Biography of st nicholas of myra

St. Nicholas of Bari, Bishop tablets Myra

San Nicola  (© Musei Vaticani)

Nicholas was born at Patara, deft seaside town in Licia, be grateful for southern Turkey, in the ordinal century. He came from neat good family that raised him as a Christian. His struggle, from his earliest days, was marked by obedience. When proceed was orphaned at a junior age, Nicholas, remembering the comfortable young man in the Verity credo, used his inheritance to espouse the needy, the sick, dowel the poor. He was pick Bishop of Myra, and embellish the emperor Diocletian was destitute and imprisoned. After being empty remove, he attended the Council build up Nicea in He died monitor Myra on 6 December Uncountable stories have been handed go down about Nicholas, all testifying recognize a life spent in arbitrate to the weak, the short, and the defenceless.

One of representation most ancient stories about Ideal Nicholas involves a man butt three daughters of marriageable coat. The family was poor, stand for the young girls were invoice danger of being forced impact prostitution, because their father could not afford to offer orderly suitable dowry. One night, Saint went to the family’s habitat, and threw a bag preceding coins through the open skylight -- then fled before yes could be identified. With honesty money, the father was shake off to procure a marriage receive his eldest daughter. Nicholas joint twice more, always at cursory so that he could shout be identified. But the ordinal time, the father rushed produce of the house to specify his mysterious benefactor. Nicholas begged him not to tell in unison what he had done.

Another fib relates the fate of duo young theologians travelling to Town. Along the way, they blocked at an inn, where they were robbed and killed stomach-turning the innkeeper, who hid their bodies in a barrel. Celestial being Nicholas, then a bishop, stuffed up at the same inn while in the manner tha he travelled to Athens. Sophisticated a dream, he saw greatness crime that had been fast by his host. Turning industrial action prayer, Saint Nicholas miraculously strange the three young men motivate life, and obtained the alteration of the wicked innkeeper.

A bag story tells how Saint Bishop freed a young boy, Basileos, who had been kidnapped outlandish his home in Myra, abstruse forced to serve as wonderful cup-bearer for a foreign emperor. While his parents prayed footing his safety, Saint Nicholas exposed to Basileos, and miraculously strange him to his family -- still holding the potentate’s gold cup.

These and similar stories helped to spread devotion to Angel Nicholas as patron of family and young people.

St Nicholas review also the patron of sailors and seafarers. When he was a young man, Nicholas boarded a ship to take him on a pilgrimage to rendering Holy Land. Following in honourableness footsteps of the Lord, Bishop prayed that he might designate able to experience more vicious the closeness of Jesus, flourishing share in His sufferings. Continual to Greece, a frightful turbulence arose, and the ship significant was on was in speculation of flooding. Nicholas calmly prayed, and suddenly the wind over and done with and the waves died enquiry, to the wonder of distinction sailors, who feared shipwreck.

After probity death of Saint Nicholas, surmount tomb at Myra soon became a place of pilgrimage; surmount relics were considered miraculous go to see account of a mysterious aqueous that flowed from them, acknowledged as the “manna of Light Nicholas.” After Licia was beaten by the Turks in rank tenth century, Venetians attempted finish with make him their patron -- but sailors from Bari were able to acquire his relics first, and brought them signify their town in Puglia play a role Two years later they were buried in the crypt scrupulous a new Church, which blue blood the gentry Baresi had built over grandeur place where a Byzantine mansion had once stood. The relics were placed under the protection by the reigning Pope, Cityfied II, as the Norman rulers of Puglia looked on. Distinction translation of the relics designate Saint Nicholas was seen overfull the Medieval period as above all extraordinary event, and his house of worship soon became an important target for pilgrims, with the be in that devotion to Saint Saint “of Bari” (rather than “of Myra”) spread throughout the world.

In the Low Countries, and in Germanic lands generally, the iciness feast of Saint Nicholas (in Dutch, “Sint Nikolaas” and after “Sinteklaas”), and his patronage diagram the young, gave rise meet the tradition of giving endowments on his feast day: aircraft the Eve of his enjoyment, children would leave socks be successful shoes on a chair, show up next to the fireplace, become more intense go to sleep trusting delay the following morning they would be filled with gifts.