Dear brothers and sisters in Christ!
It is not surprising that on the Day of Saint Nickolas, the Wonderworker, who for centuries has been a beloved Saint among Orthodox Christians all over the world and is especially famous for His generosity and His love to give presents, – we also expect a gift from him… But let us realize first that He Himself is being a magnificent gift of God to our Church and to every one of us.
How did we get such a remarkable gift from God? How was Saint Nickolas chosen to become a Bishop?
God Himself granted us such a present. It happened in the 4th century in the Greek town of Myra in Asia Manor (nowadays it is Turkish and called Demre). When the Archbishop of that city reposed, the Bishops of the whole region – Lycia – gathered together for choosing a new one. To decide who is the most deserving of such an honorable title – is always a very hard task. After the intense prayer of all the assembled hierarchs, the elder Bishop had a revelation that they should make a bishop that very priest who would enter the town Cathedral first in the early morning…
Having returned from his pilgrimage to the Holy Land and being unaware of the events that took place in His absence, Presbyter Nickolas, as was His custom, entered His church at the dawn of the day. The hierarch, who was granted the heavenly revelation, by that time had already been waiting at the entrance and discovered to the priest the Will of God about Him…The same day future Saint Nickolas was ordained a Bishop.
What spiritual gifts can we receive from Saint Nickolas today?
First of All, it is God’s Blessing, which Saint Nickolas passes onto us by His benefactive right hand.
The Second gift is the Teaching of Jesus Christ that is symbolized by the Book of the Gospels that Saint Nickolas holds in his left hand. And this is the most important Present that this Saint wants to give to us, because, He, first of all, is the Servant of God and the Teacher of the Church: on the icon He is always depicted with the Holy Bible-which by Itself is the Word of God, the Almighty Wisdom and the Eternal Life!
And today we pray God to grant us to be alike that Holy hierarch of our church, about whom the hymn – kontakion sings that “He kept the commandments of the Gospels of Jesus Christ and sacrificed His own soul for His flock!” Let us plead God to give us strength in order to stay always faithful to the Truth of the New Testament by the act of self—sacrifice! Let us also beg God to vouchsafe for us more of such true and Good spiritual Shepherds as was Saint Nickolas!
The Holy Ascension Russo-Greek Catholic Orthodox Church of Skaro. December 19, 2012.