Advent Lights · Week 1 · Grades 6–8
Guided Notes: St. Nicholas
- Name
- Date
- Class
Follow along as your teacher presents. Fill in each section when its slide is on the screen.
What we know for sure
Historians are confident about only a few facts. Nicholas was the blank 1 of Myra, a port town in Lycia, in what is now Turkey. He lived in the 300s.
Nothing he wrote has survived. The oldest accounts of his life that we still have were written blank 2 after he died.
Yet Christians honored him very early and very widely. Churches were named for him across the eastern blank 3, and sailors carried his story from port to port.
Nicholas and his world
Write what happened at each point.
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| c. 270 | Write your answer |
| 303 | Write your answer |
| 313 | Write your answer |
| 325 | Write your answer |
| c. 343 | Write your answer |
| 1087 | Write your answer |
Check the facts
Which statement about Nicholas are historians most confident of? Circle one.
- A He wrote several letters that survive today
- B He threw three bags of gold in a window
- C He was bishop of Myra during the 300s
- D He calmed a storm while sailing to Egypt
Why is that the right answer?
The stories people told
Tradition says Nicholas inherited wealth and gave it away. In the best known story, a poor father could not provide for his three blank 4, and their future was in danger.
Nicholas is said to have thrown bags of gold through their window at night, so that no one would know the giver.
Another story says he stopped the execution of three innocent men. Tradition also says he was jailed for his faith under blank 5.
Whether or not each detail happened, the stories agree about his blank 6: generous, hidden and unafraid to defend the powerless.
Why in secret?
In the gold story, what does giving at night show about Nicholas? Circle one.
- A He wanted the family helped, not himself praised
- B He was afraid that the gift broke Roman law
- C He thought the family did not deserve the gift
- D He planned to ask for the money back later on
Why is that the right answer?
History or tradition?
Think like a historian. Sort each statement about St. Nicholas. Check one box for each.
| Item | Historians are confident | Comes from later tradition |
|---|---|---|
| He was the bishop of Myra | ||
| He threw gold through a window at night | ||
| He lived during the 300s | ||
| He saved sailors from a storm at sea | ||
| His relics were taken to Bari in 1087 | ||
| He took part in the Council of Nicaea | ||
| He was jailed under the emperor Diocletian | ||
| Myra is in the land that is now Turkey |
From Myra to the world
How did devotion to Nicholas spread so far from Myra? Circle one.
- A A pope ordered every country to honor him
- B Sailors and merchants carried his story abroad
- C Nicholas traveled across Europe as a preacher
- D His own books were copied in many languages
Why is that the right answer?
Talk it over
Nicholas is remembered for good done in secret. Much of life online rewards the opposite: being seen. When is sharing a good deed online helpful, and when does it change the deed?
Think: my idea before we talk
Sentence starters: “Sharing a good deed can help when ...”“It changes the deed when ...”“One way to be generous online without credit is ...”“I would feel differently about giving if ...”
Pair: something my partner said
Let us pray
Father, you see what is done in secret.
Make us generous with what we have and brave for those who are treated unfairly.
St. Nicholas, pray for us.
Amen.
My own prayer or intention:
Well done!
A bishop from a small port became one of the most loved saints in the world. His feast day is December 6.
One thing I learned today:
One question I still have:
How could the example of St. Nicholas shape the way I live, online and offline?
Challenge: Choose one of the three virtue practices and carry it out before next week’s saint. Keep it between you and God.