December 6: Nicholas of Myra, Bishop, c. 342

The Collect of the Day

Nicholas of Myra

Grant, Almighty God, that your church may be so inspired by the example of your servant Nicholas of Myra, that it may never cease to work for the welfare of children, the safety of sailors, the relief of the poor, and the help of those tossed by tempests of doubt or grief; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Nicholas of Myra

Grant, Almighty God, that thy church may be so inspired by the example of thy servant Nicholas of Myra, that it may never cease to work for the welfare of children, the safety of sailors, the relief of the poor, and the help of those tossed by tempests of doubt or grief; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

1 John 4:7–14
Psalm 145:8–13
Mark 10:13–16

Very little is known about the life of Nicholas, except that he suffered torture and imprisonment during the persecution under the Emperor Diocletian. It is probable that he was one of the bishops attending the Council of Nicaea in 325. According to popular tradition, he famously lost his temper at the council and punched the heretic Arius, but this story dates to more than 1,000 years after his death and is almost certainly apocryphal.

He was honored as a saint in Constantinople in the sixth century by the Emperor Justinian. His veneration also became immensely popular in the West after the supposed removal of his body to Bari, Italy, in the late eleventh century. In England, almost 400 churches were dedicated to him.

Nicholas is famed as the traditional patron of seafarers and sailors, and, more especially, of children. Many of the accounts of Nicholas’ life recount his habit of secret gift-giving to those in need, a tradition that many Christians have felt inspired to continue in his honor.

As a bearer of gifts to children, his name was brought to America by the Dutch colonists in New York, from whom he is popularly known as Santa Claus.

Lessons and Psalm

First Lesson

Psalm

⁸The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, *slow to anger and of great kindness.

⁹The Lord is loving to everyone *and his compassion is over all his works.

¹⁰All your works praise you, O Lord, *and your faithful servants bless you.

¹¹They make known the glory of your kingdom *and speak of your power;

¹²That the peoples may know of your power *and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

¹³Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom; *your dominion endures throughout all ages.

Gospel

⁷Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. ⁸Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. ⁹God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. ¹⁰In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. ¹²No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us. ¹³By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. ¹⁴And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world.