FATHER AND HIERARCH

“As a rule/canon of faith (κανόνα πίστεως, правило веры), an icon of meekness, and a teacher of temperance you were revealed to your flock in *the truth of things/matters* (ἡ τῶν πραγμάτων ἀλήθεια, i.e., in reality; in the things you truly did). Because of this through humility, you attained the heights; and through poverty, riches. O Father and Hierarch Nicholas, intercede with Christ God that our souls may be saved.” (Troparion of St. Nicholas)

It’s St. Nicholas Day! We celebrate him because he was *truly* a father and hierarch, in practice and not just in word or appearance or (hierarchical) dress. He himself was a “canon” of faith, an “icon” of meekness, and a true teacher of temperance, rather than just one who paid lip-service to “canonicity,” temperance and such things, demanding them from others but not from himself. The “heights” and “riches” attained by St. Nicholas were not those of political power or material wealth, e.g., expensive vestments and houses and yachts and vast “canonical” territories, but those of Christ-like humility and poverty.

It’s tempting, this morning, to turn my attention to certain hierarchs of our day, who very publicly scandalize the faithful by embracing an ethos quite different from that of St. Nicholas. That’s the problem with contemplating lofty ethical principles and texts; my mind easily wanders to “others,” who could use these instructions. But what good does that do me?

This morning let me take a look at myself, and at “the truth of things” regarding my own Christ-likeness, and what kind of “canon” and “icon” and “teacher” and “heights” and “riches” I can foster in myself today. I’m also thinking how our hierarchs come from *us*; they don’t drop down from heaven like ready-baked pizzas. If *we* sense a disconnect between theory and practice in our church-administration, this disconnect begins in our daily lives in *our* homes, – in homes like the ones in which *our* church-administrators were raised. While I can’t change anyone else’s daily life today, I *can* take some tender-loving-care of my own household, in humility and patience with myself and others. And I can ask St. Nicholas for his intercessions, as I do so, because his meek and humble presence in my life has helped me many times in the past. O Father and Hierarch Nicholas, pray to God for us!