Saint Nicholas is quite possibly the best-known saint recognized by the Catholic church, in large part because he is inspiration for the Santa Claus mythos. He's known for many things: dropping sacks of gold down a chimney to save some girls from prostitution, putting coins in the shoes of the poor, and punching a guy over a "homoousios" versus "homoiousios" debate. But why is there a head sticking out of a barrel in my minifig representation? Lifetime: 270 to 343 Region: Myra, Asia Minor (modern Demre, Turkey) Patronages: Coopers; repentant thieves and prostitutes; children; brewers Iconograpy: Red robes; Sack of coins; Children in pickle barrel Feast Day: December 6 Rather than focus on the entire life of Saint Nicholas, today I'm going to talk about my favorite story about the proto-Santa: the time he brought some pickled children back from the dead. There was a terrible famine in the Roman empire, and people everywhere were going hungry.