St. Nicholas
Feast day: December 6
St. Nicholas was the bishop of Myra in what is now Turkey, where he was known for his generosity to the poor. One legend associated with St. Nicholas was how he saved three young women from prostitution by throwing bags of gold through their windows each night (the gold was for their dowries). From this beginning legend, stories about his charity circulated throughout the East. Churches sprang up in his honor, and his cult reached the Western Church in the eleventh century. Eventually, Nicholas was identified with Father Christmas and Santa Claus. His traditional feast day, December 6, is still celebrated in some places with gift-giving.
Collect
We humbly implore your mercy, Lord:
protect us in all dangers
through the prayers of the Bishop Saint Nicholas,
that the way of salvation may lie open before us.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
