Festival of St. Nicholas, Bishop and Confessor
Posted on December 6, 2022 by under
Scripture: St. Luke 1:26-38 (NKJV)
1:26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”
29 But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. 30 Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
34 Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”
35 And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. 37 For with God nothing will be impossible.”
38 Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
Devotion
On his festival day, we remember the idea of the real man who was St. Nicholas. This is not the jolly figure with a soda in his hand, or who flies around with reindeer and climbs down chimneys. It is important for the Church to mark the difference between men who represent faithfulness, and characters from pop culture. Even more important, the Church focuses on those things that confess the truth of our Lord Jesus Christ over the folktales and commercials of secular society.
Bishop Nicholas is said to have been pious, generous, and one of the men who upheld the Scriptural teaching about our Lord Jesus Christ as true man and true God. These are the proper things on which the Church should focus. These are the things that confess the true faith and help us to set our minds on our Lord’s kingdom and righteousness. These also point us back to the story that is both a wonderful miracle and historical reality which has been taught to us in St. Luke’s Gospel account. The holy messenger of God announced that the true son of Mary, born of her flesh and blood in the line of King David, would also be the divine Savior, the true Son of God, who would save us from our sin and captivity to the devil. We focus on this because it is the greatest story about His kingdom and His grace for all who believe in Christ Jesus!
Prayer: O Lord, hear our prayers to Thee on this day of St. Nicholas, Thy Confessor and Bishop, that as Thou didst lead him to render faithful service to Thee, Thou wouldst lead us to faithfully confess our hope in Thy salvation, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Collect for Populus Sion
Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to make ready the way of Thine only-begotten Son, so that by His coming we may be enabled to serve Thee with pure minds; through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
