The Mother of St. Nicholas

Classic children's Christmas story first published in 1899. The story begins: "Go back into the third century after Christ, travel east into the famous Mediterranean Sea, survey the beautiful south-west coast of Asia Minor, and let your eyes rest on the city of Patara. Look at it well. Full of life then, dead and desolate now, the city has wonderful associations in sacred and legendary lore--it saw the great reformer of the Gentiles, and gave birth to the white-haired man of Christmas joy."