The very first patron saint I thought of when I found out our first child was going to be a boy was St Nicholas of Myra (a.k.a. the very real man behind Santa Claus). I loved having a special tradition surrounding his name day, loved that the saint was so well-known around the world (especially as one associated with sailors), and of course, loved the few stories I knew of his acts of kindness. I wanted my son to know this was a great example for being a Christian Man, freely giving sacrificially of himself for those who needed it.
As my son has grown a little older and noticed that his brother’s patron saint, St Basil the Great, is mentioned quite a lot when one is discussing important bedrocks of theology (Trinitarianism, Creationism, Charity, against Arianism, Patripassianism, proper use of secular learning, etc.), which has only increased since we started at seminary. There are many important writing of St Basil that we reference often, but none of St Nicholas. Most Orthodox altar areas are frescoed with icons of famous hierarchs known for their Orthodox theological defenses of the Faith — John Chrysostom, Athanasius, Cyril, and Basil, but not usually Nicholas. My eldest becomes a bit sad when he thinks about this. Jealousy and envy are some passions he regularly struggles with.
What is so remarkable about St Nicholas though is not what great body of tangible work he left behind we can reference, or some great deed of especial significance in the historical sense. The most famous story of him was simply him humbly giving away his gold to those who needed it more.
And while it’s a mite difficult for him to see it now, St Nicholas is actually much more “famous” than St Basil all over the world. And his activities are still evident even after over a thousand years from his repose — On the Presence of St. Nicholas in America and Around the World. He has the track record of being probably the most-often reported saint to have a heavenly vision of rescuing those in need. He shows up on the sky assisting storm-tossed sailors by his prayers. He miraculously appears in dreams to prepare the recipient to receive some important message from God. He shows up unexpected to expose dark deeds of the malicious and restore their victims to wholeness.
And he didn’t seek out this notoriety at all. Quite explicit in his most famous story is his desire to give charity anonymously, to receive no accolades for his saintly deed. Instead of being glorified in his earthly life, instead of trying to inherit the Earth, he meekly responded to God’s work in him and did what the Holy Spirit prompted him to do. But he is now the most well-known saint probably the world over, with countless churches and people named after him. (He is even commemorated every Thursday of the Church Year throughout most of ordinary time [thanks for the reminder, Nick Johnson!]).
This is precisely the promise Christ gave is in His Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the Earth” (Matt. 5:5). It is this great paradox that the way to secure notoriety in history is to be totally unconcerned with one’s notoriety in history. Christ Himself, True God of True God, the Light of the World, humbled Himself to be born in a manger, to a poor turtledove-sacrificing couple, to eventually die upon the very epitome of the symbol of humiliation. This foundational, eternal, steadfast Truth, that the fabric of reality is woven with God’s character of meekness, God Himself demonstrated in His Own Person — making all attempts to claim self-focused acts are good to be utterly without substance.
This is the great example of St Nicholas, a man so transformed by God’s Energies, that he himself became one of those energies, a man so unconcerned with himself that his name resounds across the Earth, a man so meek that every person has heard of him. In God’s great humor, this is even reflected in the Saint’s name, “Victory of the People” would normally be a very Greek way to elevate a man to hero-hood, but it was only through humility that God elevated this man even higher. As the Troparion about him says for, “Because of thy lowliness heaven was opened to thee; because of thy poverty riches were granted to thee.”
May we, like he did, seek first the Kingdom, so that all manner of unexpected things will be given unto us!
Some more great articles on St Nicholas:
TO GOD A SAINT, TO MAN, A WONDERWORKER
Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy Exist
Stories & Legends of St. Nicholas
"Most Orthodox altar areas are frescoed with icons of famous hierarchs known for their Orthodox theological defenses of the Faith — John Chrysostom, Athanasius, Cyril, and Basil, but not usually Nicholas..."
But at the same time, St Nicholas has his own prominent place in the services of the Church as he, along with the Apostles themselves, are an integral part of every Thursday's offering!
Your connection of 'the meek will inherit the earth' and the fact that St Nicholas, in his meekness, is probably the most well-known saint throughout the whole earth is great!