This week we celebrate the feast of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, our parish’s patron Saint. It’s fitting for us to think of St. Nicholas as our father in Christ, who cares for us and desires to see us draw nearer to the Lord, giving our hearts and lives more totally to Him.  His life is an example of how we can do that; as the Akathist to St. Nicholas says, he is a “model of lambs and shepherds.”  He first lived as a faithful lamb in Christ’s flock, and then as a good shepherd after the Lord’s own heart.  Now, as our patron Saint, he is bequeathing his legacy to us – a legacy of inspired humility, of complete trust in God’s providence, and of loving generosity towards others.

If Saint Nicholas were to write a message to us, representing his legacy that he would like to see us carry on, what would that message be? Perhaps it would sound similar (in spirit if not in every particular) to the following message from a pious Yia Yia, who fell asleep in the Lord not very long ago in Greece at the age of 90.  This precious vessel of Christian faith left a handwritten “will,” in simple language and with multiple spelling errors (in the original Greek). As you’ll see, it’s not an ordinary will; rather it represents the spiritual legacy that this grandmother wanted to bequeath to her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and their spouses.

“My dear children [and she names all her children, grandchildren, their spouses, etc.], I embrace you and say farewell. You will open and read this letter after my death…

“The first thing you should do early in the morning is wash your face, light the vigil lamp and cense the whole house. Then you should pray, like I taught you, from the Prayer Book…Next, you all go to work. Only then God will protect and bless your work and your family. Every Sunday morning all of you go to Church; the same goes for every great feast. Every night, young and old, before you go to bed read the Compline, the Salutations, [from] the New Testament, the Psalter, and the ‘Salvation of Sinners.’ Do not forget the periods of fasting; keep them all, as I used to since I was six and on.

“When, my dear children and grandchildren, you do all these it will be like lighting a candle for me every day. It will be the best daily memorial service held for me. Thus, you will remember me in your prayers…Follow our country’s religious customs and do not take any delight in secular things but put all of it aside and follow the heavens for all [the secular things] are temporary and futile.

“All good deeds and charity that are done secretly will be received in eternity. Everything else will end like a dream. You will not be able to take anything with you; neither riches, nor splendor and glory, nor houses.  You shall take merely your good deeds and patience.

“May you have my blessing and may there be love, first between you brothers and sisters, then between your families, but also among your relatives and your neighbors and the entire world.

“Do good deeds as much as you can and never stay away from Church. And always be forgiving to those who want to harm you. These feelings of hostility will remain here on earth but also in heaven. For as many years as we live, it will be like yesterday. Hence, do deeds that are good and done in secret. Lies and injustice to no one, not even your enemy.  Never leave the Church and a good spiritual father…

“May you have my blessing, my embrace, I bid you farewell and see you again soon in Paradise.

Your Mother and Grandmother.”*

*Taken from Experiences During the Divine Liturgy, by Protopresbyter Stephanos K. Anagnostopoulos