St Nicholas Loses The Cool

I love to scandalise the faithful today. Well, not in a sinful way.  The one we celebrate today is so different from the image we have built up of him, and I like to upset, just a little, the sanitised image of St Nicholas of Myra.  St Nicholas was very much like St John the Baptist, and while we have so many wonderful stories and legends of his charity and kindness, we also have one which reveals his true colour - and yes, it was red - but the red of righteous anger.

St Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, renowned for his holiness, charity and defence of orthodoxy.  He had suffered for the faith, imprisoned during the persecution of Diocletian.  He attended the Council of Nicea which met to deal with the heresy the priest, Fr Arius, was preaching.  Nicholas may have been one of those holy confessors referred to by historians, who bore the scars of their suffering and met with Constantine at the beginning of the Council symbolising the reconciliation between the Roman Empire and the Church.  Anyway, if he was scarred, he lost none of his fire.  According to accounts which may be legend (but who cares it's a great story) during one of the debates, so fired up with zeal for the orthodox faith, Nicholas set upon Fr Arius and gave him a good slap (good man Nicholas!).  For his zeal, the venerable Bishop of Myra, on orders from the Emperor and his fellow bishops, ended up in the clink for a few days to cool off (that reconciliation was short lived!).  He had to eat humble pie, and ask forgiveness for his violent act. 

So Nicholas was no cuddly grandfather sipping the whiskey as he trots around the globe shedding gifts - he was in the style of the great Bishop defenders of the Church - of Basil and Gregory, of Augustine and Ambrose, of Hiliary and Martin.  That makes him an even more interesting and attractive figure.  Now I would not recommend that we should go around clocking the heretics in our midst, if any should exist, of course.  But his zeal might be no harm to emulate.  That zeal was fueled by his intense love of Christ whom he knew to be God and man. 

St Nicholas reminds us that the Saints cannot be sanitised, or dismissed - they are more that the categories we like to create for them.  They are more complicated, yes they were sinners, but they were also great lovers, and that love transformed them so they saw that being a disciple of Christ was not a humdrum, stale or respectable affair - it is an adventure!  That's a good Advent message for us all.

One interesting detail of the story of Nicholas at Nicea tells us that during the night, as Nicholas was reflecting on his behaviour, Jesus and Mary appeared to him.  "Why  are you in jail?" they asked him.  "Because of my love for you", he said.   Jesus then gave him a book of the Gospels, and Our Lady gave him the omophoron - he stole of a bishop. Consolation indeed, forgiveness too.  Dare we say, also a pat on the back?  Dear me, no!