Saint Nicholas of Myra

 st. Nicholas the miracle worker little

of his life is known for certain except

that he was the Bishop of Myra in the

the fourth century AD but there are plenty

of stories about his life in the

church's tradition st. Nicholas is

especially known for his vigorous

actions in favor of his flock and

towards the defense of the faith but it

is through his secret gifts the children

from all over the world recognize him he

is more particularly the patron saint of

children sailors and prisoners his feast

the day is December 6 st. Nicholas is a

patron saint with the most causes in the

the whole world it is in the fourth century

AD and the Greco-roman province of Lycia

in Asia Minor that our story begins a

a married couple of great devotion deeply

desire to the child's unfortunately they

prayed and wrapped in vain for 30 years

but one day they had the joy of

receiving a son who they named Nicholas

early on he showed signs of chastity by

alternating between the breasts of his

mother during the fasts of Wednesday and

Friday when Nicholas was still young a

the plague struck the city and his parents

passed away

Nicholas went to live with his beloved

uncle the abbot of the nearby monastery

it is there that he started his long

a life dedicated to the church by daily

religious practice and by sharing in the

prayer was sung by the monks

these friars taught him the Holy

Scriptures philosophy and theology there

was in the city a man formerly rich who

had three daughters of an age to be

married since he no longer had the means

to provide for them with a dowry his

daughters were destined to be sold into

slavery or worse word of the family's

misfortune reached Nicholas who had the

wealth inherited from his parents coming

in secret, by night he tossed a bag of

gold into the house it sailed through an

open window landing in a stocking left

before the fire to dry what joy in the

the morning when the gold was discovered the

the first daughter soon Wed not long after

another bag of gold again appeared

mysteriously the second daughter then

when the father wants to know who his

the benefactor was kept watch during the

following nights the third bag of gold

landed inside the house and the watchful

father left up and caught the fleeing

donor Oh Nicholas it's you cried the

father, you have saved my daughters from

a certain disaster Nicholas embarrassed

begged the man to keep his identity

the secret you must thank God alone for

providing these gifts in answer to your

prayers it is due to this act that Saint

Nicholas is symbolized by three golden

balls apples or oranges are sometimes

used instead of the gold

one day in the city of Myra the bishop

died the other bishops met to

find a replacement but could not discern

the right choice

one night the oldest and the wisest of

the Bishops heard a voice telling him to

watch the church doors the first person

named Nicholas to enter was to be the

new bishop the wise Bishop shared his

vision with the others and urged them to

pray before the doors the first person

to come to church that morning was our

Nicholas having learned his name

the bishop announced to him that he

would be the new Bishop Nicholas

protested that he was too young to be a

bishop the bishops affirmed to him that

thus was God's will and that is how

Nicholas became Bishop of Milan when he

protected the poor was an advocate for

justice and a defender of the Catholic

faith indulgent wise and without fear he

was a true Shepherd for his flock during

that time

Diocletian great persecutor of

Christians ordered the arrest of all the

priests of the church but even in prison

Nicholas continued to teach the Word of

God when Constantine became Emperor

Christian persecution ceased Bishop

Nicholas returned home to Lycia many

were still following the natural

the religion of Rome the fertility goddess

Artemis was the most popular in the

region

Nicholas realized that some in his care

were going to the Temple of Artemis and

other places of worship to make

sacrifices there was a danger that his

the flock would return to their old idolatry

of demonic origins with great force via

Nicholas destroyed those places of

worship to drive away demons and restore

peace from the temple, not even the

foundations remain

the fleeing demons inspired the peoples

of God, there is talk of a terrible fight

between Saint Nicholas and Artemis that

lasted during the whole life of the

saint and beyond in 325 AD the Emperor

Constantine called for the first

the ecumenical council of Nicaea more than

300 bishops from all of Christendom came

to debate the Catholic faith in

particular the intense theological

question of the nature of the Trinity

was discussed areas of Egypt taught that

Jesus the Son was not of the same

substance than God the Father areas

forcefully argued his position the

bishops listen respectfully Nicholas

became more and more agitated and could

no longer bear those attacks against his

faith the outraged Nicholas got up

across the room and slapped areas across

the face the bishops were shocked it was

unbelievable that a bishop would lose

control in such a solemn assembly the

bishops stripped Nicholas of his

Episcopal garments chained him and threw

he into jail Nicholas was ashamed he

prayed for forgiveness but he never

wavered in his belief during the night

Jesus and Mary his mother appeared to

him Jesus then gave him the book of the

Gospels signifying that he was right

Mary gave him a bishops garment meaning

that he was worthy of his function when

the jailer came in in the morning he

found the chains loose on the floor and

Nicholas dressed in the bishop's robe

quietly reading the scriptures when

Constantine was told of this the Emperor

ordered that Nicholas be freed and

reinstated as Bishop of Myra

the Council of Nicaea agreed with

Nicholas's views deciding the question

against areas the council produced the

Nicene Creed profession of the Catholic

faith still in use today this Creed

brought peace and unity to cushion them

the council discussions were sometimes

long and boring

once during dinner, Nicholas fell asleep

as he slept

Nicholas heard voices calling his name

leaving his leaving body leaning on the

the table he followed the voices after

traveling a long way he arrived in the

middle of the scene a mighty storm raged

putting a ship in great danger

the sailors cried to Nicholas for help

Nicholas raised his hands and the storm

stopped he blasted the sailors and

returned to the council one day three

generals were sent to stop a revolt and

freesias these generals landed in a port

of Lycia, some soldiers were sent to Myra

to buy supplies seeing an opportunity

troublemakers impersonated these

soldiers and looted the city when the

true soldiers arrived they were mobbed

and arrested by the people hearing the

noise Nicholas

hurried to the place of execution

the three soldiers were in a position

their faces were covered their hands

were bound waiting for death the

executioner held the sword up in

readiness fearlessly

Nicholas grabbed the sword threw it to the

ground and freed the men

three small children were gleaning in

the fields walking about

they forgot the time has a son in the

setting the children were becoming

hungry tired and lost they came to a

little bit shop and knocked at the door

the butcher greeted them as they entered

the butcher took a sharp knife cut them

up and put them in a large salting tub

seven years passed someone knocked the

door Saint Nicholas appears he orders

the butcher to open the tub the Saint

puts his hands on the tub and ordered

the children to rise they rose got out

of the tub and rejoined their families

since this time st. Nicholas is the

patron saint of children as Nicholas

came to the end of his life he prayed

that God would send His angels to

receive his spirit when he saw the

angels, he spoke the song I have hope in

you O Lord into thine hands I

commend my spirit he gave up his spirit

December 6 of the Year 343 there was a

huge procession at his funeral and his

the body was put into the Cathedral of Myra

from his to float a pure and beneficial

the water called manna in 1087 ad Italians

came for the relics of st. Nicholas and

brought them back to bury this is why he

is also called the saint of burying the

story of Nicholas does not stop there

among other things he performed

miraculous cures charmed dragons fought

against them

lowered taxes furthermore many people

attempted after his death of multiple

miracles obtained through his

intercession all those things added

little by little to the grand legend of

Saint Nicholas the Confessor Bishop of