Anchorage children encounter Bishop Nicholas

CatholicAnchor.org

On Saturday, Dec. 6, dozens of children gathered at St. Nicholas of Myra Byzantine Catholic Church to meet with the beloved Saint Nicholas, the third century bishop of Myra and the inspiration behind much of the Christmas gift-giving tradition.

Families gathered in St. Nicholas parish which celebrated its namesake with a Divine Liturgy followed by singing, dancing, gift exchanges and a potluck feast.

Following the liturgy, the festivities unfolded, beginning with Saint Nicholas’ dramatic entrance into the parish social hall by bursting through the doors to the delight of children. Saint Nicholas was vested in liturgical robes, wearing a Byzantine bishop’s crown and carrying a bishop’s staff.

After greeting the star-struck youngsters, Saint Nicholas with his long white hair and beard, invited children to bring up their gifts of warm clothes, food and household items which they brought for distribution to Catholic Social Services’ Clare House — an outreach in Anchorage that serves homeless mothers and children.

The evening included carol singing and historical stories told by Saint Nicholas about his life.

The feast day was part of a global celebration in which Catholics around the world remember the early church bishop known for extraordinary generosity and a deep love of children. Born in Lycia in Asia Minor around the late third or fourth century, Saint Nicholas is said to have made a pilgrimage to Palestine and Egypt in order to study the ways of the Desert Fathers. On returning some years later he was almost immediately ordained bishop of Myra, on the coast of modern day Turkey.

The bishop was imprisoned during the Diocletian persecution and only released when Constantine the Great came to power and made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire.

One of the most famous stories of the generosity of Saint Nicholas says that he secretly threw bags of gold through an open window into the house of a poor man to serve as dowry for the man’s daughters, who otherwise would have been sold into slavery.

The gold is said to have landed in the family’s shoes, which were drying near the fire. This is why children leave their shoes out by the door, or hang their stockings by the fireplace in the hopes of receiving a gift on the eve of his feast.

Saint Nicholas is associated with Christmas because of the tradition that he had of giving secret gifts to children. He is also the patron saint of children and sailors, and his intercession is sought by the shipwrecked, by those in difficult economic circumstances, and for those affected by fires.

Click here to view photos from this event.