Tomorrow we will
celebrate the feast day of St. Nicholas Archbishop of Myra in Lycia. This
amazing man has become one of the most beloved and revered saints in our native
land. In him is a boundless compassion for others and an intense faithfulness
to God. There are scores of instances from his life that are striking evidence
of this.
In Patara, there
lived an impoverished merchant who had three daughters. Lack of money for a
dowry prevented him from giving them into marriage. The desperate father
decided on a terrible thing — to sell the honor of his daughters to get badly
needed money for his family. Fortunately, St. Nicholas vigilantly followed the
lives of his flock. Upon learning of the merchant’s plan, he decided to save
him from spiritual death. Three times, over the course of a few days, Saint Nicholas
went to the poor man’s house at night and secretly threw him bags of gold. The
kindness that was demonstrated not only allowed the father to give his
daughters in marriage, but moved the merchant to actively help the needy when
his business recovered.
No less famous is
the account of how St. Nicholas saved three citizens of the world who were
convicted to death by the slander of enemies. The Saint saved them right before
the very moment of death. He snatched the sword from the hands of the executioner,
and commanded him to release the innocent. His authoritative command was not
contradicted. It was clear to all that what was happening before their eyes was
the will of God.
Finally, it is
worth remembering the tradition which says that during the meeting of the
Council of Nicaea, St. Nicholas could not tolerate blasphemy and struck Arias
on the cheek —a heretic who rejected the Divinity of Jesus Christ.
What important
lessons can be learned from these accounts?
First – do not
delay in providing support to those in need.
Second – do not
judge others, because it may be that your “righteous anger” burns over a fire
fueled by gossip, slander, and defamation.
Third – do not be
afraid to steadfastly and zealously defend your faith, because very often it is
silence that betrays God.
By Metropolitan Anthony (Pakanich)
Source: http://www.pravmir.com/from-the-church-s-view-lessons-of-st-nicholas/
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