Tis the Season...

Jolly Old Saint Nicholas

Jolly old Saint Nicholas is not only the patron saint of children, but, according to legend, he brought back to life three children after they were murdered and pickled in brine. Supposedly the three children spent the night at the house of an innkeeper or a butcher, who then killed, gutted, dismembered and pickled the youngsters, and was planning to pass off their remains as pork. Saint Nicholas happened along and miraculously resuscitated, reassembled, and reanimated the youths. In art of Saint Nicholas one will sometimes see children standing in vats or tubs; that would be why.
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