Feast of St. Nicholas

Troparion - Tone 4
In truth you were revealed to your flock as a rule of faith,
an image of humility and a teacher of abstinence;
your humility exalted you;
your poverty enriched you.
Hierarch Father Nicholas,
entreat Christ our God
that our souls may be saved.

Kontakion - Tone 3
You revealed yourself, O saint, in Myra as a priest,
For you fulfilled the Gospel of Christ
By giving up your soul for your people,
And saving the innocent from death.
Therefore you are blessed as one become wise in the grace of God.


Consider how the Church, in her hymns, does not extol St. Nicholas' sufferings under the whip, nor the miacles he works by God's power, nor his zeal at the 1st Ecumenical Council, nor even his wonderful acts of charity. Rather the Church points to his asceticism, his humility, his poverty, and his self-sacrifice.