Traditio in Radice: Saint Nicholas, pray for us!

Wednesday, December 6, 2006

Saint Nicholas, pray for us!

We're still working on our last post, but even though we'll be closing up shop soon, we couldn't let our nameday pass unheralded! Here's our post from last year. Please add links to new resources and blog posts for this year in the comments!

'Tis our nameday and we're pulling out all the stops to celebrate!

The Glorious Wonderworker, Saint Nicholas of Myra and Bari, Bishop and Confessor

Oremus
Deus, qui beatum Nicolaum Pontificem innumeris decorasti miraculis: tribue,
quæsumus; ut ejus meritis et precibus a gehennæ incendiis liberemur. Per
Dominum nostrum.

Yes, it is the feast day of the Saint whose name both W and myself unworthily claim as our own. This great and holy Bishop, whose countless miracles (both before and after his death in the middle of the Third Century) have earned him the title of Wonderworker, whose very bones exude a holy oil that heals people to this day, is truly one of the greatest among the company of the Saints. We are truly humbled to bear his name. We shall present here a collection of resources related to the great Saint, and we humbly beg you, dear reader, to peruse them and give thanks to Almighty God for blessing His Holy Church with such a Saint. We intend to bring this post back every year for our Nameday, adding resources and links every year.

First off, we'd like to fulfil the promise we made to our readers in our first post, and elaborate on St. Nicholas and the smackdown he adminstered to the foul heresiarch Arius. St. Nicholas, as Bishop of Myra, was summoned by Blessed Emperor Constantine to the Council of Nicæa, the First Ecumenical Council. Arius was called upon to explain his heretical views, and thus he started preaching his execrable heresies before the Council Fathers. St. Nicholas listened as Arius attacked the Divinity of our Blessed Lord, becoming more and more full of righteous anger. Finally he became so enraged that he charged at Arius and struck the heretic a mighty blow! Unfortunately, the assemblage of Bishops made like the U.S.C.C.B. and blamed St. Nicholas for the altercation. He was expelled from the Council and the Emperor had him stripped of his Episcopal vestments and thrown in prison. That night, our Blessed Lord and Saviour appeared to the Emperor and demanded that he free and reinstate St. Nicholas, for his only motive in attacking Arius had been his all-consuming love of Him. The Emperor obeyed at once. When the jailor went to release St. Nicholas, the Saint was found sitting in his cell clothed in his Episcopal vestments, reading the Gospels. He related that our Blessed Lord and Lady had appeared to him, our Lord giving him the book of the Gospels (one of the symbols of the Episcopal Office) and our Lady restoring to him his vestments. He was restored to his rightful place at the Council, which proceeded to side with him against Arius, utterly condemning the wretched heresy and composing the Nicæan Creed to protect the Orthodoxy of the Faithful. This is the legend as it was passed down to me (by a non-Trad Priest, before I myself was a Trad, in case you're wondering), and I shall hold fast to it, though I have yet to find an account online that matches it in all the details.

We have assembled here a non-exhaustive list of resources. We intend, as mentioned above, to continually add to these. If you know of a resource we have missed, please drop us a link in the comments box.

Hagiography

For next year, I'll digitize the translation I have of the account of the translation of St. Nicholas' relics from Myra to Bari.

St. Nicholas Center - This excellent site contains a lot of information about the Saint in almost all of the categories we list here, but especially hagiography and traditions.

Hagiography - From the Patron Saints Index

Translation of an Excerpt from the Golden Legend - Also from the Patron Saints Index

Hagiography - From Catholic Online

The Lay of St. Nicholas from The Ingoldsby Legends - Complete with an illustration of St. Nicholas drop-kicking the devil.

Traditions

In our home, our children always put their shoes out on the Eve of the Feast (actually, they prefer to use their big winter boots for obvious reasons). In the morning, they start the day by digging into the candy and small toys in their boots. We say special prayers to St. Nicholas in the morning, evening, and at meals. Before bedtime, we all reverence the relic of St. Nicholas and thank him for all the gifts and blessings he has bestowed upon our family.

I'd much rather have the full German/Austrian Catholic tradition for my kids, but it requires a Catholic community, something very few of us have today. Basically, two men go around visiting all the homes that have children. One is St. Nicholas, and the other is (the) Krampus (or Black Peter). The children know that if they have been good, they will receive a blessing and a treat from St. Nicholas, but if they have been bad, Krampus will take them outside and beat the snot out of them. Obviously, unless there's a kid who's a real brat, the way it goes down is that Krampus comes in and gleefully proclaims that he's gonna make sure the kids can't sit down for a month (overacting is a must for this role), and then St. Nicholas comes in and asks the kids if they've been good. Kids whimper in the affirmative. St. Nicholas then kicks Krampus out (if the guys are good at slapstick, so much the better), and gives the relieved and happy children a blessing and a treat, and the pair move on to the next family's house. I ask you, could a tradition be any more Catholic?

The Custom of the Boy-Bishop - Very cool!

Liturgy & Music

I don't have the Traditional Roman Rite Propers for the Feast in digital form yet (other than the Collect above). I'll definitely get them for next year.

In Illo Tempore: Another images resource at the Ecole Initiative - Fellow Evil Trad Mike links to the Breviary readings for the Feast, as well as to some of the famous Fra Angelico paintings of the Saint.

Metropolitan Cantor Institute of the Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh: Recordings - A selection of Byzantine Chants for the Feast, from a great Eastern Catholic organization right here in the 'Burgh. Hopefully one of our readers more familiar with the Eastern Rites (I'm lookin' at you, Inqy!) can fill us in on how these chants are used in the Sacred Liturgy.