A Prayer For The Feast Day Of St. Nicholas - To Light Their Way

A Prayer for the Feast Day of St. Nicholas

December 6

As we hang stockings or set out shoes,

We anticipate Your arrival, O Lord.

In these times

Of great darkness in our world

And division in our land,

We ache for You

And wonder if the small ways we love

Can really make a difference.

We thank You for St. Nicholas of Myra,

Whom we celebrate on this day.

We rejoice over a life lived so long ago

Out of great love for You.

We pray that we will be like St. Nicholas,

Whose devotion to You

Is seen in the stories of his quiet love for those

Society often deemed unworthy of being seen—

The children and the laborers

And those struggling to make ends meet.

We ask that we would be parents who

Cultivate goodness and generosity

In our children

Out of their love for You, O God.

In the paths of St. Nicholas,

Who sold his possessions

And gave his inheritance

To those on the margins,

Help our family love

The sick and the suffering

Out of a love that pours out of

Your everlasting love.

We thank You for this Christlike model

Of a compassionate life—

Of ransoms secretly paid,

Of warmth on a cold day—

And we find great hope and great joy

In honoring his life of faith.

O Lord, guard us against

Our possessions possessing us.

Our world whispers

That we should buy more,

That Christmas memories will only be as good

As the gifts under the tree.

But we know there’s a more beautiful way,

Where we give what we can

Out of our hearts,

Needing nothing in return

And finding great hope in You.

Help us be like St. Nicholas,

Who saw those who suffered

And was moved to make bold changes in his life

So those around him could simply live.

O God, we know radical hospitality

Is needed in our world.

And yet life in Your upside-down Kingdom

Pushes against the norms of our nations,

Which equate flourishing with 401(k)s.

And on this day, we reflect on how

St. Nicholas’s Kingdom living

Made those in charge—

The power brokers of his time—

Feel so threatened that they exiled him.

O God, even as we celebrate

With candies and stockings and tiny shoes,

We know that a life lived in radical love,

A life that honors God and neighbor

Above all else,

Led St. Nicholas to a life of

Suffering, imprisonment, and exile.

May we be brave enough to give

A little more love on this day.

May we be brave enough

To remember that while history

May revere and honor those who,

Like Nicholas, followed You,

Even when it meant subverting

The ways of the world,

Not everyone appreciates acts

Of goodness and generosity

Toward the most forgotten

And oppressed among us.

O God, remind us that You are a friend

To those in need,

A protector of weary hearts

And worn-out bodies,

A helper to all who need it.

Help us raise our family

With this kind of noticing love.

Lord, we thank You, too,

For Nicholas’s parents,

Who raised him to know Your love

And the peace of Your Kingdom,

Even when he was a young child.

May their model inspire our parenting.

Let our children know Your love,

For if a time comes when we are not together,

As it happened with Nicholas’s family,

Their love for You will direct their paths.

Help us honor the love

You have whispered in our hearts

By raising our children to work

For peace on earth.

In every tradition and celebration,

May we remember who You are.

Give us imagination to see You

In those that many choose to turn away from.

For in the turning toward,

We welcome You, O Lord.

1 John 4:7-14; Psalm 78:3-7; Mark 10:13-16

PRAYER TO PRAY WITH CHILDREN

God, thank You for Your real and true and good love.

Thank You for St. Nicholas, who lived so long ago.

Will You help us be generous like him?

And when we look at our stockings hanging

Or our shoes at the door,

Will You remind us that we can see You in our neighbors?

God, in this Advent season,

Remind us that the biggest joy doesn’t come in presents

But in the gift of being loved and getting to give our love away too.