The article’s title is the translation of the meaning of the name Nicholas. Isn’t it strange that his name has been twisted by the world to mean almost anything but victory? Today his name means profit, it means covetousness (“I need…., I want…”), it means excess (in spending, in eating, in self-indulgence).
As Christians, we see the world slipping away from traditional, but especially from moral, norms. Is it not profoundly telling that the true person of St. Nicholas is a harbinger, a predecessor to the corruption that is affecting so much of what we hold as true and good and holy?
As was the case with Joachim and Anna, Theophanes and Nonna were childless, and they prayed to the Lord to give them a child, whom they too promised to dedicate to the service of God. And so it was that Nicholas was conceived!
Tradition holds that his mother Nonna was ill as she carried the child, but her illness was immediately healed upon his birth.
Baptized as a child, tradition holds that he stood in the baptismal font for three hours in honor of the Holy Trinity. It is told that as a baby he would not nurse from his mother on Wednesdays and Fridays. From his youth, his spirit was victorious over his body.
As a young child he read and prayed—voraciously. His uncle was bishop of Patara, and was so taken by the boy’s spiritual success and deep piety that he first ordained him to be a reader, and when the time was right, elevated him to the priesthood, where he was entrusted to teach the flock.
He was unparalleled in being proficient in answering questions of faith, earning the deepest respect of the faithful. He was kind to all who came to him for aid, especially the afflicted and the poor, to whom he soon had distributed all of his inheritance. In all instances, he strove to bestow charity in secrecy, not permitting his good deeds to be seen by the many.
But his spiritual influence was not limited to preaching and almsgiving. He is known to us today as “Wonderworker,” a category of saints who showed the ability to intervene in miraculous ways for the good of the people who came to them.
Once St. Nicholas was on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and he foretold that a storm would arise and threaten the ship on which he was to travel. He saw the devil get onto the ship, seeking to kill all its passengers. As the waves became perilous, the pilgrims besought St. Nicholas to intervene, and he calmed the waves by his prayers. One of the ship’s sailors fell from a mast and was mortally wounded, but by St. Nicholas’ prayers he was restored to health.
These are only accounts of this blessed saint while he lived and walked among us. Countless additional miraculous interventions are also told. And if this is true, how many interventions were there that are not recorded?
The saint whose name means victory truly is (NOT ‘was’) a shining example of how we as God’s servants can choose to live lives pleasing to God such that HIS victory is manifest amongst His people.
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