Collect taken from the optional memorial of St. Nicholas, bishop.
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…
“We humbly implore your mercy, Lord: protect us in all dangers through the prayers of the Bishop Saint Nicholas,”
– God already wants to protect us. We can and do ask him directly for that protection. But, we learn from God that he prefers to include us in his works. So, we pray that that protection be given to us, but that it includes prayers of St. Nicholas. This inclusion can help our faith because it reminds us of real, historical human being who bore witness to God’s work in the world.
“that the way of salvation may lie open before us.”
– For our own sake, the prayer ends with a simple reminder of what the goal of God’s help is: our salvation.
Questions & Advice: Do you often “implore” God for his help? Is the intercession of the saints real to you? Do you find it helpful? Is your prayer motivated primarily by a desire for salvation or by a desire for comfort and temporary happiness?
Read about the intercession of the saints in the Catechism (2683-84). St. Nicholas is the historical basis for Santa Claus. Today is a good day for gift-giving, but even more a good day for giving to the poor since that is what St. Nick did. Just as St. Nick prays for us in our need, so we should help others in need. Find a charity or even an individual in need and help them out, preferably in a way that they don’t know it was you.
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| Sancte Nicolae, ora pro nobis! |