Day of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker
Description:
St. Nicholas was born in the third century in the city of Patary, a region of Lycia in Asia Minor. His life testifies that the infant Nicholas stood for three hours in the font of baptism, "giving honor to the Holy Trinity." Pious parents, seeing that their child is marked by special grace, drew attention to his spiritual education. When the boy grew up, his uncle, Bishop of Patara, ordained him presbyter and prophetically predicted the future of the great saint of God.
When St. Nicholas’ parents died, he used his rich inheritance for charity. After a few years of his pastoral life, he went to Palestine on a pilgrimage. On the way to the sea, the gift of vision and wonderworking was revealed in it: the saint foreshadowed the storm and tamed it with the power of prayer, and also resurrected a sailor who had fallen from the mast.
In Palestine, Saint Nicholas decided to retire to a monastery and devote his life to solitary prayer. But it was God’s will that such a lamp of faith should not be concealed. The saint was instructed to leave the shutter and go to the people. Obeying God’s will, he went to the capital city of the Lycian land of Myra, where he prayed fervently in temples and lived like a beggar. At this time the Lycian archbishop died. And to the bishops who fervently begged God to point out the receiver, in a mysterious vision it was said that the most worthy of all was the beggar who would first enter the temple, named Nicholas.
Thus, by the Providence of God, Saint Nicholas was elected archbishop, and now, for the good of the flock, he no longer concealed his good deeds. He participated in the First Council of Nicea, ardently denouncing the heresy of Arius; during a famine in Lycia, he appeared in a dream to a merchant who had a load of bread, and ordered him to take him to Myra, leaving as a pledge three gold coins, which he discovered with amazement in the morning; once stopped the execution of three innocent convicts. His authority was so great that no one dared to resist, knowing that God’s will was done.
Once the saint saved a ship dying from a storm. The sailors, having lost all hope, began to pray to the Lycian archbishop, of whom much had been heard, and suddenly he appeared at the helm of the ship and led him to the harbor. To the saint fearlessly went with all need not only Christians, but also pagans. And the good shepherd did not refuse anyone, he was a prayergiver for everyone. He died peacefully on December 6, 342. The Lord blessed his honest body of incorruptibility, the relics of the saint to this day exude grace-filled healing myrrh.