NEW YORK — The white-bearded Christian saint whose acts of generosity inspired America’s secular Santa Claus figure is known worldwide — but Saint Nicholas’ origin story is not.

But whether the stories are true is not so much the point, said Ayo, an 89-year-old retired Notre Dame University professor named after St. Nicholas. “There’s no Santa Claus that lands on the ...

Eventually, St. Nicholas morphed into the secular Santa Claus.Artist Thomas Nast, an engraver in Morristown, New Jersey, who illustrated the front cover of Harper’s magazine for many years ...

Eventually, St. Nicholas morphed into the secular Santa Claus.Artist Thomas Nast, an engraver in Morristown, New Jersey, who illustrated the front cover of Harper’s magazine for many years ...

Eventually, St. Nicholas morphed into the secular Santa Claus.Artist Thomas Nast, an engraver in Morristown, New Jersey, who illustrated the front cover of Harper’s magazine for many years ...

But whether the stories are true is not so much the point, said Ayo, an 89-year-old retired Notre Dame University professor named after St. Nicholas. “There’s no Santa Claus that lands on the ...

Eventually, St. Nicholas morphed into the secular Santa Claus.Artist Thomas Nast, an engraver in Morristown, New Jersey, who illustrated the front cover of Harper’s magazine for many years ...

The white-bearded Christian saint whose acts of generosity inspired America’s secular Santa Claus figure is known worldwide — but Saint Nicholas' origin story is not.The legends surrounding ...

HOW DID ST. NICK INSPIRE AMERICA’S SANTA CLAUS FIGURE?Devotion to St. Nicholas seems to have faded after the 16th century Protestant Reformation, except in the Netherlands where his legend ...

Eventually, St. Nicholas morphed into the secular Santa Claus.Artist Thomas Nast, an engraver in Morristown, New Jersey, who illustrated the front cover of Harper’s magazine for many years ...

Eventually, St. Nicholas morphed into the secular Santa Claus.Artist Thomas Nast, an engraver in Morristown, New Jersey, who illustrated the front cover of Harper’s magazine for many years ...

The white-bearded Christian saint whose acts of generosity inspired America’s secular Santa Claus figure is known worldwide — but Saint Nicholas' origin story is not.The legends surrounding ...