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Who is St. Nicholas?
Eternal God, in your great love you gave to your servant Nicholas a perpetual name for deeds of kindness on land and sea. Grant that your Church may never cease to work for the happiness of children, the safety of sailors, the relief of the poor and the help of those who are 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. - Collect for St. Nicholas |
The historical person now known as St. Nicholas was a 4th century bishop (born c. 342): "Nicholas of Myra". Myra was an area in what is now the southern coast of modern-day Turkey, but was a Greek-speaking province of the Roman empire at the time.
Nicholas is the patron saint of children, sailors, the poor, those in grief or doubt. He had a reputation for secret gift-giving, giving rise to the connection to the modern day mythical St. Nicholas - Santa Claus. But very little is known as historical certainty - much more is known as traditional legend. The most famous legend about him tells how he threw three bags of gold into the room of three daughters of an impoverished nobleman, thus saving them from prostitution. Other versions say that St Nicholas put the money in the girls' stockings at the end of their beds. This may have given rise to the practice of hanging up stockings at Christmas, to the popularity of chocolate coins and to the custom of putting new coins into stockings. (- quote from Anglican Communion website) In the Anglican Church of Canada, St. Nicholas Day is celebrated on December 6 as a commemoration in the liturgical calendar. For a more extensive background on St. Nicholas, survey some of the links below: |
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A small selection of links: |
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The Parish of St. Nicholas, Birch Cliff • Diocese of Toronto • Anglican Church of Canada
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