It's been a busy few days in our household with the Christmas Tea on Saturday and B's ninth birthday on Sunday (photos and post forthcoming). So today I am getting to the celebration of St. Nicholas' Day a few days later than planned.
From the wonderful Saint of the Day e-mails from americancatholic.org, which notes that although we can't truly "prove" the legends about St. Nicholas, we can still extract lessons that we can then apply to our lives:
The absence of the “hard facts” of history is not necessarily an obstacle to the popularity of saints, as the devotion to St. Nicholas shows. Both the Eastern and Western Churches honor him, and it is claimed that, after the Blessed Virgin, he is the saint most pictured by Christian artists. And yet, historically, we can pinpoint only the fact that Nicholas was the fourth-century bishop of Myra, a city in Lycia, a province of Asia Minor.
As with many of the saints, however, we are able to capture the relationship which Nicholas had with God through the admiration which Christians have had for him—an admiration expressed in the colorful stories which have been told and retold through the centuries.
Perhaps the best-known story about Nicholas concerns his charity toward a poor man who was unable to provide dowries for his three daughters of marriageable age. Rather than see them forced into prostitution, Nicholas secretly tossed a bag of gold through the poor man’s window on three separate occasions, thus enabling the daughters to be married. Over the centuries, this particular legend evolved into the custom of gift-giving on the saint’s feast. In the English-speaking countries, St. Nicholas became, by a twist of the tongue, Santa Claus—further expanding the example of generosity portrayed by this holy bishop.
Comment:
The critical eye of modern history makes us take a deeper look at the legends surrounding St. Nicholas. But perhaps we can utilize the lesson taught by his legendary charity, look deeper at our approach to material goods in the Christmas season and seek ways to extend our sharing to those in real need.
Quote:
“In order to be able to consult more suitably the welfare of the faithful according to the condition of each one, a bishop should strive to become duly acquainted with their needs in the social circumstances in which they live.... He should manifest his concern for all, no matter what their age, condition, or nationality, be they natives, strangers, or foreigners” (Decree on the Bishops' Pastoral Office, 16).
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This year I didn't have the time or the money to get the chocolate gold coins that I usually insert in the kids' shoes for them to find on the morning of St. Nicholas Day. With all the busyness with the ladies' Christmas Tea, St. Nicholas Day kind of passed unnoticed in our household this year. (Especially when the only gold coins I ran across were "High School Musical" ones - blech!) But St. Nicholas, as the precursor to our Santa Claus, is a saint to remember for his generosity to the poor and his giving spirit, which we all need a reminder of at times during this Holy Season.
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