December: Day 6: Teaching 1: Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra

December: Day 6: Teaching 1:
Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra
 
(Lessons From His Life: 

He is a Model of a Christian's Duty to God, One's Neighbors and One's Self)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker fulfilled in his life all the most important duties to God, his neighbors and himself, teaching us to fulfill these duties to the best of our ability and with the help of the grace of God given to each.

II. a) In relation to God, he was a deeply religious Christian and is considered by the Church to be a model of faith.

In regard to faith, people are subject, for the most part, to two shortcomings.

Some, being arrogant in their minds, indulge in superfluous reasoning, and thereby fall into heresies and schisms, separating them from the general union of believers; others, considering the purity of faith to be a perfection, either inaccessible or unimportant, do not care at all whether they believe as they should. Errors are various, but equally reprehensible for a true Christian! For why did the holy faith descend from heaven and dwell among men? To illuminate the mind with the light of the knowledge of God, to inflame the heart with love for virtue, to tame the passions, to destroy or alleviate the misfortunes of mankind: this is its purpose! And what is the use of vain philosophizing about faith? They are superfluous, for the subject exceeds reason; they are harmful, for they lead to dissent and enmity. On the other hand, to neglect the purity of faith means to neglect faith itself. We try to preserve many human traditions unchanged; there are people who devote their whole lives to knowing what happened and when. How can we be indifferent to the purity of that faith on which our eternal salvation depends? The perfection of our love for God requires that we use the light of divine revelation in simplicity of heart, but this same perfection obliges us to preserve this light from being mixed with the darkness of error.

Saint Nicholas in both respects teaches us, brethren, an excellent rule of faith; for his faith was both simple and at the same time pure and zealous.

Oh, if only all who confess the name of Christ would unswervingly follow this rule! If only all the supposed zealots of Orthodoxy would acquire that simplicity of faith by which Saint Nicholas was inspired! Then the Church would not be tormented by her own children; the pernicious art of emulation would remain a portion of earthly wisdom; the holy faith would appear in its own form and the prayer of the Church for the union of all Christians by the bonds of one faith and love would have been fulfilled long ago.

b) Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker marked his relations with people by a number of great acts of philanthropy. Saint Nicholas, as the Church praises him, was a sea of miracles, which, despite their diversity, all consisted of "philanthropy." Behold! There he saves the captives from hard slavery; here he feeds the desperate during famine; in one place he returns lost infants to their inconsolable mothers; in another he delivers innocently condemned people from a shameful death; now he prevents crimes of poverty, and now he unexpectedly rewards weakening zeal for piety.

The image of the benefactions of Saint Nicholas was, if one may say so, more comforting than the benefactions themselves. If we imitated him, we would surpass all benefactors, we would learn to do good to our neighbors in such a way that the left hand would not know what the right hand was doing, for those who were benefited by Saint Nicholas often only learned the name of their benefactor because from him alone could such benefactions be expected; we would learn to be defenders of the innocent, despite the power of their persecutors, for Saint Nicholas did not look at persons, saving from death even those who had fallen under the wrath of the emperor; we would learn to pour out our generosity in such a way that, while alleviating bodily needs, they would serve at the same time to avert or stop crimes, for Saint Nicholas especially extended his helping hand where meager purity fought with promising debauchery; they would finally learn not to limit their good deeds to their neighbors, acquaintances, and even fellow believers, for Saint Nicholas did not leave without help even those who did not know the name of Christ.

Thus, Saint Nicholas was the most chosen vessel not only of love for God, through his zeal for faith, but also of love for his neighbor, through his good deeds to those in need.

c) But whoever wants to be a true instrument of love for God and neighbor must first of all cleanse his heart from passions, take control over himself, in a word, be attentive to his duties in relation to his soul. Saint Nicholas teaches us a saving lesson in this regard too.

What should man's perfection consist in in relation to himself? As a being inclined to evil and surrounded by temptations, he has a special need for abstinence; as a being destined for perfection, achieved not by his own strength, but by the action of God's grace, he must acquire humility. By abstinence sensuality is tamed and the spirit is purified; by humility spiritual gifts are acquired and preserved.

After this, in whatever we place abstinence, Saint Nicholas is the best teacher of abstinence. Shall we reduce this virtue to limitation of bodily needs, to renunciation of sensual pleasures, to non-acquisition of earthly goods? These qualities are presented by themselves in our Saint. How few bodily needs should there be in one who led a life equal to the angels! How far should the pleasures of the senses be from one who knew no other pleasure than philanthropy! And about non-acquisitiveness there is nothing to say. Persecution deprived of everything, but could not deprive Saint Nicholas of anything; for at the very beginning of his presbytery, he gave away all his property to the poor. Shall we demand from a teacher of abstinence extraordinary feats of moderation and self-denial - and there is no lack of them: Saint Nicholas, as tradition relates, already observed the difference in foods at an age when others do not yet know what foods are.

What shall we say of the humility of Saint Nicholas? If we did not know that it was chiefly for his humility that he was chosen as the shepherd of the Church of Myra, that humility distinguished him from the Fathers of the Synod of Nicaea, which was a Synod of humility, that humility compelled Saint Nicholas to conceal his good deeds and spiritual gifts under the guise of simplicity; if, I say, we knew nothing of these exploits of his humility: then should not the heavenly glory with which the Lord exalted His righteous one teach us that Saint Nicholas was not only meek, but also humble in heart?

III. Saint Nicholas of Myra! You are an inexhaustible sea of miracles and benefactions; but we ask of you only three gifts: make us by your prayers to unswervingly follow the rule of faith taught by you, tirelessly imitate the image of love and humility, and do not forget the lessons of abstinence, of which you were and are for all of us both the teacher and the best example. Amen.

Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.