The Hopeful Legacy of St. Nicholas

While the year is coming to an end, this week marks the first week of the Church’s new liturgical year. The season of Advent encompasses the first four Sundays after the Feast of Christ the King leading up to Christmas day. Similar to the season of Lent, you’ll notice that the decorations in churches over the next three weeks will be solemn and priests will wear purple, and on the third Sunday rose, vestments.

This first week of Advent is characterized by the theme of hope, which is seen in the readings from last Sunday and throughout this week. The candle lit during the first week of Advent is called the prophet’s candle for the prophets who foretold the coming of the Messiah.  There are messages of awaiting deliverance and preparing oneself to meet Christ. Next week, the focus will shift to faith and trust.

Today, on the first Friday of this Advent, we celebrate the Feast of St. Nicholas! While St. Nicholas might be best known as a precursor to Santa Claus, in real life he was much more than a jolly old man. Not only was he known for generosity and kindness, but he was a great defender of the faith and protector of those in need.  

From his youth, St. Nicholas was known for his selfless and charitable acts. After becoming an orphan at a young age, he was left with a large inheritance but chose not to keep it for himself. One of the most well-known stories about him involved a man in his town with three daughters who could not find husbands because of their poverty. The father had lost all of his money, and without a dowry no one would marry his daughters, and they were going to be sold into slavery. One night, young Nicholas threw a bag of gold into an open window of the house, and according to legend it fell into the eldest daughter’s stocking which had been left by the fireplace to dry. Over time, Nicholas did the same for the other two daughters as well, and all three were able to be married. This is why St. Nicholas is often depicted in images with three gold balls or three purses. 

Many do not realize that St. Nicholas also suffered greatly for his faith. Before Constantine made Christianity legal in the Roman Empire, Christians faced intense persecution under the emperor Diocletian. Early in his ministry as Bishop of Myra, Nicholas was arrested, tortured, and thrown into prison with many other Christians. After his release, Nicholas preached strongly against the heresy of Arianism in his city, and he would go on to defend the divine and human nature of Christ at the Council of Nicaea in 325. Nicholas fought so passionately at the Council that he is known, according to tradition, to have punched an Arian bishop who denied the divinity of Jesus in the face! You could say that he was put on the naughty list, because afterwards he was censured until a group of bishops at the Council had a dream in which God told them to reinstate Nicholas, and they promptly did. 

Today, the tomb and relics of St. Nicholas are in the Basilica di San Nicola in Bari, Italy; he was originally buried in a church built by Constantine in present-day Turkey, and 500 years after his death, they were moved to Bari for safekeeping. His relics there produce a unique substance of myrrh, also called “Nicholas’ Manna,” which is collected in vials and is often used for anointing of the sick for those with a devotion to Nicholas. 

This St. Nicholas Day, may you be filled with the generous and courageous spirit of St. Nicholas, and serve others in your life with love, kindness, and strength as he did!