In overseas, Europe and elsewhere, Santa Claus is taken very seriously as the stories go that he (Santa) brings along presents and blessings, but today people go to him in pre-arranged arena to receive the gifts. It has been commercialised as a money spinner by supermarkets, traders, individuals, as well as Radio and Television stations.

Some parents have even told their children that Santa only comes to those who believe. And so the history of Father Christmas, which is interwoven in myth and legends, have endured for ages. But are these stories true?

Now, let's dig into history to unravel the myth of Santa. Santa Claus is a corruption of St. Nicholas, the fourth century bishop who was reputed to have given three bags of gold to three girls for their marriage dowries in order to save them from prostitution.

This apparently is the basis for the use of three gold bells as the pawnbroker?s sign. The saint can be seen at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London , where he is shown refusing his mother?s breast on Wednesdays and Fridays in accordance with this legend.

Santa Claus comes on the 6th of December and the birth of Christ (was) celebrated on Christmas eve. These are two separate stories (events) now fused into one.

The custom of giving presents to children on St. Nicholas Day originally started in Holland . Later on in America , Dutch Protestants then blurred the custom with Nordic legends of a magician, who both punished naughty children and rewarded good ones with presents.

As it is today, we are left with Father Christmas who does not distinguish between good and bad children and who leaves parents with some heavy financial burden.

The reality of the situation, however, is that Santa Claus is not a real existence but a myth created to make Christmas more popular and arouse the interest of children in a season (Advent) that heralds the greatest of all seasons and the birth of the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ. It could be equated with that of John the Baptist as a herald of a great happening, a great event, a great person. But Father Christmas is not the true herald of Jesus! It is mere funfare!

To deprive the children of the Santa Claus euphoria and experience could have psychological effects on them but the truth about Jesus Christ should be told and not coloured with Father Christmas. Jesus is the only real Father Christmas and Christmas Father.

Children are better told ahead that the Father Christmas story is not real and true now that they are getting older; that the real Christmas story is of course the birth and Epiphany of Jesus Christ! This reality is the crunch of the matter.

Nevertheless, Father Christmas can provide us with an opportunity to help our children grow in their faith. There is no need to wipe out the magic of those early years. While the myth itself can still be enjoyed at Christmas as a story, it can also herald the start of a real and life-long faith.

This faith, unlike Father Christmas, is based on a true figures that Santa Claus isn?t true but that angels, wise men and Jesus are? To steer children through this formative and sensitive stage, the concept of belief is important. The point about belief, and about faith, is that it holds the key to power.

In young children, belief is relatively simple and literal. As they get older, belief becomes more complex and more abstract. Children need to be guided from the simple belief in Father Christmas to the subtle and infinitely mysterious belief in the Holy Trinity made manifest at Christmas Msgr. Osu is the Director of Social Communications, Lagos Archdiocese.