucy’s Day is a particular favorite in Nordic countries such as Sweden, Norway and Finland. In Scandinavia, Saint Lucy’s Day marks not only the beginning of the Christmas season, but the arrival of light and hope during the darkest time of the year.  Saint Lucy is now the Patron Saint of authors, cutlers, glaziers, laborers, martyrs, peasants, saddlers, salesmen, glassworkers, opticians, blindness, and throat-infections.

What does Saint Francis of Assisi have to do with Christmas? With good reason, many may ask this question.

Saint Francis of Assisi was born on the 3rd of October. His Feast Day falls annually on the 4th of October. He is best remembered for his patronage of animals. He composed one of the best-loved hymns of all time: All Creatures Of Our God And King. He also took vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience to God.

None of these attributes have anything at all to do with Advent, Christmas, or even the month of December. However, there is one thing that makes Saint Francis of Assisi worthy of yuletide recognition.

Did you know that he was the first person ever to set up a Nativity Scene? It was the intention of Saint Francis of Assisi to “make the memorial of that child who was born in Bethlehem, and in some sort behold with bodily eyes His infant hardships; how He lay in a manger on the hay with the ox and the ass standing by.” As the majority of the population were unable to comprehend the Latin used in the Bible and during mass, a Nativity Scene gave people the perfect opportunity to visualize the story, and to bring the meaning of Christmas to life.

Saint Francis sought permission from Pope Honorious III to “make ready a manger, together with an ox and an ass,” in the small town of Greccio. Permission was granted, and Saint Francis created a beautiful tradition that would grow in popularity and endure for hundreds of years to come.

Eight centuries on, Nativity Scenes are still one of the most popular Christmas decorations in the world. The erecting of a stable, the selecting of animals, and the placement of biblical figures are integral parts of Christmas for any Christian child.

Saint Joseph plays a central role in the Nativity story; it was he who was allocated by God to be the husband of the Virgin Mary and the earthly father of the baby Jesus Christ. Without the love, trust, and dedication of Saint Joseph, the birth of Jesus could not have come about safely.

Saint Joseph appears in three of the four Gospels in the New Testament of the Bible. Despite his importance, he is not mentioned in the Book of Mark and only receives passing reference in the Book of John, where he is referred to fleetingly in the section known as “the genealogy of Jesus.”

Some of the many significant events of Jesus’ life, (each recorded in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke), include the betrothal of Joseph to the Virgin Mary, their journey to Bethlehem, the Nativity of Jesus, the Flight into Egypt and the Presentation of Jesus in the temple. The figure of Saint Joseph is now one of the most important to appear in a Christmas Nativity Scene, and any boy selected to play the part of Joseph in a Nativity play is greatly envied.

6. Saint Stephen: The First Christian Martyr

Who doesn’t love Saint Stephen’s Day? It is now synonymous with another of our favorite dates on the Christmas calendar. The Feast of Saint Stephen, held annually on the 26th of December, is now more commonly referred to as Boxing Day in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.

According to the Roman Catholic Church, Saint Stephen’s Day commemorates the life of Saint Stephen, a man who is best remembered for being the first Christian Martyr. His story appears in The Acts of the Apostles; the fifth book in the New Testament of the Bible.

“Saint Stephen prayed ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ Then he fell on his knees and cried out, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’ When he had said this, he fell asleep.”

We may now ask ourselves, how exactly did Saint Stephen’s Day and Boxing Day merge into one festival? How did a 1st-century martyr and saint come to be overshadowed by a modern and secular celebration? If we fast-forward eighteen hundred years and stop in the middle of the Victorian Era in Britain, we may find our answer.

Fittingly, the name Boxing Day derives from the popular act of distributing boxes of gifts to the poor on the 26th of December. Most notably, it was the domestic servants of grand households who benefited from this tradition. Throughout the 19th century, those in service were required to be present and working on Christmas Day. As compensation, they would be rewarded for their efforts the following day.

Many servants would look forward to the annual gift of a personalized box, which would contain presents, food, festive drinks, and even purses of money. The household would also be granted a day off from their duties, alongside the permission to go home and share the contents of the box with their family. The day became known as Boxing Day—the day on which the working class of the era could celebrate the joy of Christmas.

The values of Saint Stephen’s Day, and the tradition of Boxing Day gift-giving, are referenced in the carol Good King Wenceslas. The carol begins with the lyrics, “Good King Wenceslas looked out on the Feast of Stephen, when the snow lay round about; deep and crisp and even.” We then hear about how King Wenceslas walks through the “rude wind’s wild lament” and the bitter weather so that he might deliver “flesh, wine” and “pine logs” to a poor man he had seen in the distance from his castle windows. A few verses on, the carol concludes with the lines “therefore Christian men be sure, wealth or rank possessing, ye who now will bless the poor, shall yourselves find blessing.”

Some might say that Christmas is the most unfortunate of times to be murdered. Unfortunately for Thomas Becket, he endured this particular fate on the 29th of December during the year of 1170.

Of course, Thomas Becket is best remembered for being an English nobleman who served as Lord Chancellor between 1155 and 1162, and Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his untimely death just eight years later. He is renowned for his ongoing conflict with King Henry II of England, who famously asked his devoted companions, “will no-one rid me of this turbulent Priest?!”

Thomas Becket was praying at Vespers in Canterbury Cathedral when he was murdered in cold blood by four of these knightly companions. These men were Reginald FitzUrse, Hugh de Morville, William de Tracy, and Richard le Breton. Assuming they were following the orders of their King, they beat the Holy Man to death. The blood that was shed that night was said to have “purpled the appearance of the Church.”

Thomas Becket was injured to such an extent that, amid the murder, one of the knights exclaimed to his companions, “we may leave this place, knights, for he will not get up again.” Despite the sadness that came with this yuletide end, we may still look on the bright side of things. It was for this suffering that Thomas Becket was deemed worthy of Sainthood and officially canonized by Pope Alexander III just three years after his death.

Those with a passion for the Tudor era may be interested to hear that it was King Henry VIII who declared that the life and death of Thomas Becket should no longer be commemorated in December. So against Thomas Becket was King Henry that he also despoiled his shrine, burned the relics of his bones, and wiped his name from all prayer books and service books. To this day, Thomas Becket is traditionally thought of as a hero to Catholics and as an enemy to Protestants.

A gruesome murder such as this may not seem the most appropriate event to honor amid Christmas celebrations, but millions of Catholics all over the world still attend mass for this very purpose. Maybe, on the 29th of December, we may take just a few moments to remember the ordeals of Saint Thomas Becket, just as many have done over the last eight-and-a-half centuries.

Saint Egwin of Evesham is best remembered for being a Benedictine Monk, a good friend of King Ethelred of Mercia, and the third Bishop of Worcester in England. He died just a few days after Christmas, on the 13th of December during the year 717, and the date is now commemorated annually as his Feast Day.

Much of Egwin of Evesham’s history is unknown. Most famously, he founded Evesham Abbey, which became one of the greatest Benedictine Houses of Medieval England. The Catholic Encyclopaedia tells us that Egwin’s “fame as a founder of the great Abbey of Evesham no doubt tended to the growth of legends which, though mainly founded on facts, render it difficult to reconcile all the details with those of the ascertained history of the period.” 

As well as Christmas, Egwin of Evesham holds strong associations with water. For example, he undertook a pilgrimage to Rome and, according to legend, prepared for his journey by locking shackles on his feet and throwing the keys into the nearby River Avon.

As Egwin and his companions were traveling through the Alps on their way to Rome, they naturally began to thirst. Mockingly, the other men encouraged Egwin to act as Moses by striking a rock from which they could drink. Egwin prayed to God and, to their surprise, the group saw a stream of water suddenly gushing from the rocks. Egwin had provided water for his companions, just as Moses had done in the book of Exodus, “Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.”

Later, after his arrival in Rome, Egwin was praying beside a river. To his astonishment, a fish swam to the surface and presented him with the keys that he had thrown into the River Avon, back home in England. Seeing this as a sign from God, Egwin released himself from his self-imposed bonds.

During the year 717, Egwin of Evesham died at the Abbey he had founded, and his remains were enshrined there. As Bishop of Worcester, he was preceded by Oftfor and succeeded by Wilfrith I. Egwin of Evesham is often depicted as a Bishop holding a fish in one hand, and a set of keys in the other.

“We three Kings of Orient are, bearing gifts were traverse afar, field and fountain; moor and mountain, following yonder star.”

The Three Kings. The Three Wise Men. The Magi. Together, these three gentlemen go by many names. Individually, they are thought to have been called Caspar, Balthazaar, and Melchior. It was during the 6th century that Emperor Justinian created their famous mosaics in the Church of Saint Apollonare in Italy. He ordered that each depiction should be inscribed with one of the names above.

Nobody can be certain of who exactly these men were, but their memory is everlasting. Even 2,000 years after their story’s end, they are three of the most significant figures in any Christmas celebration.

The Gospel of Matthew describes the Magi as wealthy and scholarly men who came from the East, following a bright star and seeking a King. “Behold, Wise Men from the East came to Jerusalem saying ‘Where is he who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship Him.’”

The Three Kings are celebrated on the 6th day of January, on a day known as the Feast of the Epiphany. Epiphany commemorates the day on which they discovered the Holy Family, knelt before the Baby Jesus and presented them with their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

10. Saint John The Evangelist: The Storyteller of Christmas

Saint John the Evangelist holds strong associations with Christmas; it is partly thanks to John and his works that we now understand the full meaning behind the Christmas story. In the Gospel of Saint John, in the first chapter of the fourth book in the New Testament, we may find some familiar words.

These words first bring warmth and comfort to many as the Christmas season approaches; they are traditionally read at services such as Carols From Kings, Christmas Eve Mass, and Nine Lessons And Carols, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made.” Saint John’s Feast Day is celebrated on the 27th of December, just two days after Christmas Day.