Saint Nicholas was born in Asia Minor in the Roman Empire during the 4th century. He was an only child and his parents were Christian. Unfortunately both of his parents died during an epidemic when he was young. They left him with lots of money as an inheritance and his Uncle, who was a Catholic Bishop, continued to raise him. Soon after Nicholas became a priest. Throughout his life, Saint Nicholas gave freely of his riches and even performed miracles. After his death, Christians venerated him for hundreds of years. He is considered the saint of children and gifts, and he is remembered annually on December 6th.
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Full Script
Today we are discussing Saint Nicholas
Welcome to Mental Prayer with Shalone Cason. Don’t forget to leave a review on Apple podcasts. Everywhere else, please like, share, and subscribe. You can also support the podcast for as little as $1 a month. And if you have questions or comments, I would love it if you leave me a voicemail. All links are in the description. Now, let’s begin, as always: in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Biography of Saint Nicholas
Saint Nicholas was born in Asia Minor in the Roman Empire during the 4th century. He was an only child and his parents were Christian. Unfortunately both of his parents died during an epidemic when he was young. They left him with lots of money as an inheritance and his Uncle, who was a Catholic Bishop, continued to raise him. Soon after Nicholas became a priest. Once, a man had lost all his money, and needed to support his three daughters. Since he could not think of another solution, he considered selling them into slavery.
Nicholas found out about the man’s situation and threw a bag of gold in his window one night. The man got the gold and his oldest daughter was able to get married. After the first daughter was married, Nicholas threw gold into the old man’s window a second time. The man wanted to know who could be so generous. He used the gold for his second daughter’s wedding. You see, during those times, in that culture, a woman’s parents were expected to give money (also known as a dowry). Dowry was a very common institution in Roman times,[32] and it began out of a desire to get the bride's family to contribute a share of the costs involved in setting up a new household. The bride's family were expected to give a dowry when a girl married, and in proportion to their means.[34] It was customary for the bride's family and friends to pay promised dowries in installments over three years, and some Romans won great praise by delivering the dowry in one lump sum.[35] Without a dowry, women were not seen as marriage material. So the old man was very thankful for this mystery money. He thought the mystery donor might come back, so the man waited up at night to see who was leaving the gold. He recognized St. Nicholas and thus, the legend was born.
The real life saint Nick didn’t stop there. He regularly gave his riches to the poor and needy. After his death, Christians venerated him for hundreds of years. He was considered the saint of children and gifts, and he was remembered annually on December 6th. But after hundreds of years, Saint Nicholas became secularized, because everyone loves gifts! And he is where we get the idea of Santa Claus. In fact, in some countries, you will see Santa wearing a red pointed hat and cross while carrying a shepherd's cane. That is because that’s what Catholic bishops wore during the time Saint Nicholas was alive. Over time, he lost the cross and cane and it changed into a bag and sleigh. But the real Saint Nick is out there, in heaven. His spirit is with us to this very day, and I am sure he still helps people who are in need, by the power and grace of God.
Mental Prayer
So now let’s practice mental prayer using this biography as a basis. First, I’m going to read the summary and I want you to think about how it makes you feel.
Saint Nicholas was born in Asia Minor in the Roman Empire during the 4th century. He was an only child and his parents were Christian. Unfortunately both of his parents died during an epidemic when he was young. They left him with lots of money as an inheritance and his Uncle, who was a Catholic Bishop, continued to raise him. Soon after Nicholas became a priest. Throughout his life, Saint Nicholas gave freely of his riches and even performed miracles. After his death, Christians venerated him for hundreds of years. He was considered the saint of children and gifts, and he is remembered annually on December 6th.
Now, I’m going to read the summary again, and I want you to continue thinking about how it makes you feel.
Saint Nicholas was born in Asia Minor in the Roman Empire during the 4th century. He was an only child and his parents were Christian. Unfortunately both of his parents died during an epidemic when he was young. They left him with lots of money as an inheritance and his Uncle, who was a Catholic Bishop, continued to raise him. Soon after Nicholas became a priest. Throughout his life, Saint Nicholas gave freely of his riches and even performed miracles. After his death, Christians venerated him for hundreds of years. He was considered the saint of children and gifts, and he is remembered annually on December 6th.
Let’s read the summary again and this time think about what this biography means to you.
Saint Nicholas was born in Asia Minor in the Roman Empire during the 4th century. He was an only child and his parents were Christian. Unfortunately both of his parents died during an epidemic when he was young. They left him with lots of money as an inheritance and his Uncle, who was a Catholic Bishop, continued to raise him. Soon after Nicholas became a priest. Throughout his life, Saint Nicholas gave freely of his riches and even performed miracles. After his death, Christians venerated him for hundreds of years. He was considered the saint of children and gifts, and he is remembered annually on December 6th.
Once again, I’m going to read the summary. Please continue to think about what this biography means to you.
Saint Nicholas was born in Asia Minor in the Roman Empire during the 4th century. He was an only child and his parents were Christian. Unfortunately both of his parents died during an epidemic when he was young. They left him with lots of money as an inheritance and his Uncle, who was a Catholic Bishop, continued to raise him. Soon after Nicholas became a priest. Throughout his life, Saint Nicholas gave freely of his riches and even performed miracles. After his death, Christians venerated him for hundreds of years. He was considered the saint of children and gifts, and he is remembered annually on December 6th.
With this next reading, I want you to think about how you can live holier based on this biography:
Saint Nicholas was born in Asia Minor in the Roman Empire during the 4th century. He was an only child and his parents were Christian. Unfortunately both of his parents died during an epidemic when he was young. They left him with lots of money as an inheritance and his Uncle, who was a Catholic Bishop, continued to raise him. Soon after Nicholas became a priest. Throughout his life, Saint Nicholas gave freely of his riches and even performed miracles. After his death, Christians venerated him for hundreds of years. He was considered the saint of children and gifts, and he is remembered annually on December 6th.
Moral Lesson and Reflection
So, what can we learn from this biography?
Well, let’s look at the moral virtues. There are four of them. They are prudence: always moving toward virtue and away from vice. Justice: giving others what they deserve. Fortitude: staying faithful during difficulties. And Temperance: keeping balance in all areas of life. Saint Nicholas practiced altruism, which is a form of fortitude. Altruism is giving charity above and beyond what is necessary. Saint Nicholas was left a large inheritance. He could have lived an easy life and had no issues whatsoever. But he decided to become a servant of God and to give away all his inheritance. He is the model of gift giving and has been for over a thousand years because of his altruism. The stories of Saint Nick are so long-lasting, wonderful and joyous because he went beyond the call of duty to give gifts to others. Maybe you don’t have enough money or time to be altruistic, but you can still give in some way to charity. Maybe you can donate a little food to a food bank, or give someone in need a few dollars. If you don’t have any money or time to give, you can always share prayers for absolutely free. And we need prayers more than anything else! Don’t underestimate the power of praying for someone else. It is the gift that keeps on giving.
This has been Mental Prayer with Shalone Cason. Don’t forget to leave a review on Apple podcasts. Everywhere else, please like, share, and subscribe. You can also support the podcast for as little as $1 a month. And if you have questions or comments, I would love it if you leave me a voicemail. All links are in the description. Until next time, stay holy my friends and we are going to close out as always: in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Peace out.