Commentary Purg XX 31-33

Nicholas, whose gift-giving eventually made him the patron of Christmas, was a bishop in Asia Minor in the reign of Constantine in the fourth century.  His renown for generosity is based upon his kindness in offering dowries of gold for the three daughters of an impoverished noble friend, who had been planning to sell them into prostitution in order to maintain them and himself.  In the first two examples, poverty was itself seen as a sort of nobility, preferred both by Mary and by Fabricius to worldly wealth.  Here things are a bit different, as Nicholas allows his friend to escape from poverty by arranging for his daughters' dowries.