Saint Nicholas died on this day in 343 A.D. His biography is told here. There are many legends surrounding the saint. If you leave your shoes outside your bedroom door you'll a find treat in them in the morning.

Saint Nicholas, AKA Rev. Canon James M. Rosenthal II, long-time director of communication for the Anglican Communion, made an appearance in New York City yesterday. He said,

It is important to bring St. Nicholas' Christmas cheer to New York because of the saint's historic significance in the city -- the first church in Fort Washington was called St. Nicholas and St. Nicholas Avenue is a main thoroughfare. "One of New York's great hotels was St. Nicholas on Broadway and the Russian Orthodox has its glorious St Nicholas Cathedral on 97th," he said. "St. Nicholas, of course, is the name of the church destroyed at 9/11, and whose return as a church many eagerly await."

Two items, plucked from the blogosphere to help you contemplate the Christmas season: At Telling Secrets, Elizabeth Kaeton has written about a deeply moving moment in her ministry, and from our own back pages, comes a clear-eyed poem on the Incarnation from the late Denise Levertov.

This four-piece S'mores nativity set includes S'more Mary wearing a blue head piece with her arms outstretched welcoming the new S'more King lying in the manger. Joseph stands back observing the scene before him traditionally dressed in a green head piece and holding his staff. The 5.5” S'mores nativity crèche makes a magnificent backdrop for this display.

Have a look. Then, visit some truly creative creche figures at Washington National Cathedral's annual creche exhibit. There's a magi made of cornhusks from Nepal, a shepherdess made of bread dough from Ecuador, a Christ Child carved from the root of a Costa Rican coffee plant, and a sheep made of a discarded soda can from Kenya.

All this and more, right here.

So you thought American Idol contestants were under a lot of pressure. How would you like to be in the pulpit on Christmas Eve?

Hundreds of ministers in the Washington region will face packed churches tonight when they preach one of their most important, and challenging, sermons of the year as Christians gather to celebrate Christmas.

"I think it's one of the hardest services to preach," said Bishop John Bryson Chane of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, who will face a standing-room-only crowd of 3,800 -- many of whom rarely step into a church except at Christmastime -- at the 6 p.m. Christmas Eve service at Washington National Cathedral.

Read it all in The Washington Post.

The leaders of the Anglican Communion are releasing Christmas messages, and you can read them here.

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori of the Episcopal Church writes:

In what form will you find the Christ child this year? The fact of the Incarnation in a weak and helpless babe says something significant about where we focus our search. I am convinced that it is part of our call to exercise a "preferential option" on behalf of the poor, weak, sick, and marginalized. The long arc of biblical thinking and theologizing has to do with seeing God's care for those who have no other helper. Indeed, Jesus is understood as that helper for all who fail, by the world's terms, to save themselves. More accurately, we understand that Jesus is that helper for all.

One of the great gifts of the way in which those in our cultural surroundings celebrate Christmas is the focus on children and on those who have few human helpers. We delight in the wonder of children as Christmas approaches, and many of us make an extra effort to feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, and care for the needy. The challenge is to let our seasonal "seeing" transform the way we meet our neighbours through the rest of the year, and through all the coming years. How might we begin to see that child in those around us: strangers and aliens (both Immanuel and Immigrants); wanderers (Homeless, like Mary and Joseph, for whom there was no room); widows and orphans (Social Outcasts); babe born in Bethlehem (Palestinian and Israeli alike; or the boy babies whom both Pharaoh and Herod sought to kill); divine feeder of thousands (Soup Kitchen worker); and savior of the world (Peacemaker, Bringer of Justice for All, Reconciler, Just and Gracious Lawgiver...). If God comes among us as a helpless child, then the divine presence is truly all around us. Where will you meet Jesus this Christmas?

Canon Jim Rosenthal's alter ego is the star of this You Tube video filmed on Saint Nicholas Day in Canterbury. Rowan Williams has a supporting role.

When St. Nick isn't crawling down chimneys, he is director of communications for the Anglican Communion.

You can learn more about the St. Nicholas Center here. Children's activities are here.

The Archbishop of Canterbury's Christmas Sermon can be found by clicking: Read more.

Read more »

If you are looking for Lenten experiences online, please visit our multimedia meditations and scroll down to the Stations of the Cross. Anglicans Online has a robust listing of resources, and our old friend Raspberry Rabbit calls your attention to this moving little video.

Meanwhile, the inimitable Phyllis Tickle is blogging about Lent on Beliefnet.

Washington National Cathedral is compiling an excellect collection of videotaped Lenten reflections. The Cathedral's Sunday Forum collection is also worth a listen if you've got the time.

News permitting, today will be a quiet day on The Lead. To help cultivate contemplation, pay a visit to the Holy Week online offerings of the Society of Saint John the Evangelist and the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, or read the essay on Daily Episcopalian by Luiz Coelho.

For the meaning of maundy, have a look here.

From the BBC:

Bishops are getting down on their knees this Maundy Thursday to shine the shoes of office workers and shoppers in towns and cities across the country. The free act is inspired by the night of the Last Supper when Jesus washed his disciples' feet before his trial and crucifixion on Good Friday.

Bishop of Birmingham the Rt Revd David Urquhart said it showed the clergy were prepared to serve their communities.

Church figures in Northampton, Coventry and Leicester are also taking part.

Read it all.

Generally we are in favor of innovative means of taking the church's message and practices into the streets. But physical intimacy is an essential ingredient in the the foot-washing ceremony, and that's lost here.

Saint Thomas' Church on Fifth Avenue in New York City is Web casting audio files of its Holy Week services.

Hat tip to bls at Topmost Apple, who also found some other wonderful music.

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has written to the Church in advance of Pentecost. The letter is available on Episcope. This passage may stir some discussion among those who parse her every utterance for evidence of heresy.

Jesus is Lord. In the same sense that early Christians proclaimed that Jesus, not Caesar, is Lord, remember that no one else - not any hierarch, not any ecclesiastical official, not any one of you - is Lord. We belong to God, whom we know in Jesus, and there is no other place where we find the ground of our identity.