St. Nicholas

Don't forget to check the contents of your shoes, slippers or socks this Sunday morning before inserting your feet! This Sunday, December 6th, is the Memorial of St. Nicholas, a day in which German Christians and many other Catholics are surprised to discover gifts and sweets in their stockings and shoes mysteriously left by St. Nick. But who is this beloved Saint Nicholas?

Few Saints are as popular throughout history as St. Nicholas. Devotion to him is common to Catholic, Orthodox, and most Protestant Christians. St. Nick died in 324 A.D. He was “born at Patara in Lycia, he visited the Thebaid, ruled a great monastery, was imprisoned for a time for his faith, and ended his life as archbishop of Myra” (Lives of the Saints, Omer Englebert, p. 464).

There are so many miracles attributed to this beloved Saint. No doubt that St. Nicholas the “Wonderworker” earned a special rapport with school children because of the astounding occasion of his reviving of children murdered by a thieving inn owner. Acknowledging his prolific prodigies, St. Nicholas is even more famous for his heroic charity.

Perhaps the most iconic tale of St. Nick’s generous heart appears in the account of three marriageable girls who did not find any suitors. Without the ability to secure a healthy, peaceful and financially secure future for his girls through matrimony, the unscrupulous father considered entering them into a life of ill repute. St. Nicholas, upon learning of this dreadful possibility for the sisters, proceeded, over the course of three separate occasions, to toss purses or socks filled with gold for each girl through the open window of the father’s room in the house. Some accounts say the gold thrown into the home fell into the father’s shoes. The gold provided the necessary dowries with which to secure marriages for the girls and to save them from the debasement of prostitution.

The gold coins arrived anonymously each night and on the third night the father hid in the shadows in the hopes of discovering his family’s unnamed benefactor. Upon catching St. Nicholas toss the satchel of gold on the third night, the father fell at the bishop’s feet and wept in penance, conversion, and in thanksgiving. From this inspiring tale we can see why St. Nicholas prefers to bestow gifts upon the faithful, especially children, incognito and has a penchant for filling socks and shoes with treasures.

May St. Nicholas intercede for us and help us become a generous people, seeking out ways to benefit our neighbors in sorrow and need. Of all the fruits of the Holy Spirit, sharing and giving are the most tangible ways we can imitate the Lord Who made everything for us, His children. With whom will you share your goods, your time, and the Good News of the Gospel? Happy St. Nicholas Day!!!