St Nicholas of Myra
Patron of Sailors
Feastday: 6 December

December 2002

St Nicholas (270-329) is universally known as the protector of children, but he is also the patron saint of sailors. On one occasion when a terrible storm at sea arose, St Nicholas was enlightened by God to know that the devil was trying to destroy the souls aboard an endangered ship. The passengers had indeed given up all hope and were on the verge of losing both their temporal and eternal lives, when at the insistence of the saint’s prayers the sea become calm again. His protection to sailors and travellers was famous both during his life and after his death. St Louis, King of France, was travelling by boat with his queen to the Crusade in the Holy Land in May 1254 when a storm arose at sea, threatening the King’s ship. The Queen made a vow to God to make a rich gift in honour of the saint if only they would land safely. They did indeed arrive at port, and the queen fulfiled her vow by presenting a silver ship as an ex-voto to the basilica of St Nicholas-de-Port in Lorraine.

St Nicholas, patron of travellers, pray for us!

December 2003

The Secret Alms of St Nicholas

“Tell me, now, my brethren, on what foundation are rash judgments and sentences based? Alas! They are based upon very slight evidence only, and most often upon what ‘someone said.’ But perhaps you are going to tell me that you have seen and heard this and that. Unfortunately, you could be mistaken in the testimony of both your sight and hearing, as you are going to see - here is an example which will show you, better than anything else can, how easily we can be mistaken and how we are nearly always wrong.

What would you have said, my dear brethren, if you had been living during the time of St Nicholas, and you had seen him coming in the middle of the night, walking around the house of three young girls, watching carefully and taking good care that no-one saw him. ‘Just look at that bishop’, you would have thought at once, ‘degrading and dishonouring his calling; what a dreadful hypocrite! He seems to be a saint when he is in church, and look at him now, in the middle of the night, at the door of three girls who do not have a very good reputation!’ And yet, my dear brethren, this bishop, who would certainly have been condemned by you, was indeed a very great saint and most dear to God. What he was doing was the best deed in the world. In order to spare these young persons the shame of begging, he came in the night and threw money in to them through their window because he feared that it was poverty which had made them abandon themselves to sin.

“Oh! Cursed pride, what evil you do and how many souls do you lead to hell! Answer me this, my dear brethren; are the judgments which we make about the actions of our neighbour any better founded than those which would have been made by anyone who might have seen St Nicholas walking around that house and trying to find the window of the room wherein were the three girls?

[...] “No, my dear brethren, while anyone passes his time in watching the conduct of other people, he will neither know nor belong to God.”

From a sermon of St John Vianney, the Curé of Ars

St Nicholas
A true story written for children

by Joan Windham

Once upon a time there was a Bishop, and his name was Nicholas, and he lived Seventeen Hundred years ago, which is a long time.

Well, one year, there was a Famine. (A Famine is when there is absolutely Nothing Left to Eat Anywhere, and so people have to eat Grass and roots of trees boiled into Soup, and things like that.) Well, in this Famine, Nicholas was travelling over some mountains to look for some food for his people, when he came to a Small Hotel, all by itself in between two mountains. It was nearly Night by then, and he thought he had better sleep there, and go on in the morning. He was very hungry and he would have loved to have had some Supper, but he knew that there would not be any because of the Famine.

But when he was settled by the fire in the Hotel, the Hotel Man came in and started laying the table!

“Are you going to give me some Supper?” asked Nicholas.

The Hotel Man laughed and said that he had a Secret Store of food down in his Deepest Darkest Cellar, and that Nicholas could have some, if he liked. Nicholas was very pleased, he was so hungry! He hadn’t had anything to eat, except some Dock Leaves and Sorrel, since the day before yesterday breakfast time.

Soon the Hotel Man brought in a dish with a silver dish cover over it and put it in front of Nicholas’ place. Then he gave him a square green plate, with white edges, to eat off.

“Help yourself!” he said, and he lifted off the dish cover. Inside was some very nice-looking Salted Meat (like ham is) with Dumplings round the edge.

“I am sorry I can’t give you any potatoes,” said the Hotel Man, “but there aren’t any left, because of the Famine.”
“Never mind, I like dumplings,” said Nicholas, and he looked at the supper again. Then he smelt it. Then he looked at the Hotel Man, who was humming a little tune and pretending not to notice. “Where did you get this meat? There isn’t any left in the whole land,” asked Nicholas.

“Oh, it’s just some I had in a Secret Store in the Cellar,” said the Hotel Man, and he flipped the table with the dinner napkin which he kept hanging over his arm.

“Is this all there is, or is there some more?” said Nicholas. “There is a little left in a tub in the cellar,” said the Hotel Man. “Haven’t you got enough there? Shall I go and get you some more?” And he picked up the dish. “No, leave the dish, and show me where you got it from,” said Nicholas.

“I’d rather you didn’t go all the way down there,” said the Hotel Man, “I’ll bring it up.”

“Take me down at once!” said Nicholas, very Loud and Fierce, and the Hotel Man said, “All right! I am not deaf,” in rather a frightened voice.

So they went down and down the very steep steps into the Deepest Darkest Cellar. There stood the Tub! It was painted green and it had Iron Rings round it. It had a wooden lid.

“Bring me a light, please, I want to see in it!” said Nicholas.

The Hotel Man brought a candle, in a blue candlestick, and Nicholas lifted up the lid and looked inside. It was half full of Salted Meat, just the same as the meat upstairs. Then he blessed it (like he could because he was a Bishop), and what do you suppose happened? It really was the Most Surprising Thing that the Hotel Man had ever seen! Out jumped three little boys! The wicked Hotel Man hadn’t got any more meat for his customers, so he had killed the little boys and Pickled them and Peppered them and cut them into little Squares and popped them into his Salt meat tub.

Nicholas took them away with him and gave them back to their mother, who had been looking for them everywhere. When they told her what had happened of course she told all her friends, so everybody said that Nicholas was the Special Saint for Children because of the little boys. His Special Day is the 6th of December, near Christmas, and if you say “St. Nicholas, St. Nicholas, St. Nicholas,” very quickly and very often, you will see that it turns into “Santa Claus,” and they are both the same person! And Santa Claus is Special for Children, too. †

[From Six O’Clock Saints]

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