The Life of
St. Nicholas the Wonderworker
<>
Our
Holy Father-Among-the-Saints, Nicholas the Wonderworker, Archbishop of
Myra in
Lycea is famed for being a great saint pleasing to God. He was born in
the city
of Patara on the southern coast of the Asia Minor peninsula and was the
only
son of pious parents named Theophanes and Nonna. They had given a vow
to
dedicate him to God. Nicholas was the answer to his childless parents’
prayers
and from the very day of his birth revealed that he would be revered in
the
future as a Wonderworker: His mother, Nonna, was immediately healed
from an
illness with which she had been afflicted after giving birth to him.
While
still in the baptismal font the newborn infant stood on his feet three
times
without support from anyone indicating his honor for the All Holy
Trinity. From
infancy he lived a life of fasting. It is reputed that on Wednesdays
and
Fridays he accepted milk from his mother once daily only after his
parents had
prayed their evening prayers.>
<>
From
the time of his childhood Nicholas thrived on the study of Divine
Scripture. By
day he would not leave the church, and by night he prayed and studied.
His
uncle, Bishop Nicholas of Patara, rejoiced at the spiritual
achievements and
intense piety of his nephew. He tonsured him a reader, and then
ordained him a
presbyter, making him his assistant and entrusting him to preach to the
flock.
When serving the Lord, Fr. Nicholas was fervent in spirit and
proficient beyond
his years when answering questions about the faith.
This inspired wonder and profound respect among the faithful.
Fr. Nicholas labored constantly, was full of
vitality, unceasing in prayer, and displayed true tenderheartedness
towards his
flock and to the afflicted who came to him for help.
He distributed all his worldly inheritance to the poor. Having learned about the bitter need and
poverty of a certain formerly rich inhabitant of his city, Fr. Nicholas
saved
him from sinning greatly. The
despairing father considered giving his three grown daughters over to a
life of
prostitution so as to save them from hunger.
The saint, grieving that the man would perish a sinner, secretly
tossed
three sacks of gold through the window to him during the night. In this way he saved the family from falling
into spiritual destruction. When
practicing charity, St. Nicholas always strove to do it secretly
concealing his
good deeds. >
<>
When
the bishop of Patara set off on
pilgrimage to the holy places in Jerusalem, he entrusted the guidance
of the
flock to Fr. Nicholas. He fulfilled his
duties carefully and lovingly. When the
bishop returned, Nicholas asked his blessing to also make a pilgrimage
to the
Holy Land. Along the way the saint
predicted the onset of a storm threatening the ship with a deluge
because he
discerned a demonic presence on board.
When the despairing pilgrims entreated him to intercede, he
calmed the
waves of the sea by praying. A sailor
who had fallen from the mast and was mortally injured was also restored
to
health through Nicholas’ prayers.
Having reached the ancient city of Jerusalem
and arriving at Golgotha, St. Nicholas offered thanksgiving to the
Savior of
all and visited all the holy places, praying and prostrating at each. Having visited the holy places connected
with the earthly service of the Son of God, St. Nicholas decided to
withdraw
into the wilderness. He was stopped by
a voice of divine origin urging him to return to his native country. Upon returning to Lycea and yearning for a
life of seclusion, the saint entered into the brotherhood of a
monastery named
Holy Zion. But the Lord again announced
another course awaiting him: “Nicholas, this is not the field, on which
you
ought to await My harvest. Rather turn around and go into the world. There My Name shall be glorified in you.” In
the vision the Lord gave him a Gospel Book of exquisite workmanship and
the
Most Holy Birthgiver-of-God, her veil in the shape of an omophorion.>
Upon the death of the
archbishop, Nicholas
was chosen his successor as archbishop of Myra in Lycea.
This was done after one of the bishops of
the synod said that choosing Nicholas was inspired by a divine vision.
Summoned to the flock of Christ as an
archbishop, St. Nicholas remained a great ascetic, appearing to his
flock as an
image of gentleness, kindness and love.
This was invaluable for the Church of Lycea during the time of
persecution of Christians under the emperor Diocletian (284-305). Archbishop Nicholas, locked up in prison
together with other Christians, sustained them and exhorted them to
bravely
endure the imprisonment, punishment and torture. The
Lord preserved him unharmed.
When the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine succeeded
Diocletian,
Archbishop Nicholas was restored to his flock which joyfully received
back
their guide and intercessor.
<>
Notwithstanding his great gentleness of
spirit and purity of heart, St. Nicholas was a zealous and ardent
warrior for
the Church of Christ. Fighting evil spirits, the saint went around to
pagan
temples and shrines in and around the city of Myra, shattering the
idols and
reducing the temples to dust.
In 325 A.D.
St. Nicholas participated in the First Ecumenical Council held
in
Nicea. This Council proclaimed the
Symbol of Faith. He was a champion of
the faith along with SS. Sylvester of
Rome, Alexander and Athanasios of Alexandria, Spyridon of Trimiphuntum
and the
other the 318 fathers of the Nicean Council against the heretic Arius.>
<>In the heat of the council
deliberations and
fired up with zeal for the Lord, St. Nicholas boxed the ears of the
false-teacher Arius when he could no longer endure his heretical
ravings. Because of this he divested
himself of his
bishop’s omophorion and was put under guard.
But several of the holy fathers shared a vision revealing that
the Lord
Himself and the Mother of God had made the saint a bishop when they
bestowed
upon him the Gospel book and omophorion.
The Fathers of the Council concluded that the boldness of the
saint was
pleasing to God, gave glory to the Lord and restored him to his
episcopal
dignity.
Having returned to his own eparchy, the
saint brought it peace and blessings, sowing the word of Truth,
opposing
defective and spurious claims of wisdom, uprooting heresy and healing
the
fallen and those led astray through ignorance.
He was indeed a light in the world and the salt of the earth. His life shined forth with Divine Light and
his word was mixed with the salt of Divine Wisdom.>
<> Even
during his life the saint worked many
miracles. The one accorded the greatest
fame was when he delivered three men unjustly condemned by a greedy
city-commander from death. The saint
boldly went up to the executioner and took hold of the sword which was
already
suspended over the heads of the condemned.
The city-commander, denounced by St. Nicholas in wrong-doing,
repented
and begged for forgiveness.
Three military officers dispatched by
Emperor Constantine to Phrygia were present.
They did not suspect that they soon would also be compelled to
seek the
intercession of St. Nicholas. It so
happened that they had been vilely slandered before the emperor and had
come
under a sentence of death. Appearing in
sleep to the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine, St. Nicholas
called on him
to dismiss the wrongful death-sentence of the military officers who,
now in
prison, prayerfully called out for help to the saint.
He worked many other miracles and practiced asceticism for many
long years. >
<> Another
time the city of Myra was rescued
from a terrible famine through the prayers of the saint.
He appeared in a dream to an Italian
merchant and requested him to sail to Myra and furnish grain there. As a pledge of payment he left three gold
money-pieces. Upon awakening the
merchant found the coins in his hand.
More than once the saint saved those drowning in the sea and
released
many from unjust captivity and imprisonment.
The Wonderworker Nicholas is venerated as a
protector of all those journeying on dry land and sea.
Sailors sometimes were called “Nicholas
soaked” by the people. Kiev preserves
the memory about the miraculous rescue of a drowning infant by the
saint. Hearing the grief-filled prayers of
the
parents in the loss of their only child, the great Wonderworker
snatched up the
infant from the waters at night, revived him and placed him in the
choir-loft
of St. Sophia Church in front of his wonderworking image.
In the morning the infant was found by his
thrilled parents who gave praise and thanksgiving with a multitude of
the
people to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.
>
<> Having
reached old age, St. Nicholas expired
peacefully to the Lord December 6, 345.
His venerable relics were preserved undecayed in the local
cathedral
church and flowed with curative myrrh from which many received healing. In the year 1087 his relics were transferred
to the Italian city of Bari, where they rest even now still exuding the
precious myrrh.
The name of the great saint of God, the
Hierarch and Wonderworker Nicholas, a speedy helper and suppliant for
all
hastening to him, is famed to all the ends of the earth, in many lands
and
among many peoples. In Ukraine there
are a multitude of cathedrals, monasteries and churches consecrated in
his
name.>
<> In the
name of St. Nicholas the
Wonderworker, the first Christian Prince of Rus’-Ukraine, Askol’d
(+882), was
baptized in 866 by Patriarch of Constantinople Photios.
Over the grave of Askol’d, the Holy
Equal-to-the-Apostles Ol’ha erected the first temple of St. Nicholas in
the
Ukrainian Church at Kiev.
Many wonderworking
icons of St. Nicholas appeared in Ukraine and came also from other
lands. There is the ancient byzantine
embordered
image of the saint (XII), brought to Moscow from Novgorod, and the
large icon
written in the XIII Century by a Novgorod master. Two
depictions of the wonderworker are especially distributed in
the Russian Church: St. Nicholas of Zaraisk ‑‑ in full‑length, with
blessing
right hand and with Gospel (this image was brought to Ryazan in 1225 by
the
byzantine princess Eupraxia, future spouse of Ryazan prince Theodore,
and
perishing in 1237 with her husband and infant‑son during the incursion
of
Batu); and St. Nicholas of Mozhaisk ‑‑ also in full stature, with a
sword in
his right hand and a city in his left ‑‑ in memory of the miraculous
rescue,
through the prayers of the saint, of the city of Mozhaisk from an
invasion of
enemies. It is impossible to list all
the graced icons of St. Nicholas. Every
Russian city and every church was blessed by suchlike icons through the
prayers
of the saint.
>