St Nicholas Day in San Anselmo, CA

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By Rev. Dr. Jennifer Lord, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

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What happened in San Anselmo, California, December 5th and 6th, 2022? By God’s grace and the presence of the Saint, nothing less than the renewal and deepening of fellowship with God, and with the community of the faithful.

The bells rang out for the synaxis: the arrival of His Eminence Archbishop Benjamin, over one hundred people from at least a dozen parishes, those joining by live-stream, twelve presbyters, the Protodeacon, a Deacon, three sub-Deacons, local acolytes, and four sisters from Assumption Monastery. It was an experience of ecclesia, of being called together, of being assembled as Church for worship and praise at this patronal feast.

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At the Festal Vigil the clergy gathered around the unique, large seventeenth century icon of St. Nicholas and thundered the Magnification. At Divine Liturgy the preacher confirmed, “It’s unmistakable whose day this is.” St. Nicholas of Myra: yes! But St. Nicholas as a faithful man of God, a man whose works and commitments are, to this day, transparent to the grace of God. The day was about St. Nicholas’s life in Christ and therefore was about us and what we can do in our own lives here and now, even in small or seemingly mundane ways, to follow the will of God in caring for neighbor and stranger, attentive to what we can offer in any moment, seeking opportunities to serve in the world that so deeply needs to know and trust God’s saving plan.

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Keeping a feast depends on the effort of the whole community with experienced and new parish members preparing the way: cooks, vintners, grounds-keepers, choir members and directors, bell ringers, acolytes, deck-the-hallers preparing floral arrangements, garlands, lights, and table-settings, musical leadership for trapeza singing, and the end-of-the-day kitchen clean-up crew. Our Matushka guided the children to receive a blessing and gifts from St. Nicholas and oversaw the raffle, raising more than $2000 for St. Nicholas House, Assumption Monastery, Calistoga, CA. The Feast Day concluded with Vespers of St. Nicholas and the commemoration of St Ambrose of Milan.

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Each year this December 6th feast with its appointed hymnography and prayers awakens us from distractions and lethargy and turns us toward the Nativity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the Flesh. Truly, when we keep the Feast we come to know again how the Feast keeps us. Glory to God!

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Photos on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/posts/pfbid02SBxzpdEZntBZwxmC4A1M4iyTNm5MLYy6RYtMEACr2R9HTb3pRNDY7gvpE3M5UDopl

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