Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker, whose holy memory we celebrate today, has for seventeen centuries shone upon the firmament of the Orthodox faith by his virtues. And notwithstanding the great span of time that separates us from him, he remains even now for us a living and near saint.

Saint Nicholas hears every human supplication, and by the grace given to him by God not only fulfils petitions, but often even anticipates them. He helps people on land and at sea, in prisons and in places of healing. He aids every family and every person who calls upon his holy name. He helps the Church and society alike.

Saint Nicholas is among the few saints of Christ’s Church who are venerated not only by all Orthodox Christians, but by Christians of every confession, and even by those outside the Christian faith. This is deeply telling, for no one goes to draw water from an empty well. Each of us has, at least once in life, turned to Saint Nicholas for help and received it.

This is borne witness to by the multitude of churches dedicated to Saint Nicholas throughout our land. One of the earliest of these was the Church of Saint Nicholas in Kyiv, erected by the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga over the grave of Askold — the first Christian prince of Rus’, who bore the name Nicholas at his Holy Baptism.

Ancient Kyiv also preserves the memory of the miraculous rescue of an infant who had drowned in the River Dnipro. The Great Wonderworker, heeding the prayers of parents who had lost their child, drew the boy from the water by night, restored him to life, and laid him upon the galleries of the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom before the wonderworking icon. There, in the morning, the rejoicing parents found their child alive.

In Saint Nicholas we behold an intercessor and advocate before the Throne of God, a swift helper, a physician, a deliverer, and a comforter. Of him one may rightly say, in the words of the holy Apostle Paul:
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).

He lived not for himself, but for others; and in living for others, he lived wholly for the Lord. He was ever with those who wept and mourned, with the sick and the poor.

The Life of Saint Nicholas recounts many accounts of his help to those in need. Yet one example especially comforts our hearts. In the city of Patara, a man had fallen into utter poverty and, in despair, was prepared — lest he and his family perish from hunger — to surrender his three daughters to dishonour. Learning of this, Saint Nicholas secretly came by night and cast three purses of gold into the man’s house. Thus he delivered the family from sinful ruin and enabled the daughters to enter honourable and blessed marriage.

This and many other examples of mercy found in the saint’s life bear witness that his whole earthly course was filled with works of love towards the afflicted and the oppressed. Possessing great meekness of spirit and purity of heart, filled with love for mankind, Saint Nicholas was at the same time an uncompromising defender of the true faith and of the Church of Christ.

Thus, in the year 325, at the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea, he stood forth as a zealous denouncer of the Arian heresy and a defender of the purity of Orthodox doctrine. Truth itself revealed him to us as a rule of faith and an image of meekness, a teacher of self-restraint. By humility he attained exaltation; by poverty, true riches.

Having reached a ripe old age, Saint Nicholas departed peacefully to the Lord in the latter half of the fourth century. His holy relics rest in the Italian city of Bari, where for many centuries they have exuded healing myrrh, through which even today many receive cures.

The faithful venerate the saint and come to him with prayer and trust. Saint Nicholas has always been with our people, invisibly present among us, wondrously aiding us in the work of salvation. He hastens swiftly to the help of all who call upon him in faith.

He intercedes for us before God, that the Lord may enlighten us with His truth and that, following his example, we too may enter into the joy of our Lord
(cf. Matthew 25:21).

Happy Feast!