Saint of the Day: St. Nicholas of Myra

Bishop (d. 342)

His life

+ Nicholas is thought to have been born in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). After living as a monk in the monastery of Holy Zion near Myra, he was appointed bishop of that city.

+ Renowned for his piety and zeal, he was imprisoned for his faith in Christ during the persecutions of Diocletian.

+ Nicholas participated in the Council of Nicea in 325 and was among those who embraced the teachings now known as the Nicene Creed. He was known for his strong opposition to the teachings of Arius, who denied the divinity of Jesus.

+ Saint Nicholas died in Myra in 342. In 1087, the relics of Saint Nicholas were moved from Muslim-controlled Turkey to Bari, Italy. He remains an important saint in both the East and the West and is honored as the patron of dozens of professions and causes, but he is especially revered as a patron saint of the poor.

+ In the most famous story of his life, Nicholas came to the aid of three young women, daughters of a poor man who could not afford the dowries that would allow them to marry. In order to save the girls from a life of poverty (or worse), Nicholas went to the poor man’s home and tossed three purses filled with gold (one for each daughter) through the window of the house, giving the daughters the dowry they would need to help secure a respectable marriage.

For prayer and reflection

“The shepherds of Christ’s flock must never indulge in self-love; if they do they will be tending the sheep not as Christ’s but as their own… The love of Christ ought to reach such a spiritual pitch in his shepherds that it overcomes the natural fear of death which makes us shrink from the thought of dying even though we desire to live with Christ.”—Saint Augustine of Hippo

Spiritual bonus

On December 6, we also remember Blessed Luisa María Frías Cañizares. A professor of “philosophy and letters” at the University of Valencia, Spain, she witnessed to her faith, despite an increasing hostility toward the Church within the broader culture. Because of her commitment to the Christian Faith, her parish involvement, and her work to support the faith of her students she was executed the anti-Catholic violence of the Spanish Civil War on December 6, 1936. Blessed Luisa was beatified with other martyrs in 2001.

Prayer

We humbly implore your mercy, Lord:
protect us in all dangers
through the prayers of the Bishop Saint Nicholas,
that the way of salvation may lie open before us.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(Prayer from The Roman Missal)

Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.