Today, May 22, is the Day of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. The night before, a particle of the relics of Nicholas the Wonderworker was delivered to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow from Bari, Italy.
On May 22, 2017, Saint Nicholas is venerated by the people. According to the folk calendar, there are two holidays in the year dedicated to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker - winter Nikola on December 19 and spring (summer) Nikola - May 22.
Nicholas the Wonderworker is also revered in the West, and in Russia even people far from the Church know Nicholas the Pleasant as the most revered saint by the Russian people. In addition to the special holidays dedicated to him, the Church celebrates the memory of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker every Thursday. St. Nicholas is often commemorated at divine services and on other days of the week.
Nicholas the Wonderworker: what helps
Saint Nicholas is especially revered for the miracles that occur through prayers to them. Nicholas the Wonderworker was revered as an ambulance to sailors and other travelers, merchants, unjustly convicted and children.
Many temples and monasteries are dedicated to Nikolai Ugodnik in Russia, in honor of his name, the holy Patriarch Photius baptized in 866 the Kyiv prince Askold - the very first Russian Christian prince, and over the grave of Askold in Kyiv, the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Olga built the first church of St. Nicholas on Russian soil.
folk traditions
In Russia, Nicholas the Pleasant was considered the "senior" among the saints. He was called "merciful", temples were built in honor of him and children were named.
On Nikola Zimny, people arranged festive meals - they baked pies with fish, brewed mash and beer, and on Nikola Summer, or Spring, the peasants arranged religious processions - they went to the fields with icons and banners, performed prayers at the wells - asked for rain.
When is the memory of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker celebrated?
Saint Nicholas in the Orthodox church calendar is dedicated to more than one holiday. December 19, according to the new style, the day of the death of the saint is remembered, August 11 - his birth. The people called these two holidays Nikola Winter and Nikola Autumn. On May 22, believers commemorate the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker from Mir Lycian to Bari, which took place in 1087. In Russia, this day was called Nikola Veshny (that is, spring), or Nikola Summer.
All these holidays are non-transitory, that is, their dates are fixed.
What helps Nicholas the Wonderworker
Saint Nicholas is called a miracle worker. Such saints are especially revered for the miracles that occur through prayers to them. Since ancient times, Nicholas the Wonderworker was revered as an ambulance to sailors and other travelers, merchants, unjustly convicted and children. In Western folk Christianity, his image was combined with the image of a folklore character - "Christmas grandfather" - and transformed into Santa Claus ( santa claus translated from English. - St Nicholas). Santa Claus gives gifts to children for Christmas.
Life (biography) of Nicholas the Wonderworker
Nicholas the Pleasant was born in 270 in the town of Patara, which was located in the region of Lycia in Asia Minor and was a Greek colony. The parents of the future archbishop were very wealthy people, but at the same time they believed in Christ and actively helped the poor.
As the life says, from childhood the saint devoted himself completely to faith, spent a lot of time in the temple. Having matured, he became a reader, and then a priest in the church, where his uncle, Bishop Nicholas of Patara, served as rector.
After the death of his parents, Nicholas the Wonderworker distributed all his inheritance to the poor and continued his church ministry. In the years when the attitude of the Roman emperors towards Christians became more tolerant, but persecution nevertheless continued, he ascended to the episcopal throne in Mir. Now this town is called Demre, it is located in the province of Antalya in Turkey.
People loved the new archbishop very much: he was kind, meek, fair, sympathetic - not a single request to him remained unanswered. With all this, Nicholas was remembered by his contemporaries as an implacable fighter against paganism - he destroyed idols and temples, and a defender of Christianity - he denounced heretics.
Even during his lifetime, the saint became famous for many miracles. He saved the city of Mira from a terrible famine - with his fervent prayer to Christ. He prayed and thereby helped the drowning sailors on ships, led the unjustly condemned from imprisonment in prisons.
Nicholas the Pleasant lived to a ripe old age and died around 345-351 - the exact date is unknown.
Relics of Saint Nicholas
Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker reposed in the Lord in 345-351 - the exact date is unknown. His relics were incorruptible. At first they rested in the cathedral church of the city of Lycian Myra, where he served as archbishop. They streamed myrrh, and the myrrh healed believers from various ailments.
In 1087, part of the relics of the saint was transferred to the Italian city of Bari, to the church of St. Stephen. A year after the relics were saved, a basilica was erected there in the name of St. Nicholas. Now everyone can pray at the relics of the saint - the ark with them is still kept in this basilica. A few years later, the rest of the relics were transported to Venice, and a small particle remained in Mira.
In honor of the transfer of the relics of Nicholas the Ugodnik, a special holiday was established, which in the Russian Orthodox Church is celebrated on May 22 according to the new style.
Veneration of St. Nicholas in Russia
Many temples and monasteries are dedicated to Nikolai Ugodnik in Russia. In his name, the holy Patriarch Photius baptized in 866 the Kyiv prince Askold, the very first Russian Christian prince. Above the grave of Askold in Kyiv, Saint Equal-to-the-Apostles Olga built the first church of St. Nicholas on Russian soil.
In many Russian cities, the main cathedrals were named after the archbishop of Mir Lycian. Veliky Novgorod, Zaraysk, Kyiv, Smolensk, Pskov, Galich, Arkhangelsk, Tobolsk and many others. In the Moscow province, three Nikolsky monasteries were built - Nikolo-Greek (Old) - in Kitay-gorod, Nikolo-Perervinsky and Nikolo-Ugreshsky. In addition, one of the main towers of the Moscow Kremlin was named Nikolskaya.
Iconography of Saint Nicholas
The iconography of St. Nicholas took shape in the 10th-11th centuries. At the same time, the oldest icon, namely the fresco in the church of Santa Maria Antiqua in Rome, dates back to the 8th century.
There are two main iconographic types of St. Nicholas - full-length and half-length. One of the classic examples of a full-length icon is a fresco from the St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery in Kyiv, painted at the beginning of the 12th century. Now it is kept in the Tretyakov Gallery. In this fresco, the saint is depicted full-length, with a blessing right hand and an open Gospel in his left hand.
Icons of the belt iconographic type depict the saint with a closed Gospel on his left hand. The oldest icon of this type in the monastery of St. Catherine in Sinai dates back to the 11th century. In Russia, the earliest surviving similar image dates back to the end of the 12th century. Ivan the Terrible brought it from Novgorod the Great and placed it in the Smolensk Cathedral of the Novodevichy Convent. Now this icon can be seen in the Tretyakov Gallery.
Icon painters also created hagiographic icons of St. Nicholas, that is, depicting different scenes from the life of the saint - sometimes up to twenty different plots. The most ancient of these icons in Russia are the Novgorod one from the Lyubon churchyard (XIV century) and the Kolomna one (now kept in the Tretyakov Gallery).
TroparionSaint Nicholas the Wonderworker
voice 4
The rule of faith and the image of meekness, the abstinence of the teacher reveal the truth to your flock of things: for this sake you acquired high humility, rich in poverty. Father Hierarch Nicholas, pray to Christ God that our souls be saved.
Translation:
By the rule of faith, by the example of meekness, temperance, the teacher has shown you your life to your flock. And therefore, with humility, you acquired greatness, poverty - wealth: Father Hierarch Nicholas, pray to Christ God for the salvation of our souls.
Kontakion to Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker
voice 3
In Mirech, holy, the clergyman appeared to you: Christ, reverend, having fulfilled the Gospel, lay down your soul about your people, and saved the innocent from death; for this sake you were sanctified, like a great secret place of God's grace.
Translation:
In the Worlds, you, saint, appeared as a performer of sacred rites: having fulfilled the gospel teaching of Christ, you, reverend, laid down your soul for your people and the innocent delivered from death. Therefore, he was sanctified as a great minister of the mysteries of God's grace.
First prayer to Nikolai Ugodnik
Oh, all-holy Nicholas, the servant of the most beautiful Lord, our warm intercessor, and everywhere in sorrow a quick helper!
Help me a sinner and despondent in this present life, beg the Lord God to grant me the remission of all my sins, having sinned from my youth, in all my life, deed, word, thought and all my feelings; and at the end of my soul, help me the accursed, implore the Lord God, all creatures of the Sodetel, to deliver me air ordeals and eternal torment: may I always glorify the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and your merciful intercession, now and ever and forever and ever.
Second prayer to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker
O all-praised, great wonderworker, Saint of Christ, Father Nicholas!
We pray to you, wake up the hope of all Christians, faithful protectors, hungry feeders, crying joy, sick doctors, floating rulers on the sea, feeders of the poor and orphans and an early helper and patron to everyone, let us live a peaceful life here and let us be able to see the glory of God's chosen ones in heaven , and with them to unceasingly sing of the one in the Trinity, the worshiped God forever and ever. Amen.
Third Prayer to Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker
O all-praised and all-pious bishop, the great Wonderworker, the Hierarch of Christ, Father Nicholas, a man of God and a faithful servant, a husband of desires, a chosen vessel, a strong pillar of the church, a bright lamp, a star illuminating and illuminating the entire universe: you are a righteous man, like a date blossomed, planted in the courts of your Lord, living in the Worlds, thou hast been fragrant with the world, and exuding the ever-flowing grace of God.
By your procession, Holy Father, the sea is illuminated, when your miraculous relics go to the city of Barsky, from east to west, praise the name of the Lord.
O graceful and wonderful Wonderworker, quick helper, warm intercessor, kind shepherd, saving the verbal flock from all sorts of troubles, we glorify you and magnify you, as the hope of all Christians, the source of miracles, the protector of the faithful, the wise teacher, the hungry feeder, weeping joy, naked clothing , the sick doctor, the steward floating on the sea, the captives of the liberator, the widows and orphans of the feeder and intercessor, the chastity of the guardian, the meek punisher of babies, the old fortifications, the fasting mentor, the laboring ecstasy, the poor and the wretched abundant wealth.
Hear us praying to you and fleeing under your roof, manifest your intercession for us to the Most High, and proceed with your God-pleasing prayers, all that is useful for the salvation of our souls and bodies: save this holy monastery (or this temple), every city and all, and every Christian country, and people living from every anger with your help:
Vema bo, vemy, how much can the prayer of the righteous hurrying for good: to you the righteous, according to the blessed Virgin Mary, the intercessor to the All-Merciful God of the imam, and to your good father, warm intercession and intercession humbly flow: you keep us as cheerful and kind shepherd, from all enemies, destruction, cowardice, hail, famine, flood, fire, sword, invasion of foreigners, and in all our troubles and sorrows, give us a helping hand, and open the doors of God's mercy, because we are not worthy to see the height of heaven, from many of our iniquities, are bound by the bonds of sin, and let us not save the will of our Creator, nor keep his commands.
In the same way, we bow our knees, contrite and humble of our hearts to our Creator, and we ask for your paternal intercession to Him:
Help us, the Pleasant of God, let us not perish with our iniquities, deliver us from all evil, and from all things opposing, direct our mind and strengthen our heart in the right faith, in it with your intercession and intercession, neither wounds, nor banning, nor pestilence, by no wrath will he let me live in this age, and save me from standing, and vouchsafe the right hand with all the saints. Amen.
Fourth Prayer to Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker
O our good shepherd and God-wise mentor, St. Nicholas of Christ! Hear us sinners, praying to you and calling for your help, your speedy intercession; see us weak, caught from everywhere, deprived of every good and darkened by the mind from cowardice; rush, servant of God, do not leave us in the sinful captivity of being, let us not be our enemy in joy and die in our evil deeds.
Pray for us unworthy of our Sovereign and Lord, but you stand before him with incorporeal faces: be merciful to us, create our God in this life and in the future, let him not reward us according to our deeds and according to the impurity of our hearts, but according to your goodness will reward us .
We hope for your intercession, we boast of your intercession, we call on your intercession for help, and we fall down to your most holy image, we ask for help: deliver us, saint of Christ, from the evils that are upon us, and tame the waves of passions and troubles that rise against us, but for the sake of Your holy prayers will not attack us and we will not be mired in the abyss of sin and in the mud of our passions. Moth, to St. Nicholas of Christ, Christ our God, give us a peaceful life and the remission of sins, but salvation and great mercy to our souls, now and ever and forever and ever.
Prayer 5 to Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker
O great intercessor, the bishop of God, blessed Nicholas, who shines miracles like a sunflower, who calls upon you as a quick hearer, you always anticipate and save, and deliver, and take away all kinds of troubles, from God given to you miracles and gifts of grace!
Hear me unworthy, calling you with faith and bringing prayer to you singing; I offer you an intercessor for supplication to Christ.
O notorious in miracles, high saint! as if you have boldness, soon stand before the Lord, and reverence your hands in prayer to Him, stretch out for me a sinner, and from Him give bounties of goodness, and accept me as your intercession, and deliver me from all troubles and evils, from the invasion of enemies visible and invisible freeing, and destroying all those slanders and malice, and reflecting those who fight me in my whole life; ask for forgiveness by my sin, and present me to Christ and save the Kingdom of Heaven for the multitude of that philanthropy, he deserves all glory, honor and worship, with his Father without beginning, and with the Most Holy and Good and Life-giving Spirit, now and forever and forever centuries.
Sixth Prayer to Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker
Oh, the all-good Father Nicholas, the shepherd and teacher of all those who by faith flow to your intercession, and call you with warm prayer, soon rush, and deliver Christ's flock from the wolves that destroy it, that is, from the invasion of the wicked Latins rising up against us.
Protect and save our country, and every country that exists in Orthodoxy, with your holy prayers from worldly rebellion, the sword, the invasion of foreigners, from internecine and bloody warfare.
And as if you had mercy on three men sitting in prison, and delivered them from the tsar’s wrath and the cutting of the sword, so have mercy and deliver the Great, Little and White Russia Orthodox people from the pernicious heresy of the Latins.
As if by your intercession and help, by His own mercy and grace, Christ God, may He look with His merciful eye on people in the ignorance of existence, even though they don’t know their right hand, even more so young, with which Latin seductions are spoken in a hedgehog to turn away from the Orthodox faith, may the mind of His people enlighten, may they not be tempted and fall away from the faith of the fathers, conscience, lulled by vain wisdom and ignorance, may it awaken, turn the will to the preservation of the holy Orthodox faith, may it remember the faith and humility of our fathers, your life for the Orthodox faith who have put, accepting the prayers of the warmth of His holy saints, who have shone forth in our land, keeping us from delusion and heresy of the Latins, and having preserved us in holy Orthodoxy, vouchsafe us at His terrible Judgment of the right hand to stand with all the saints. Amen.
What can you eat on the day of memory of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker
December 19, according to the new style, falls on the Christmas, or Filippov, as it is also called, post. On this day, you can eat fish, but you can not eat meat, eggs and other animal products.
Miracles of Saint Nicholas
Nicholas the Wonderworker is considered the patron, intercessor and prayer book for sailors and, in general, for everyone who travels. For example, as the life of the saint says, in his youth, traveling from Myra to Alexandria, he resurrected a sailor who, during a fierce storm, fell off the mast of the ship and, falling on the deck, crashed to death.
Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh. Word, uttered at the vigil on the feast of St. Nicholas, December 18, 1973, in the church named after him in Kuznetsy (Moscow)
Today we celebrate the day of the death of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. What a strange combination of words: celebration of death... Usually, when someone is overtaken by death, we yearn and weep for it; and when the saint dies, we rejoice about it. How is this possible?
This is possible only because when a sinner dies, those who remain have a heavy feeling in their hearts that the time has come for parting, even if only temporarily. No matter how strong our faith is, no matter how hope inspires us, no matter how sure we are that the God of love will never finally separate from each other those who love each other with even imperfect, earthly love - still remains sadness and longing that for many years we will not see the face, the expression of the eyes shining on us with affection, we will not touch the dear person with a reverent hand, we will not hear his voice, bringing his caress and love to our hearts ...
But our attitude to the saint is not exactly like that. Even those who were contemporary with the saints, already during their lifetime, managed to realize that, living in the fullness of heavenly life, the saint did not separate from the earth during his life, and that when he rests in his body, he will still remain in this mystery of the Church, which unites the living and the dead. into one body, into one spirit, into one eternal, Divine mystery that conquered all lives.
As they died, the saints could say, as Paul said: I fought a good feat, I kept the faith; now an eternal reward is being prepared for me, now I myself become a sacrifice...
And this consciousness is not the head, but the consciousness of the heart, the living feeling of the heart that the saint cannot leave us (just as the risen Christ, who has become invisible to us, does not leave us, just as God, invisible to us, is not absent), this consciousness allows us to rejoice on the day when, as the ancient Christians said, a person born into eternal life. He did not die - but was born, entered into eternity, into the whole expanse, into the fullness of life. He is in anticipation of a new victory of life, which we all look forward to: the resurrection of the dead on the last day, when all the barriers of separation will already fall, and when we will rejoice not only about the victory of eternity, but that God has restored the temporal to life - but in glory, new shining glory.
One of the ancient fathers of the Church, Saint Irenaeus of Lyon, says: the glory of God is a man who has become Man... Saints are such a glory to God; looking at them, we are amazed at what God can do to a person.
And behold, we rejoice on the day of the death of the one who was on earth heavenly man, but having entered into eternity, he became an intercessor and a prayer book for us, not leaving us, remaining not only the same close, becoming even closer, because we become close to each other as we become close, dear, our own to the Living God, God of love. Our joy today is so deep! The Lord on earth shook, like a ripe ear, St. Nicholas. Now he triumphs with God, in heaven; and just as he loved the earth and people, knew how to pity, compassion, knew how to surround everyone and meet everyone with amazing, tender, thoughtful care, so now he prays for us all, caringly, thoughtfully.
When you read his life, you are amazed that he cared not only about the spiritual; he cared for every human need, the humblest human need. He knew how to rejoice with those who rejoice, he knew how to cry with those who weep, he knew how to console and support those who needed comfort and support. And this is why the people, the Myrlikian flock, fell in love with him so much, and why the entire Christian people honors him so much: there is nothing too insignificant that he would not pay attention to with his creative love. There is nothing on earth that would seem unworthy of his prayers and unworthy of his labors: illness, and the poor, and deprivation, and disgrace, and fear, and sin, and joy, and hope, and love - everything found a lively response in his deep human heart. And he left us the image of a man who is the radiance of God's beauty, he left us in himself, as it were, a living, acting icon genuine person.
But he left it to us not only so that we rejoice, admire, be amazed; he left us his image so that we could learn from him how to live, what kind of love to love, how to forget ourselves and remember fearlessly, sacrificially, joyfully every need of another person.
He left us an image of how to die, how to mature, how to stand before God at the last hour, giving His soul joyfully, as if returning to his father's house. When I was a young man, my father once told me: during your life, learn to expect death in the same way as a young man tremblingly awaits the arrival of his bride ... This is how St. Nicholas waited for the hour of death, when the gates of death will open, when all bonds fall, when the soul flutters him to freedom, when it will be given to him to behold the God whom he worshiped with faith and love. So it is given to us to wait - to wait creatively, not to wait numbly, in fear of death, but to wait with joy for that time, that meeting with God, which will make us akin not only to our Living God, with Christ who became a man, but also with every person. because only in God are we made one...
The Fathers of the Church call us to live fear of death. From century to century we hear these words, and from century to century we misunderstand them. How many people live in fear that death is about to come, and after death - judgment, and after judgment - what? Unknown. Hell? Forgiveness?.. But not about that fear of death fathers said. The Fathers said that if we remembered that in a moment we might die, how we would hasten to do all the good that we can still do! If we thought constantly, tremblingly that the person standing next to us, to whom we can now do good or evil, might die - how we would hasten to take care of him! There would then be no need, either great or small, that would exceed our ability to devote life to a person who is about to die.
I have already said something about my father; sorry - I'll tell you one more personal. My mother has been dying for three years; she knew it because I told her. And when death entered our life, it transformed life by the fact that every moment, every word, every action - because it could be the last - had to be a perfect expression of all the love, all the affection, all the reverence that was between us. And for three years there were no trifles and there were no big things, but only the triumph of trembling, reverent love, where everything merged into greatness, because all love can be contained in one word, and all love can be expressed in one movement; and it should be like this.
The Saints understood this not only in relation to one person, whom they loved especially tenderly and for some small years, for which they had the spirit. The saints knew how to live like this throughout their whole lives, from day to day, from hour to hour, in relation to each person, because in each they saw the image of God, a living icon, but - God! - sometimes such a defiled, such a disfigured icon, which they contemplated with special pain and with special love, as we would contemplate an icon trampled into the mud before our eyes. And each of us, with our sin, tramples into the mud the image of God in ourselves.
Think about it. Think how glorious, how marvelous death can be if we only live life like saints. They are people like us, differing from us only in courage and burning spirit. If only we could live like them! And how rich the memory of death could be for us if, instead of being called, in our language, the fear of death, it would be a constant reminder that every moment is and can become a door to eternal life. Every moment, filled with all love, all humility, all delight and strength of the soul, can open time to eternity and make our earth already a place where paradise is manifested, a place where God lives, a place where we are united in love, a place where everything the evil, the dead, the dark, the dirty, are defeated, transfigured, become light, become purity, become Divine.
May the Lord grant us to ponder these images of saints, and not to each other, not even to ask ourselves what to do, but to turn directly to them, to these saints, of whom some were at first robbers, sinners, people terrible for others, but who managed by the greatness of the soul to perceive God and grow into measure of the age of Christ. Let's ask them... What happened to you, Father Nicholas? What did you do, how did you reveal yourself to the power of Divine love and grace?.. And he will answer us; with his life and his prayer, he will make possible for us what seems impossible to us, because the power of God is made perfect in weakness, and everything is available to us, everything is possible for us in the Lord Jesus Christ who strengthens us.
Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh. About the calling of a Christian.
Word pronounced at the liturgy on the day of memory of St. Nicholas on December 19, 1973, in the church named after him in Kuznetsy (Moscow)
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
I congratulate you on the occasion!
When we celebrate the day of such a saint as Nicholas the Wonderworker, whom not only the Russian heart, but universal Orthodoxy perceived as one of the most perfect images of the priesthood, it is especially reverent to serve the Divine Liturgy and stand before it; because before he became a companion of the apostles, Saint Nicholas was a genuine, true layman. The Lord Himself revealed that it was he who should have been made a priest - for the purity of his life, for the feat of his love, for his love for worship and the temple, for the purity of his faith, for his meekness and humility.
All this was in him not a word, but it was flesh. In the troparion we sing to him that he was rule of faith, image of meekness, teacher of temperance; all this appeared to his flock by the very deed, the radiance of his life, and not just a verbal sermon. And so he was still a layman. And by such a feat, such love, such purity, such meekness, he acquired for himself the highest calling of the Church - to be appointed bishop, bishop of his city; to be before the eyes of the believing people (which itself is the body of Christ, the seat of the Holy Spirit, the divine lot), among the Orthodox people to stand like a living icon; so that, looking at him, in his eyes to see the light of Christ's love, to see in his actions, to experience Christ's divine mercy with his own eyes.
We are all called to follow the same path. There are no two ways for a person: there is a way of holiness; the other way is the way of renunciation of one's Christian calling. Not everyone reaches the height that is revealed to us in the saints; but we are all called to be so pure in our heart, in our mind, in our life, in our flesh, that we may be, as it were, the incarnate presence in the world, from century to century, from millennium to millennium, of Christ Himself.
We are called to be so completely, so completely given to God, that each of us becomes, as it were, a temple where the Holy Spirit lives and acts - both in us and through us.
We are called to be daughters and sons of our Heavenly Father; but not only allegorically, not only because He treats us as a father treats children. In Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit, we are called to truly become His children, like Christ, partaking of His sonship, receiving the Spirit of sonship, the Spirit of God, so that our life may be hidden. with Christ in God.
This we cannot achieve without difficulty. The Church Fathers tell us: shed blood and you will receive the Spirit... We cannot ask God to dwell in us when we ourselves are not working to prepare for Him a holy, purified, God-consecrated temple. We cannot call Him into the depths of our sin again and again, if we do not have a firm, fiery intention, if we are not ready, when He descends to us, when He seeks us like a lost sheep, and wants to carry us back to our father's house, to be taken and carried away forever in His Divine arms.
To be a Christian is to be an ascetic; to be a Christian is to struggle to overcome everything in oneself that is death, sin, unrighteousness, impurity; in a word - to overcome, to overcome everything because of which Christ was crucified, killed on the Cross. Human sin killed him - mine, and yours, and our common; and if we do not overcome and do not get rid of sin, then we partake either of those who, through negligence, coldness, indifference, frivolity, gave Christ to be crucified, or those who maliciously wanted to destroy Him, wipe Him off the face of the earth, because His appearance, His preaching , His personality were their condemnation.
To be a Christian is to be an ascetic; and yet it is impossible for us to save ourselves. Our calling is so high, so great, that a person cannot fulfill it on his own. I have already said that we are called to be, as it were, grafted into the humanity of Christ, as a twig is grafted into a life-giving tree - so that the life of Christ would spring up in us, so that we would be His body, so that we would be His presence, so that our word would be His. in a word, our love is His love, and our action is His action.
I said that we must become a temple of the Holy Spirit, but more than a physical temple. The material temple contains the presence of God, but is not permeated by it; and man is called to unite with God in such a way as, according to the word of St. Maximus the Confessor, fire pierces, penetrates iron, becomes one with it, and it is possible (says Maxim) to cut with fire and burn with iron, because it is no longer possible to distinguish where the burning is and where the fuel is. Where is man and where is God.
This we cannot achieve. We cannot become sons and daughters of God just because we ourselves want it or we ask and pray for it; we must be accepted by the Father, adopted, we must become, in the love of God for Christ, what Christ is for the Father: sons, daughters, the site reports. How can we achieve this? The Gospel gives us the answer. Peter asks: Who can be saved? - And Christ answers: What is impossible for man is possible for God...
Through deeds we can open our hearts; protect your mind and soul from impurity; we can direct our actions so that they are worthy of our calling and our God; we can keep our flesh pure for the communion of the Body and Blood of Christ; we can open ourselves to God and say: Come and dwell in us… And we can know that if we ask this with a sincere heart, we want it, then God, who wants us to be saved more than we know how to want it for ourselves, will give it to us. He Himself tells us in the Gospel: If you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him...
Therefore, let us be with all the strength of our human weakness, with all the burning of our dim spirit, with all the hope of our heart yearning for fullness, with all our faith that cries out to God: Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief! With all the hunger, with all the thirst of our soul and body, let us ask God to come. But at the same time, with all the strength of our soul, with all the strength of our body, let us prepare for Him a temple worthy of His coming: cleansed, dedicated to Him, guarded from all unrighteousness, malice and impurity. And then the Lord will come; and will celebrate, as He promised us, with the Father and the Spirit, the Last Supper in our hearts, in our lives, in our temple, in our society, and the Lord will reign forever, our God to generation and generation.
Santa Claus
In Western Christianity, the image of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was combined with the image of a folklore character - "Christmas grandfather" - and transformed into Santa Claus ( santa claus translated from English. - St Nicholas). Santa Claus gives gifts to children on St. Nicholas Day, but more often on Christmas Day.
At the origins of the tradition of giving gifts on behalf of Santa Claus is the story of a miracle performed by Nikolai Ugodnik. As the life of the saint says, he saved the family of a poor man who lived in Patara from sin.
The poor man had three lovely daughters, and the need made him think terrible - he wanted to send the girls into prostitution. The local archbishop, and Nicholas the Wonderworker just served them, received a revelation from the Lord about what his parishioner had conceived in desperation. And he decided to save his family, and secretly from everyone. One night, he tied a bundle of gold coins that he inherited from his parents, and threw the bag to the poor man through the window. The father of his daughters discovered the gift only in the morning and thought that it was Christ himself who sent him a gift. With these funds, he married his eldest daughter to a good man.
Saint Nicholas rejoiced that his help had brought good fruit, and in the same way, secretly, he threw a second bag of gold through the window of the poor man. With these funds, he played the wedding of his middle daughter.
The poor man was eager to know who his benefactor was. He did not sleep at night and waited if he would come to help the third daughter? Saint Nicholas was not long in coming. Hearing the ringing of a bundle of coins, the poor man caught up with the archbishop and recognized him as a saint. I fell at his feet and warmly thanked him for saving his family from a terrible sin.
Nikola Winter, Nikola Autumn, Nikola Veshny, "Nikola Wet"
On December 19 and August 11, according to the new style, Orthodox Christians remember, respectively, the death and birth of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. According to the time of the year, these holidays received popular names - Nikola Winter and Nikola Autumn.
Nikola Veshnim (that is, spring), or Nikola Summer, was called the feast of the transfer of the relics of the saint and wonderworker Nicholas from the World of Lycian to Bari, which is celebrated on May 22 according to a new style.
The phrase "Nikola Wet" comes from the fact that this saint in all ages was considered the patron saint of sailors and, in general, of all travelers. When the temple in the name of St. Nicholas the Pleasant was built by sailors (often in gratitude for the miraculous rescue on the waters), the people called it "Nikola Wet".
Folk traditions of celebrating the day of memory of Nikolai Ugodnik
In Russia, Nicholas the Pleasant was revered as the "senior" among the saints. Nicola was called "merciful"; temples were built in honor of him and children were named - from antiquity and until the beginning of the 20th century, the name Kolya was the most popular among Russian boys.
About Nikola Zimny (December 19) in the huts in honor of the holiday, festive meals were arranged - they baked pies with fish, brewed mash and beer. The holiday was considered "old man's", the most respected people of the village gathered together a rich table and had long conversations. And the youth indulged in winter entertainment - sledding, dancing, singing songs, preparing for Christmas gatherings.
On Nikola Summer, or Spring (May 22), the peasants arranged religious processions - they went to the fields with icons and banners, performed prayers at the wells - they asked for rain.
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AdvertisingFor many, St. Nicholas Day is a winter holiday, on which it is customary to give gifts to children. But this saint is to be venerated two days a year at once.
Our site found out when and why Nicholas the Wonderworker is honored.
St. Nicholas Day: what date
Saint Nicholas Day is celebrated not only on December 19 (the day of the death of Nicholas), but also on May 22 (the day his relics arrived in Bari, Italy), that is, this Monday. August 11 marks his birth. All these holidays are non-transitory, that is, their dates are fixed.
The people call these days, respectively, Nikola Winter, Nikola Autumn and Nikola Veshny (that is, spring), or Nikola Summer.
The saint is also called "Nikola Wet". This saint in all ages was considered the patron saint of sailors and all travelers in general. Therefore, when the temple in the name of St. Nicholas the Pleasant was built by sailors (often in gratitude for the miraculous rescue on the waters), the people called it "Nikola Wet".
Saint Nicholas the Pleasant
St Nicholas. Icon
Both December and May are extremely important for grain growers ("Two Nicholas: one with grass, the other with frost").
According to legend, it was these days that the saint got thanks to a peasant peasant. Once a man got stuck in the mud with a heavy cart. It didn't work to pull it out. At this time, St. Kasyan, smartly dressed, was walking by. The man asked him for help. Kasyan was offended that they disturb him because of such a trifle - after all, he is in a hurry to God in paradise. And passed by. After some time, St. Nicholas the Pleasant passed by the cart. When the peasant asked for help, he immediately put his shoulder up, got all smeared, but helped to pull the cart out and went on his way.
When the saints came to God, he asked Nicholas: “Why are you late and covered with mud?” Nikolai told what happened to him on the road. God asked Kasyan why he did not help the peasant? He replied: “I was in a hurry to meet you. How could I come in dirty clothes? “Since you didn’t help the peasant, Kasyan, they will praise you only once every four years. And Nicholas the Pleasant, an ambulance to the rescue, will be celebrated twice every year, ”the Lord answered.
Since then, the day of St. Kasyan is celebrated only on February 29, and at St. Nicholas the Pleasant is celebrated every year in spring and winter.
Saint Nicholas: history
Saint Nicholas was born in the second half of the 3rd century in the city of Patara into the family of the pious Theophan and Nonna. The mother was very ill, but with the birth of her son, who himself stood in the font during baptism for some time unsupported by anyone, she received healing.
As the rector of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, Metropolitan of Vyshgorod and Chernobyl Bishop Pavel told Vesti, the life of this saint is amazing from the day he was born, the site reports. From childhood, he led, one might say, an ascetic life, like for a child. He was not interested in entertainment, empty talk or games with peers. He studied spiritual literature, spent time in fasting and prayer. Seeing such virtues, his uncle, who was Bishop of Patara, took him on as a reader, and after a little while elevated him to the rank of priest.
There is a known case when Nicholas set off on a journey to Palestine by ship and, seeing the approach of a storm, stopped it with his prayer. He resurrected a sailor who fell from the mast and crashed. And upon arrival in Palestine, having settled not far from Jerusalem, he wanted to pray at night in the temple. Arriving, he saw a lock on the doors, but suddenly the doors opened of their own accord, letting him into the temple.
Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker: Prayer
Prayer to Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker
O all-holy Nicholas, the servant of the most beautiful Lord, our warm intercessor, and everywhere in sorrow a quick helper! Help me, a sinner and a dull one, in this present life, beg the Lord God to grant me the remission of all my sins, having sinned from my youth, in all my life, deed, word, thought and all my feelings; and at the end of my soul, help me, the damned one, implore the Lord God, all creatures of the Creator, to deliver me from air ordeals and eternal torment, may I always glorify the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and your merciful intercession, now and ever and forever and ever. Amen.
Prayer to Nicholas the Wonderworker, changing fate
Chosen Miracle Worker and a fair servant of Christ, Father Nicholas! Exuding the world with many-valued mercy of the world and an inexhaustible sea of \u200b\u200bmiracles, you set up spiritual fortresses, and I praise you with love, blessed Saint Nicholas: you, as if having boldness to the Lord, free me from all troubles, but I call you: Rejoice, Nicholas, great Wonderworker, rejoice , Nicholas, great Wonderworker, rejoice, Nicholas, great Wonderworker!
An angel in the image, an earthly being by nature, reveal all the creatures of the Creator; having seen the fruitful kindness of your soul, most blessed Nicholas, teach everyone to cry out to you:
Rejoice, born in the robes of angels, as if pure in the flesh; Rejoice, and baptized with water and fire, as if holy in the flesh. Rejoice, surprising you with the birth of your parents; Rejoice, revealing the strength of the soul Abie at Christmas. Rejoice, garden of the land of promise; Rejoice, flower of the Divine planting. Rejoice, virtuous vine of Christ's grapes; Rejoice, miraculous tree of the paradise of Jesus. Rejoice, krine of heavenly probation; Rejoice, peace of Christ's fragrance. Rejoice, for you will drive away sobbing; Rejoice, for you bring joy. Rejoice, Nicholas, great Wonderworker, rejoice, Nicholas, great Wonderworker, rejoice, Nicholas, great Wonderworker!
Rejoice, in the form of lambs and shepherds; Rejoice, holy purifier of morals. Rejoice, receptacle of great virtues; Rejoice, holy and pure dwelling! Rejoice, all-bright and all-loving lamp; Rejoice, golden and immaculate light! Rejoice, worthy interlocutor of Angels; Rejoice, good teacher of men! Rejoice, rule of pious faith; Rejoice, the image of spiritual meekness! Rejoice, for by you we are getting rid of bodily passions; Rejoice, for we are filled with spiritual sweetness by you! Rejoice, Nicholas, great Wonderworker, rejoice, Nicholas, great Wonderworker, rejoice, Nicholas, great Wonderworker!
Rejoice, deliverance from sorrow; rejoice, almsgiving of grace. Rejoice, banisher of unforeseen evils; Rejoice, desired planter of the good. Rejoice, speedy comforter of those in distress; Rejoice, terrible punisher of offenders. Rejoice, abyss of miracles poured out by God; Rejoice, tablet of the law of Christ written by God. Rejoice, strong giving erection; Rejoice, right standing affirmation. Rejoice, for by you all flattery is exposed; rejoice, for through you all truth comes true. Rejoice, Nicholas, great Wonderworker, rejoice, Nicholas, great Wonderworker, rejoice, Nicholas, great Wonderworker!
Rejoice, source of all healings; Rejoice, fierce helper of the suffering! Rejoice, dawn, shining in the night of sinful wanderers; Rejoice, dew that is not flowing in the heat of labor! Rejoice, hearth to those who require well-being; Rejoice, prepare abundance for those who ask! Rejoice, anticipate petition many times; Rejoice, renew the strength of old gray hairs! Rejoice, detractor of many delusions from the path of the true; Rejoice, faithful servant of the mysteries of God. Rejoice, for by you we trample envy; rejoice, for we are correcting a good life with you. Rejoice, Nicholas, great Wonderworker, rejoice, Nicholas, great Wonderworker, rejoice, Nicholas, great Wonderworker!
Rejoice, you were taken away from eternal squalor; Rejoice, granting imperishable wealth! Rejoice, indestructible to those who hunger for truth; Rejoice, inexhaustible drink for those who thirst for life! Rejoice, observe from rebellion and strife; Rejoice, release from bonds and captivity! Rejoice, more glorious intercessor in troubles; Rejoice, great protector in adversity! Rejoice, Nicholas, great Wonderworker, rejoice, Nicholas, great Wonderworker, rejoice, Nicholas, great Wonderworker!
Rejoice, illumination of the Three-sunlight; Rejoice, morning day of the never-setting sun! Rejoice, candle, kindled by the Divine flame; Rejoice, for thou hast quenched the demonic flame of wickedness! Rejoice, lightning, burning heresy; Rejoice, thunder, frightening seducer! Rejoice, true teacher of the mind; Rejoice, mysterious revealer of the mind! Rejoice, for you trampled on the worship of the creature; Rejoice, for through you we will learn to worship the Creator in the Trinity! Rejoice, Nicholas, great Wonderworker, rejoice, Nicholas, great Wonderworker, rejoice, Nicholas, great Wonderworker!
Rejoice, mirror of all virtues; Rejoice, strong visor of all those flowing to you! Rejoice, according to God and the Mother of God, all our hope; Rejoice, health of our bodies and salvation of our souls! Rejoice, for by you we are freed from eternal death; Rejoice, for through you we are worthy of endless life! Rejoice, Nicholas, great Wonderworker, rejoice, Nicholas, great Wonderworker, rejoice, Nicholas, great Wonderworker!
Oh, bright and wonderful Father Nicholas, the consolation of all those who mourn, accept our present offering, and beg the Lord to deliver us from Gehenna, with your God-pleasing intercession, let us sing with you: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Chosen Miracle Worker and a fair servant of Christ, Father Nicholas! Exuding to the whole world the many-valued mercy of the world and the inexhaustible miracles of the sea, you set up spiritual fortresses, and I praise you with love, blessed Saint Nicholas: you, as if having boldness towards the Lord, free me from all troubles, but I call you: Rejoice, Nicholas, the great Wonderworker, Rejoice, Nicholas, great Wonderworker, rejoice, Nicholas, great Wonderworker!
St. Nicholas Day: what to do and what not to do
It is believed that on St. Nicholas Day nothing can be done for yourself - only for those who need your help. If on this day you do not take care of the poor or orphans, then you will suffer losses for seven years.
There is no post on this day. However, it was on Nikola Summer, or Spring (May 22), that the Orthodox organized religious processions - they went to the fields with icons and banners, performed prayers at the wells (asked for rain).
Saint Nicholas Day: when to give gifts
According to tradition, it is customary to give gifts on the “winter” Nicholas, that is, on December 19th. In the spring, on May 22, you can congratulate in words or send a postcard to a dear person.
St. Nicholas: congratulations and postcards
Saint Nicholas: Pictures: playcast.ru
Happy Saint Nicholas Day
From the bottom of my heart I congratulate you!
I want to wish good
Peace, happiness and warmth!
Nikolai let him bring
Lots of fun stuff!
Let health not fail
And luck is on the way!
On Saint Nicholas Day
With all my heart I wish:
under the protection of the saint
Be everywhere, always.
So that your dreams, deeds
Light up the skies.
And any distance
Let them melt like dew.
Let the saint perform a miracle
What is your dream called.
Let joy fill life -
Sadness with sadness will bypass.
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St. Nicholas Day is a sacred holiday, a day when you should forget about all the failures and troubles and remember the simple idea that miracles happen everywhere and all the time. Be happy, happy holidays!
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On Saint Nicholas Day
I wish you well
Lots of joy and love.
Be always happy you!
May he work wonders
May it always be near.
You pray today
And all life will get better!
St. Nicholas Day: divination
Divination for St. Nicholas is very popular - but alas, ah: guessing (as well as giving gifts) is customary in winter, December 19th. For example, divination on the narrowed shoe.
Young girls went out into the yard in the evening, took off the shoe from their left foot and threw it out of the gate with force. The further the shoe flew away from home, the further the girl had to leave after the wedding. Where the toe of the shoe points, from there the groom will come to woo. If the toe of the shoe pointed to the girl's house, then this year she should not have waited for the wedding.
Divination for a wedding suitable for three girlfriends. The girl had to take the bulb and put it in water or bury it in the ground (the bulbs had to be marked first). Whose bulb sprouts on the day of Nicholas, that girl will marry first.
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Nicholas the Wonderworker, or Nicholas the Pleasant, or Saint Nicholas (c. 270, Lycia - c. 345) - canonized as saints in the Christian, Catholic and ancient Eastern churches, whose doctrine is based on the texts of Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition. The patron saint of merchants, sailors and children during his lifetime of 40 years was the archbishop of the Lycian city of Mira (Byzantium).
The life path of Nicholas of Myra is very similar to the path of Nicholas of Sinai (Pinarsky). Both were born in Lycia, became archbishops, canonized as saints and are revered as miracle workers. Entangled in coincidences, the ancient chroniclers sometimes combined the deeds of these saints. Therefore, for several centuries there was a misconception about the existence of only one St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in church history.
biography
In accordance with his life, St. Nicholas was born in the 3rd century on the territory of modern Turkey in the Greek colony of Patara. At that time, the cultural and external appearance of this region was influenced by Hellenistic traditions, and Lycia was part of the Roman Empire. In early childhood, Nicholas showed interest in religion and the young man decided to devote his whole life to serving Christ. It is generally accepted that his parents were very wealthy Christians and provided him with a good primary education in Patara (province of Lycia). Confusing him with Nicholas of Pinar, many ancient biographers mistakenly believed that the mother of Nicholas of Myra was Nonna, and his father was Theophanes (Epiphanius).
From childhood, Nicholas was easily given the study of the Divine Scriptures. He spent all his free time in the temple, and at night he read sacred books and prayed, creating from his body a worthy dwelling for the Holy Spirit. His uncle Bishop Nicholas of Patara, seeing such zeal, appointed him a reader, and later elevated him to the priesthood, entrusted Nicholas to preach sermons and instruct the flock.
After the death of his parents, Saint Nicholas inherited a considerable fortune, which he gave away entirely for charitable needs.
The beginning of the service of St. Nicholas as a priest fell on the time when the emperors Diocletian (284-305) and Maximian (286-305) ruled in the Roman Empire. Diocletian in 303 signed an edict authorizing the systematic persecution of Christians throughout the empire. The cruel rulers abdicated on May 1, 305, and their successor in the western part of the empire, Constantine Chlorus (305-306), abolished the persecution of believers in Christ and forbade the pogroms of Christian homes. In the east of the Roman Empire, from 305, Galerius (305-311) ruled, who continued the persecution of Christians and issued an edict on religious tolerance just before his death in 311. 8 years (303-311) of legalized systematic persecution of Christians are considered the longest in the history of the Roman state.
The co-ruler of Galerius - Licinius (307-324) - after his death, treated the representatives of the Christian religion quite tolerantly. As a result, Christian communities began to actively develop. It was during this period in Mir (the modern name of the city in the Turkish province of Antalya - Demre) that St. Nicholas was a bishop.
Contemporaries attribute to him the destruction of some temples of pagan gods, including the temple of Artemis (Diana in Roman mythology). There is an ancient legend, which is confirmed by the Greek Damascene Studite, Metropolitan of Nafpaktos, that during the Ecumenical Council (325) Nicholas slapped his opponent Arius. According to the teaching John Chrysostom: “If you hear that someone blasphemes the master of Christ, come and forbid. If you have to beat him, do not turn away ... Let the unbridled depraved ... heretics know that it is fitting for them to fear the servants of God., “and if you need to hit him, do not refuse, hit him in the face, crush your mouth, sanctify your hand with a blow”.
Probably, thanks to this incident, Saint Nicholas became popular as an intercessor for the slandered, who often came to their aid and delivered them from unjust imprisonment. In addition, he prayed for travelers, especially sailors.
Acts and miracles
It is to Saint Nicholas that navigators most often turn for help and protection at the hour of a shipwreck or a strong storm. His biography says that in his youth he studied in Alexandria. On one of his ship journeys from Myra to Alexandria, he resurrected a sailor who had fallen to his death after falling off the ship's rigging during a storm. In another episode from the biography of the saint, it is said about the rescue of a sailor during the return trip from Alexandria to Myra, with whom Nicholas came to church after his arrival.
Among Catholics, the legend of the disinterested help of St. Nicholas to three young girls is very popular. The father of three beautiful sisters was very poor and could not provide them with a decent dowry. So he decided to profit from their beauty. Having heard about this, Nikolai was imbued with the fate of the unfortunate and decided to help them. Not wanting to humiliate them and knowing that they were unlikely to accept help from a stranger, he modestly, hiding from prying eyes, made his way into the home of the beauties and left a small purse with money for his eldest daughter. A year later, when the middle daughter grew up, Nikolai decided to help her arrange his fate. Some versions of the story speak of the next day. The girls' father guessed that someone was helping his family and decided to thank the kind person. He hid in the room of his youngest daughter, and after waiting for the night of the visit, he saw the pious Nicholas. There are two options for the further development of the plot. First, Nikolai was caught, but refused to accept gratitude, motivating his act by the fact that the father of his daughters should only thank God. The second - the saint found out in advance about the poor man's insidious plan, so he threw his donation through the chimney. The purse with money fell right into the sock of the youngest daughter, which was drying near the fire. This church legend became the basis for creating the image of the good Santa Claus among the people, flying in through the chimney and leaving gifts in socks by the fireplace.
Saint Nicholas also became famous for his ability to fairly and honestly try on the warring parties, to defend the rights of the innocently condemned and to save from a needless death.
Transfer of relics
The Turks, barbarously devastating the territory of Byzantium in the 11th century, did not stop at nothing, desecrating and destroying national shrines and national property: temples, icons, relics of saints, books. The Turks even tried to scatter around the world the remains of Nicholas the Wonderworker, most revered by all Christians.
According to an old legend, in 792, the Arab caliph Harun Ar-Rashid, who after his father continued to fight against Byzantium, ordered the head of his fleet, Humeid, to completely plunder the island of Rhodes. Having successfully coped with the order of his master, he hurried to the Lycian Worlds in order to destroy and rob the sarcophagus with the relics of St. Nicholas. But as it turned out later, the destruction befell another coffin, standing next to it. The barbarians did not have time to recover from their deed, as a strong storm at sea defeated almost the entire flotilla of blasphemers.
Neither Eastern nor Western Christians, and in particular the Italians, could not come to terms with such antics of the Muslim Turks: they were very worried about the fate of the relics of the saint. Therefore, in 1087 merchants and merchants from Venice and Bari decided to visit Antioch with the aim of returning home to Italy to take the relics of St. Nicholas with them.
According to a previously developed plan, two baryans were sent to the city to reconnoiter the situation. Returning, they reported that everything was calm, and in the church where the relics of the saint were buried, there were several monks. 47 armed foreigners immediately followed the temple. The monks guarding the tomb, without any suspicion, even indicated its location. Moreover, out of naivety and trust, one of the monks himself told strangers about his night vision: allegedly, St. Nicholas himself asked for more careful and attentive attitude to the storage of relics. What the monk told inspired the Italians even more, as they saw in this a certain sign. To justify their act, the foreigners honestly confessed their secret plans, offering the monks a large ransom - 300 gold coins.
But the monks not only flatly refused, but also decided to tell all the inhabitants of the city about it. They failed to do this, because the Italians tied them up and put more guards on them.
The foreign baryans destroyed the platform and discovered a tomb under it, which was completely filled with holy myrrh, after which Lupp and Drogo, the presbyters, as well as all those present, took part in the sacred rite of lithium. Further, the young man, who called himself Matthew, began to get relics from the tomb. All this happened on April 20, 1087.
Presbyter Drogo, together with the baryans, dressed in clothes of relics, carefully carried them on board the ship. Freed from the captivity of foreigners, the monks hurried to notify the townspeople that the Italians had stolen the relics. The inhabitants of Antioch, all as one, poured out onto the seashore, but alas, they could no longer return the shrine.
The ships that sailed to the city of Bari on May 8 brought good news, which all the townspeople instantly learned about. The next morning, the relics of the saint were brought with all honors to the church of St. Stephen. The whole ceremony was accompanied by healing the sick and helping the unfortunate. The laity was even more in awe of the personality of the great God-pleaser. A few years later, a church was built in Bari in honor of St. Nicholas, which was later consecrated by Pope Urban II.
Today, the relics rest in Bari in the Basilica of St. Nicholas. There is also an Orthodox church. But still, part of the relics remained in Turkey and is stored in the church of St. Nicholas.
The baryans managed to take more than half of the relics, and only small particles remained in the grave. Venetian sailors during the First Crusade collected the fragments and brought them to Venice. Some time later, the church of St. Nicholas was erected in Venice, who became the patron saint of sailors. As a result of independent research in Bari and Venice, it was proved that the relics belong to the same skeleton.
Establishment of a holiday
Initially, the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas was celebrated only in the city of Bari, in Italy. The countries of the East and West, where Christianity was practiced, did not accept this holiday, despite its fame. The church in Greece also did not consider this day a holiday, since this event was classified as very sad.
At the same time, in Russia, the veneration of St. Nicholas quickly became widespread and widespread. After 1087, the Russian Orthodox Church on May 9 began to celebrate the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas from the World of Lycia to Bari, thanks to the great saint firmly established in the minds of the Russian people. However, Archbishop Philaret of Chernigov did not support this date, considering the year of the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas - 1091, and Metropolitan Macarius of Moscow and Kolomna claimed that the holiday was established by Metropolitan John II of Kyiv (1077-1089). Archpriest Nikolai Pogrebnyak is of the opinion that this holiday was established by the church itself, in particular, St. Ephraim (1089). Scientist D. G. Khrustalev suggests that in Russia this date began to be celebrated in 1092.
Today, the feast of the transfer of relics is actively supported by the Russian and Bulgarian churches. In Serbia, the church holiday Glory of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker is the most revered. Catholics outside the Italian city of Bari do not support the celebration, which cannot be said about the Catholics of Bari itself.
veneration
The church calendar of the Russian Orthodox Church today highlights 3 dates for the celebration. Each of these days has its own hymnography:
The Greek origin is proved precisely only in relation to one of the above-mentioned commemorative hymnographies - the Repose of St. Nicholas. The service at this feast was composed in Byzantium. Other 5 memorable events are revered by the Russian Orthodox Church and, accordingly, Russian songwriters composed hymnographies for them.
Separately, it is necessary to single out a group of holidays that glorify the miraculous icons of the saint, of which there are quite a lot in the church calendar. In addition, it is customary to pay tribute to the memory of Nicholas the Wonderworker weekly on Thursdays, performing special chants in the temple.
The memory of St. Nicholas was included in 1987 in the Cathedral of the Tula Saints, created on the eve of the millennium of the Baptism of Russia and the 200th anniversary of the Tula diocese.
Relics of Saint Nicholas
After his death, the remains of St. Nicholas were buried in the church of the city of Myra (Demre). At the beginning of May 1087, Italian merchants stole the relics of the saint and transported them to the city of Bari, in southeastern Italy. Currently, they are in the crypt of the Basilica of St. Nicholas.
A group of scientists from the UK in 2005 carried out a reconstruction of the saint's face based on an analysis of the structure of the skull. According to their research, Nikolai was a strong man of average height of 1.68 m. His forehead was rather high, his cheekbones were clearly defined, his eyes were brown, and his skin was dark.
In Russia
The veneration of Nicholas the Wonderworker "honoured everywhere" on the territory of the Russian state and the Russian Empire was especially widespread. The number of churches erected in his honor was constantly increasing, and the number of icons dedicated to him was second only to the number of icons of the Most Holy Theotokos. Until the beginning of the 20th century, the name Nikolai was one of the most popular among boys from aristocratic families, merchants and peasants.
Monuments in Russia
In the Slavic tradition
Among the Slavs, Nicholas the Wonderworker has always been especially revered. In Eastern Slavic cultural traditions, in significance and reverence, he approaches God (Christ) himself.
According to popular beliefs, Nicholas is the main among the saints and is part of the holy trinity. In the absence of God, he can even replace him on the throne. In one of the Belarusian legends of Polissya, it is said that "Saint Mikola" is not only the oldest of the saints, but also the main one above all. He is the heir of God, and if God dies, then he will be the main one and no one else. The plot of the legend of the Ukrainian Carpathians speaks of a special veneration of the saint, whom God personally made lord. As if Nikolay prayed so zealously in the church that the crown of pure gold itself fell on his head.
Among the Slavs of the West and East, the image of the saint and his main functions in heaven echoes the image of St. Michael. For example, Nicholas is credited with possession of the keys to the heavenly gates and patronage over warriors. Among the southern Slavs, the image of the saint is similar to the image of the saint, who is famous for the extermination of snakes and was a "wolf shepherd." It was on the day of "Winter Nicholas" that the peasants tossed a piece of iron into the oven, and stuck a knife into the threshold, enchanted by prayer, in order to protect themselves and their cattle from wolves.
In Slavic culture, St. Nikola patronized cattle and wild animals, beekeeping, agriculture and personified the connection with the afterlife. The confrontation between the “terrible” prophet Elijah and the “merciful” Nicholas in folklore, as well as the range of his patronage, testifies to the transfer to his image of some features inherent in the pagan deity Veles.
All believers solemnly celebrate the day of the transfer of the holy relics of Nicholas the Wonderworker to Bar-grad. In 1807, Italian merchants from the city of Bari transported the saint's relics to their hometown. The day of the arrival of the relics in Bar-grad is celebrated in Italy very magnificently. Usually pilgrims from different countries take part in the celebration, since St. Nicholas of Myra is revered throughout the Christian world.
according to the national calendar. Spring Nikola was affectionately called spring, herbal, warm.
From that day on, the average sowing of spring grains began in the northern regions. They said: before Nikola, be strong, at least loosen up, but from Nikola - don’t grieve. Nikola-Veshny feeds the cattle with grass, he is “with a cart”, that is, with food. Do not brag about Yegoriev's sowing day, brag about Nikolin's grass day.
It was necessary to plant potatoes on Nikola-Veshny. And the peasants also believed: ask Nikola, and he will tell the Savior. Because Nikola was known as the protector of the peasants.
This day is the holiday of grooms, as Nikola Veshny is considered the patron saint of horses. “Nikola in the autumn will drive the horse into the yard, and Nikola in the spring will fatten the horse,” the peasants said.
The Day of St. Nicholas of the Spring is considered a men's holiday, since on this day the guys first rode at night and feasted in the meadows, by the light of bonfires. They brought vodka, snacks, fried eggs, and after sunset the girls appeared. The youth, in complete freedom, led round dances, sang songs and danced until dawn.
The adult population, considering Nikola the spring patron horses, ordered prayers with water blessing that day, so that St. Nicholas would save horses from wolves and bears and give health to the herds.
In general, Nikola enjoys great respect among the people for his love for the peasants and is revered as the oldest and closest saint to God.
From Nikolin's day, meadows were "ordered", which was usually done with the help of tree twigs and branches. They stuck into the ground at the borders, which meant that it was forbidden to graze cattle in these meadows.
Signs. God's mercy is great if it rains on Nikolin's day.
Feast of Nicholas the Wonderworker May 22
Church holiday May 22 - St. Nicholas Day, the day of St. Nicholas the Pleasant. The folk calendar reminds us that, according to tradition, two days are celebrated in honor of St. Nicholas: the first - in winter, on December 19 (this day is called the holiday of St. Nicholas of Winter) and in the spring - St. Nicholas of Spring, May 22.
Nicholas the Wonderworker is a great saint. He is known and revered not only in Russia, but also in Western Europe. There is an opinion that Nicholas the Wonderworker is the most revered saint in Russia. Not by chance The Russian Orthodox Church honors the memory of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker every Thursday.
Feast of Nicholas the Wonderworker in May
Nikolai Ugodnik (Wonderworker) famous for his great mercy. He forgave even those people who committed a terrible sin. The main thing is that a person deeply repents of a perfect deed. St. Nicholas did not accidentally receive the name of the Wonderworker. The thing is that he became famous as a miracle worker. What miracles did he perform? Saint Nicholas gave prayers and miraculous healings from the most terrible diseases took place through his prayers. Orthodox, who are well acquainted with the history of the life of Nicholas the Wonderworker, claim that he was able to revive the dead.
May 22, the feast of St. Nicholas
As various scriptures say, Nikolai Ugodnik was able to pacify a storm at sea. And the sailors who read the prayers of Nikolai Ugodnik were saved from a shipwreck. And even when Saint Nicholas died, prayers to him were addressed to those who prayed for miracles.
Here are the brightest epithets that the Orthodox in Russia use when speaking of Nikolai Ugodnik: a quick and merciful helper to the afflicted, an unmercenary and a benefactor. Nicholas the Pleasant not only forgave everyone, thereby showing his boundless mercy, but also stood up for the offended and oppressed, rebelled against injustice.
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May 22 Nikolin day, signs
If it rains today, it's good luck. There is such a sign in the folk calendar associated with St. Nicholas Day. It often comes true. It is believed that Nikolin's day on May 22 is, although it is also a calendar spring, but a symbol of the onset of summer.
On Nikolin's Day May 22 It is customary to cook special food: bake pancakes and cook duck soup. Be sure to leave a piece of pancake and throw it out the window to the birds. Birds should peck crumbs, then luck will definitely come to you.
If on Nikolin's day May 22 If it rains, the summer in the city will be warm. 
All believers know that if a black streak has come in life, then you need to pray to St. Nicholas. He will not leave you in trouble, will help solve all problems, regardless of what they are connected with - health, money, love or relationships. Pray today to this good saint who works real miracles!
Also, according to tradition, in the evening you can make your most secret wish - voice it, looking at the starry sky and ask Nikolai for help in fulfilling it!
Another tradition on this day is to ask Nikolai for an early marriage / marriage, to grant a meeting with his soulmate.
To increase prosperity, on the day of St. Nicholas, you need to bring a candle home from the church, take out the wick, set it on fire from both sides, quickly pronounce spell words and put out the wick: “The fire is eternal, and my spirit is marked with gold, silver and all kinds of good. Amen". The wick must be put in a wallet or where you keep money.
Nicholas the Wonderworker is also the patron saint of children. Therefore, on his holiday it is undesirable to refuse anything (of course, within reasonable limits) to children. It is very good to give each child a sweet gift from Nikolai and praise for obedience.
Read more about St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and prayers to him in the article.
Prayers to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker: for marriage, for travelers, for help, I have collected
With the help of this prayer to Nicholas the Wonderworker and faith in the miracle that she does, a person can be healed of an incurable disease, avoid troubles, dramatically change his fate for the better, feel a surge of new strength, energy and vigor. If you're ready for it then
Saint Nicholas (Nicholas the Pleasant; Nicholas the Wonderworker; c. 270 - c. 345) - Christian saint, archbishop of Mir Lycian (Byzantium). Saint Nicholas is revered as a miracle worker, is considered the patron saint of travelers, sailors, merchants and children.
Saint Nicholas, Archbishop of the World of Lycia, a miracle worker, became famous as a great saint of God. He was born into a wealthy aristocratic family 250 years after the birth of Jesus Christ on the outskirts of the Byzantine Empire, in the seaside city of Patara in Lycia (today it is the territory of Turkey). His parents, Feofan and Nonna, were pious, noble and rich people. Then his family moved to the port city of Mira. Here the Saint spent his whole life.
From birth, he surprised his pious parents: at baptism, he stood in the font for 3 hours, thereby paying honor to the Most Holy Trinity; On Wednesdays and Fridays, he refused mother's milk for the sake of fasting days. Growing up, he aspired more and more to God, spending a long time in prayer.
After the death of his parents, Nicholas received a large inheritance and began to distribute it to the poor. But he helped people secretly, so that they would not know who gave them, and would not thank him.
From childhood, Nicholas excelled in the study of Divine Scripture. During the day he did not leave the church, but at night he prayed and read books. In matters of faith, he was like an old man. Such service to God could not go unnoticed. After the death of the archbishop of the Church of Myra, John, the question arose: who would take his place? And one of the bishops saw in a dream that a young man should be chosen as bishop, who would be the first to enter the church in the morning - his name should be Nikolai. At dawn, the first to open the doors of the temple was the Blessed Nicholas, who later became known as the Miracle Worker of Mirliki.
Making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, Nicholas the Wonderworker, at the request of desperate travelers, calmed the raging sea with a prayer. Holding the sword of the executioner, Saint Nicholas saved from death three husbands who had been innocently condemned by the greedy mayor.
Christians believe that even today he performs many miracles to help people who pray to him.
Not only believers turned to him, but also pagans, and the saint responded with his unfailing miraculous help to all who sought it. In those saved by him from bodily troubles, he aroused repentance for sins and a desire to improve their lives.
During his earthly life, he did so many good deeds for the glory of God that they cannot be listed, but among them there is one that belongs to the number of virtues and to that which served as the basis for their performance, which moved the saint to a feat - his faith, amazing, strong, zealous.
Saint Nicholas died in the middle of the 4th century at a ripe old age. According to church tradition, the relics of the saint were preserved incorruptible and exuded a wonderful myrrh, from which many people were healed. In 1087, the relics of St. Nicholas were transferred to the Italian city of Bar (Bari), where they are to this day, in the crypt of the Basilica of St. Nicholas. Part of the relics of St. Nicholas is kept in Venice (Lido Island) and in the archaeological museum of the city of Antalya.
The folk calendar distinguishes two days dedicated to Nikolai Ugodnik: winter Nikola - December 19, and spring (summer) Nikola - May 22.
Nicholas the Wonderworker is revered by both the Western Church and the Orthodox world. But it is in Russia that even people far from the church know Nikolai Ugodnik as the most revered saint by the Russian people. In addition to the special holidays dedicated to him, the Church celebrates the memory of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker every Thursday. St. Nicholas is often commemorated at divine services and on other days of the week.
Saint Nicholas showed mercy even to a person who committed a terrible sin, if he deeply and sincerely obeyed. So, he forgave the ruler of the city, who condemned the innocent for a bribe, and did not complain about him to the emperor. And he could be unexpectedly harsh: at the Ecumenical Council in Nicaea (325), indignant at the stubbornness of the heretic Arius, he hit him on the cheek, for which the assembled bishops decided to deprive Saint Nicholas of the hierarchal (episcopal) dignity. According to legend, he was even imprisoned. But the sign that the bishops received in a dream convinced them to return the saint's freedom. The meaning of his act for believers is by no means in permissiveness, but in active rejection of any untruth: the sharpness of the saint was caused by the same feeling that once prompted him to snatch the sword from the hands of the executioner.
Saint Nicholas is also glorified as a miracle worker: through his prayers, miraculous healings and even resurrections from the dead took place, storms at sea subsided, and the wind carried the ship to where the saint needed. The Church also knows many cases when prayers of believers to St. Nicholas turned into miracles even after his death.
A quick and merciful helper to the afflicted, unmercenary and philanthropist, sensitively responding to the misfortune and pain of people; a strict pastor-mentor, acutely experiencing any untruth and resolutely rebelling against it - in these features of St. Nicholas, Orthodox see not a contradictory nature, but evidence of the living fullness of his holiness.
Acts and miracles
Rescue of the Sailors (Gentile da Fabriano, c. 1425)
Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of sailors, who is often approached by sailors who are in danger of sinking or shipwreck. In accordance with the biography, as a young man, Nikolai went to study in Alexandria, and in one of his sea voyages from Mira to Alexandria, he resurrected a sailor who fell off an element of ship equipment in a storm and crashed to death. In another story, Nicholas rescued a sailor on his way from Alexandria back to Myra and upon arrival took him to church with him.
Dowry for three maidens (Gentile da Fabriano, c. 1425)
In the Catholic tradition, there is a legend about how St. Nicholas helped three girls whose father, unable to collect a dowry, planned to derive income from their beauty. Upon learning of this, Nikolai decided to help the girls. Being humble (or wanting to spare them the humiliation of accepting help from a stranger), he sneaked into their house and left a dowry purse for their eldest daughter. He did the same for the middle daughter the next year (according to another version, the next day). Realizing that someone undertook to help his daughters, the father decided to thank the benefactor, and for this, waiting for the day of the next visit, he hid in his daughters' room. According to one version, Nikolai was caught, but refused to accept gratitude, stating that the father should only thank God. According to another version, Nicholas found out about the poor man's plan and threw his donation down the chimney, where it ended up in the sock of his youngest daughter, drying over the fire. It was this legend that was reborn into folklore about Santa Claus and a gift in a sock.
Even during his lifetime, St. Nicholas became famous as the appeaser of the warring, the defender of the innocently condemned and the deliverer from vain death.
magnificence
We magnify you, Saint Father Nicholas, and honor your holy memory, for you pray for us Christ our God.
Prayer to Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker
O all-holy Nicholas, the servant of the most beautiful Lord, our warm intercessor, and everywhere in sorrow a quick helper! Help me, a sinner and a dull one, in this present life, beg the Lord God to grant me the remission of all my sins, having sinned from my youth, in all my life, deed, word, thought and all my feelings; and at the end of my soul, help me, the damned one, implore the Lord God, all creatures of the Creator, to deliver me from air ordeals and eternal torment, may I always glorify the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and your merciful intercession, now and ever and forever and ever. Amen.
Monument in Yeysk
Memorial in Tolyatti
Tomb of Nicholas the Wonderworker in Bari
Basilica of Saint Nicholas (Bari)
The festivities of the Venetians on the day of the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas. Guido Reni (1575-1642), Louvre
The current state of the Church of St. Nicholas in Demre
Empty sarcophagus of St. Nicholas in Demre
Tomb of Saint Nicholas
Interior view of the Church of St. Nicholas in Demre
Nikola. Wooden sculpture from the vault of the Vologda Museum
Nikola Mozhaisky (relief of the late 17th - early 18th centuries, Andrei Rublev Museum of Old Russian Art
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