Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning is now, and ever shall be, world without end.
Amen.
Details of his biography:
Saint Nicholas becomes a disciple of God. In the quiet of the monastery he enrols in a spiritual school of the highest order, where God Himself is the Master of spirits seated at the feet of their Creator. Very few are granted twenty years at the monastery, apprenticed to the most wondrous of Teachers. His life the essence of simplicity, unconcerned with the external, his heart resides in presence of God - enthroned in the cathedral of his body. Prayer and atonement are the bread of daily life at the monastery, for this reason he can join with the author of the song of songs in saying: My dove is hiding behind the rocks, behind an outcrop on the cliff. Let me see your face; let me hear your voice. For your voice is pleasant, and your face is lovely. Song of Solomon 2,14
Reflection:
Fortunate is the man who happens upon a wise teacher. Mary, sister of Lazarus, sits at Jesus’s feet, listening to the teachings the wise Master. The girl longs to be in His presence, and He does not chase her back to the kitchen to work with the bustling Martha, instead, he encourages the sister too to choose the better path. Do I believe that Jesus Christ can be my personal Master Teacher? That He is capable of calling me, man born of but a handful of dust, by name to be initiated in His wise plans? This is the mystical life, attainable by all of us, according to the saints. Am I capable of embracing God, with the two strong arms of my faith? Do I believe that my Creator, who gave to me the gift of hearing, is capable of listening to my entreaties and complaints? And He, who gave us our tongues and very capabilities to speak, is capable of addressing us such that we can hear, and leading us with His wise counsel? The saints tell us that none in the course of history have sought and called for God’s help in vain, without being considered worthy of a response from our Creator. For, the author of the song of songs speaks truly: Listen! My beloved!
Look! Here he comes, leaping across the mountains, bounding over the hills. Song of Solomon 2,8
Let us Pray:
Our Lord our God, turn your face towards us, knock ever more resoundingly on the doors of our heart, so that we discover and understand that You live within us, and that we live, move and are within You. Help us quieten, to withdraw in the solitude of our daily prayers, to sit at your feet and wondrously fathom your wisdom and endless goodness. Help us our Lord, with St Nicholas’s intercession, to hear and comprehend your fatherly guidance in confronting the cares of our times. But above all we ask that we too experience the saints’ most holy joy:My beloved is mine and I am his; he browses among the lilies. Song of Solomon2,16
So that our petitions may be heard we pray:
Our Father, Who art in heaven
Hallowed be Thy Name;
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Father Csaba
translated by dr k.e.
