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Jolly St. Nick
St. Nicholas of Bari is my kind of saint. He wasn’t reluctant to fight for justice. His reputation is full of flair as he was often on the case of the authorities to release innocent victims from unjust sentences of crime or treason. He is given credit for boxing the ears of a heretic, Arius, and when three generals were sentenced to die in Constantinople, the saint appeared to the Emperor Constantine in a dream and ordered him to stop this unfair execution. He, therefore, has always been known for standing up for the innocent and when he was victorious in his quest, he refused to accept the credit or praise for himself, and always turned the complements to God the Father. Praise Him, not me, he said every day in his life.
 He is the only saint one doesn’t have to be a Christian to love. He is the basis for our Santa Claus. But he was more than a gift giver. He reflected our call to be Christ-like. He sees the possibility in the worst of men to be turned into beautiful people. We all have unopened packages within our hearts. Some just need to be untied to find the gifts in us put there by God. God created us. In Eastern Orthodox countries, for St. Nicholas is highly revered in the Eastern Orthodox church, there are bishops who have the western world’s image of Santa Claus - great silky beards that flow down their chests; adorning their heads are bishop’s miters. In Great Britain alone, there are nearly 500 churches dedicated to St. Nicholas, and many more throughout the Anglican communion. He did what we all should do, give without restraint, and take no credit for his gifts of generosity and healing. He instantly turns all praise and thanksgiving to God the Father. That’s where it should go. That is why He is a saint.
Being born in Turkey into a prosperous Christian home produced in Nicholas the character he would assume as our modern Santa Claus. His parents died when he was young, and he inherited great wealth, but also their way of gifting and caring for others. Nicholas was giving and was attracted to those in need and in desperate situations. The poverty of others disturbed him and he often did a Santa Claus maneuver to help out the needy while remaining incognito.
One legend is that when a poor man lacked the dowry required so his three daughters could be married (without it, no marriage, and a life of slavery or prostitution), St. Nicholas climbed onto the roof of the home of the man and his daughters and dropped a round bag of gold down the chimney. This saved one daughter. The next night, St. Nicholas repeated the secret visit to help the second daughter. The father rejoiced but wondered why this was happening. So thinking, since there was still one more daughter to save from prostitution or slavery, there would probably be a third gold bag, the father hid himself to peek at what was going on. Nicholas, of course, released another bag of gold down the chimney and tried to leave quickly. But the father ran after him and thanked him. St. Nicholas did not like this attention and asked the man to stand, not kiss his feet, and thank God not him for God’s goodness and the gifts. Whatever praise St. Nicholas received he quickly directed toward God.
St. Nicholas lived in Myra near the Mediterranean coast. When the Bishop of Myra died, an elder churchman had a dream that the first person to end the church the next day should be the bishop and would be named Nicholas. Nicholas was an early bird, up for prayers, as usual, always getting there before the others. When he entered, he greeted the priest and the priest asked what his name was. When he said Nicholas, the priest was ecstatic because he had dreamed the new bishop would be named Nicholas. Nicholas said no, he would not accept the honor, but the priest took him to a chapel where the clergy were in prayer. They cheered and sang when they realized this was the chosen man and soon he was ordained Bishop of Myra.
There are miracles associated with our precursor of Santa Clause. Once again, the mystical number of three is involved. Three children kidnaped by a rural butcher/innkeeper were murdered and put into brine for pickling. Bishop Nicholas stopped by the country inn. God surely sent him. He exposed the murderous act, and when he put his hand into the brine barrel, the three boys were at once restored and began praising Nicholas, who immediately told them to praise God alone, not him. What wonderful humility and correctness. We should never take credit for the miracles that happen in people we touch.
St. Nicholas was a rescuer from sailors in storms, to victims of injustice, to the poor and the young. He became symbolic to all kinds of people, including pawnbrokers, who use the three gold bags (balls) from St. Nicholas earlier legend as their symbol. He appears in the dedication of many ancient churches and is said to have been the saint most frequently depicted in art, second only to the Virgin Mary. He is a regular character in countless plays from medieval times down to today. I remember in kindergarten, I was the lead in a play called “Mrs. O’Malley’s Christmas Eve,” which concerned St. Nicholas and his gifts. He entered the American way of life when the Dutch protestant settlers took with them the practice of giving presents to children on St. Nicholas Day.
Very little is known as a fact about St. Nicholas. There are many legends. But his legends are good and show how we should respond as Christians. Generosity is of course primary: giving until we can give no more. And when the praise for such acts comes back to us, we must reflect that praise off our armor so it beams up to Him. St. Nicholas had all the advantages in his life. But rather than sitting back and using them for his own delight, he shared all he had with others. Nowhere does it specify that he gave himself to poverty. But that’s not the point. St. Nicholas was a helper, a giver, one who could not let a bad situation pass him by without making an effort to change the bad for the good, just as we should.
~ Rev
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audrey@audreytaylorgonzalez.com
www.audreytaylorgonzalez.com
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