A Ramble About Holiday Saints

During the holidays, we often lose sight of where the holiday came from, or why we remember it. St. Valentine's day is a day of giving cards and romantic gifts to people, and is often degraded into little more than an excuse for sex. St. Patrick's day is a day of wearing Green, seeing leprechauns, celebrating everything Irish, and also degrades into little more than an excuse for getting roaring drunk with one's friends.Christmastime is a celebration of Santa Claus, all things warm and fuzzy, and again degrades into a frenzy of "I have to have this!" to the general shouts of glee from store owners looking to making up their losses from the rest of the year.



There are three saints which virtually everyone is familiar with, and no one really seems to understand who they were, who are associated with these holidays. They are St. Valentine, St. Patrick, and St. Nicholas. These men are recognized and venerated by every branch of the Church, east and west, and as such are a part of our collective heritage.



St. Valentine was a priest in Rome in the mid to late third century under the reign of Claudius the second, and at a time when it was illegal to preach Christ or even give aid to Christians. He was caught and arrested while performing a marriage ceremony for a Christian couple and brought before the emperor. The emperor took a liking to him at first. St. Valentine tried to bring the emperor to Christ, and the emperor executed him for it. He died around 275 A.D.



St. Patrick was taken as a slave from the coast of wales to Ireland where he served as a slave until he escaped, by the help of God, and made his way home to Britain. He was called by God to return to Ireland as a missionary and entered the priesthood to study, but was often held back because of the time he lost in his studies as a slave. Eventually he was consecrated as a Bishop with the express purpose of returning to Ireland to preach Christ and establish the Church there. He worked tirelessly at it, and could be seen as one of the first tribal missionaries among a fierce and proud warrior people. Often his greatest enemies were the other clergy back in Britain who were more concerned about tithes and income from the Irish people than the Irish people themselves, and he rejected clergy sent to "help" him in this regard and sent them packing. Through his humility, self-sacrifice, and tireless efforts the Gospel of Jesus Christ was firmly established among the Irish people by the time he passed away around 480 A.D. Because of his work, Ireland became a missionary Church that sent out clergy and missionaries to other parts of Europe as well.



St. Nicholas (Nikolaos) was the Bishop of Myra in what is now Turkey between 270 and 343 A.D. He is remembered for his generosity and anonymous gift giving. In one narrative, a man was so poor he could provide no dowry for his daughters to marry and was considering selling them into prostitution. Secretly, St. Nikolaos snuck up to their window at night and tossed a bag of gold through the window. He did it again for the next two nights. His actions spared the girls their otherwise cruel fate. There is no record of whether or not this man was a Christian or not. Another narrative tells of Nikolaos asking for wheat from sailors during a famine to help feed some people in a village who were starving. The wheat was bound for the emperor in Constantinople and the sailors were charged with making sure every grain was delivered. He assumed responsibility for the wheat and they let him have some. When the sailors reached Constantinople they discovered they had exactly as much wheat as before they met Nikolaos. The villagers found they not only had enough wheat to make bread but also enough to sow, and it lasted them for two years until the famine was over.



These were and are godly brothers in Jesus Christ who lived Jesus Christ for people and gave their lives and everything else they had in His service. They are examples left for us to follow. As we pass their feast days and the holidays associated with them throughout the year, let's remember the men themselves and what they really stood for.