Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker is called the wonderworker. 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 people 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 as Saint Nicholas). Santa Claus gives children gifts for Christmas.

Life of Nicholas the Wonderworker

Nikolai Ugodnik 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 his life says, from childhood the saint completely devoted himself to the faith and spent a lot of time in church. Having matured, he became a reader, and then a priest in the church, where his uncle, Bishop Nicholas of Patarsky, served as rector.

After the death of his parents, Nicholas the Wonderworker distributed all his inheritance to the poor and continued his church service. In the years when the attitude of the Roman emperors towards Christians became more tolerant, but persecution nevertheless continued, he ascended the episcopal throne in Myra. 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 went unanswered. With all this, Nicholas was remembered by his contemporaries as an irreconcilable fighter against paganism - he destroyed idols and temples, and a defender of Christianity - he denounced heretics.

During his lifetime the saint became famous for many miracles. He saved the city of Myra from a terrible famine with his fervent prayer to Christ. He prayed and thereby helped drowning sailors on ships, and brought unjustly convicted people out of captivity in prisons.

Nikolai Ugodnik lived to see old age and died around 345-351 - the exact date is unknown.

Relics of St. Nicholas

The relics of Nicholas the Wonderworker have been kept in Venice on the Lido Island since 1099. The “Venetian part” of the saint’s relics is the part that the Barians did not have time to take away in a hurry when they took the main part of the relics from Myra in 1087. Performing Orthodox services at the relics of St. Nicholas on Lido Island has already become a good tradition for Orthodox believers. However, Orthodox believers in Venice and pilgrims come to the Basilica of St. Nicholas throughout the year to perform private prayer.

At first, the saint’s relics rested in the cathedral church of the city of Myra in Lycia, where he served as archbishop. They streamed myrrh, and the myrrh healed believers from various ailments.

In 1087, part of the saint’s relics was transferred to the Italian city of Bari, to the Church of St. Stephen. A year after the rescue of the relics, 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 remaining part of the relics was transported to Venice.

In honor of the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas the Pleasant, a special holiday has been established, which in the Russian Orthodox Church is celebrated on May 22 in the new style.

The history of the transfer of the relics of the Lycian saints

In 1095, Pope Urban II declared the First Crusade against the Saracens, in which Western rulers took part, calling themselves crusaders. Venice did not remain aloof from the Crusade, but took part in it in its own special style. Before setting off on the campaign, Pietro Badoaro, Patriarch of Grado, and Bishop Enrico of Castello, son of the aforementioned Doge Domenico Contarini, bade farewell to the troops and fleet in the temple of San Nicolò. At the same time, the patriarch turned to Saint Nicholas with a prayer so that he would help Christian weapons in the battles against the infidels and would be pleased to bring his relics to Venice.

Under the command of Giovanni Michell, son of Doge Vitale, the Venetians headed towards Jerusalem through Dalmatia and Rhodes, where a skirmish with their enemies, the Pisans, took place, ending in victory for the islanders. When they reached the Lycian shores, Bishop Contarini wished to take the relics of St. Nicholas in order, as the chronicler says, “to increase the patrons of his homeland.” In general, their main goal, judging in part by the words of Patriarch Badoaro, spoken before the departure of the crusaders, was to steal the relics of St. Nicholas, since they were clearly in no hurry to go to Palestine.

Spies were sent from the ships, who reported that the city of Myra was located 6 miles from the seashore and that after the Turkish devastation there were almost no inhabitants left in it. In the basilica itself, due to the depletion of the number of believers, services were held only once a month. The Venetians set up an ambush and waited for the right moment.

When the crusaders entered the temple, they found it empty. The four guards who were there showed a broken reliquary and talked about the theft of the relics by the Barians (1087) - “here is the tomb from where the Barians took part of the relics and left the other part.” However, they could not indicate the location of the remaining part of the guard, just as they knew nothing about the fate of the other part, which, according to them, even earlier Emperor Basil had prepared for transfer to Constantinople.

The Venetians did not believe the Greeks and dismantled the remains of the tomb, where they found only water and “oil” (myrrh?), and then searched the entire church, according to the chronicler, “turning everything upside down.” Simultaneously with the search, they began to torture the guards, until one of them, unable to withstand the torture, asked to be allowed to talk to the bishop. The latter called on the guard to tell him where the relics were hidden, but he only began to beg to spare him from needless torment. Contarini withdrew from helping the unfortunate man, and the soldiers began to torture him again. Then he again cried out to the bishop, who finally put an end to the torment, and the guard, in gratitude, showed him the relics of two other holy bishops of Myra in Lycia - the Hieromartyr Theodore and St. Nicholas "Uncle".

The Venetians loaded the relics into the ship and were about to set sail when some of their comrades, who paused in the temple, said that they smelled a wonderful fragrance in one of the church chapels.

Then one of the guards remembered that on major holidays the bishop did not perform services on the main altar, but went to a nearby room (possibly a confessional) and served there on a portable altar. On the ceiling of the room, in addition, there was a fresco depicting St. Nicholas. It was near that place that the Venetians smelled a surprisingly pleasant aroma that attracted their attention. Thus, first the incense exuding from that place, and then the icon, suggested to the crusaders where they should look for the relics of the saint. Returning to the church and breaking the floor of the altar, they discovered another floor under the earthen layer. Having dismantled this too, they took out the large stones that served as its support, and saw the next layer, which was a petrified mass, the composition resembling bitumen. Inside it, in a copper casket, was part of the holy relics of the wonderworker. A wonderful incense then spread throughout the church.

An inscription in Greek was engraved on the shrine: “here lies the great Bishop Nicholas, famous for his miracles on earth and at sea.”

The crusaders collected all the fragments of the alloy containing the relics and took them to the ship, where they built a special church in honor of St. Nicholas and instructed the priests to pray and glorify St. day and night. Archbishop Myra of Lycia.

The relics of the three saints were taken from Myra in Lycia on May 30, 1100, and brought to Venice on December 6, 1100, the feast day of St. Nicholas. The relics of the three saints rest in the same shrine, but in different wooden containers. Author of the manuscript “Transfer of the Relics of St. Nicholas" talks about the miracles that took place at the relics of the saint, many of which he personally witnessed. The authenticity of the relics and their examination in 1992. In total, since the transfer of the relics to the Lido, examinations have been carried out seven times. The last and most in-depth took place in October-November 1992 with the participation of the cleric of the Church of St. Nicholas Franciscan L. Paludet, who subsequently published an illustrated account of this research. The scientific examination was led by the professor of anatomy of the University of Bari, Luigi Martino, the same one who was invited for a similar examination of the relics of St. Nicholas in Bari, which took place in 1953, during which it was, in particular, established that the relics of the saint are located in the Apulian basilica not entirely.

Relics of St. Nicholas in Venice

Inside the marble sarcophagus there were three wooden containers. The largest of them contained the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. When the coffin was opened, they found another lead covering. Having removed it, the commission members saw many bones of different sizes and colors. In addition, the following were found here: 1) a black stone of round shape with an inscription in Greek: “The relics of St. Humble Nicholas”; 2) the upper part of the skull, which could not be the head of St. Nicholas, since after examining the relics in Bari it was reliably known that the head of the saint was there (later it was established that the head belonged to St. Nicholas “Uncle”); 3) watering vessel with myrrh.

The result of the examination: according to the conclusion of Professor Martino, who conducted a similar examination in Bari, “the white bones located in Venice complement the remains preserved in Bari.” The white-gray color of the remains suggests that they may have for a long time“were exposed to the open air or even the sun, which made them very fragile.” As an example, he cited the fact that part of the relics of St. Nicholas, stored in Bari, after four years that had passed since they were raised from the closed space of the shrine for examination in 1953–1957, also changed its nature: being in dry air, “the bones became more fragile... looking like dry clay, very brittle.”

An extract from the commission’s conclusion reads: “The bones of St. Nicholas, consisting of a large number of white fragments, correspond to parts of the saint’s skeleton that are missing in Bari. Unfortunately, the bones were crushed into small pieces by a Barian sailor during his escape.” The last consideration was introduced at the suggestion of Professor Martino, who, in his personal conclusion, drew attention to the crude method of extracting the relics from the shrine by a Bari sailor, which was also shown by an examination carried out in Bari, where broken parts of the skeleton were found.

Thus, the opinions of experts fully confirm the authenticity of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, preserved in the Church of San Nicolo. According to the Barian scholar, “the Venetian remains, although modest in appearance, are no less important and should not be considered less important than the Barian” (I resti di Venezia “…anche se di umile aspetto, non sono e non debbono essere considerati meno importanti dei resti di Bari").

Turkish archaeologists have made a sensational statement: they believe that the relics of Nicholas the Wonderworker - the most famous Christian saint - never left his burial place in the city of Mira (now Demre), although it is generally accepted that in 1087 they were transferred to the Italian city of Bari . The news came a few months after historical event- bringing the relics of Nicholas the Wonderworker from Italy to Russia, where from May 22 to July 28 more than two million people venerated them.

However, the statement of archaeologists was received ambiguously even by colleagues, not to mention believers. RIA Novosti looked into how this discovery will turn out and what scientists may be mistaken about.

The gaffe of the millennium

“As part of the restoration work that began in the Church of St. Nicholas, scanning was carried out using ground penetrating radar and a tomograph, which is still ongoing. In the part that we call the apse, in an area parallel to the northern and eastern parts, an untouched room was discovered, presumably dating back to the 4th century. The walls of this structure seem very strong. We continue to carry out work. I believe that if we can get inside this room, we will be able to obtain more information about St. Nicholas," the head of the Department of Monument Protection said in an interview with Sputnik-Turkey Administration of Antalya Province Cemil Karabayram.

© Ruptly

The likelihood that the found tomb belongs specifically to St. Nicholas, he emphasizes, is very high. The saint was buried in the church, which was then rebuilt in the 6th century under Emperor Justinian.

“It is very likely that the lower parts of the building were preserved during this construction. If this is so, then during the earthquake of 529 the lower part could have suffered almost no damage. If it had been damaged, then in the photographs we would not have seen such intact walls,” the archaeologist admits .

But the authenticity of the tomb, he said, can be established “only if the found room contains a slab with inscriptions and any artifacts dating back to that period.”

According to the version accepted in Christianity, about 85% of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker are kept in Bari and about 10% in Venice. In the 20th century, two studies were carried out, during which it was confirmed that the relics in Venice and Bari belong to the same person.

In 2017, before sending part of the relics from Bari to Russia, scientists conducted another study of the shrine, confirming that the bone belonged to an Asia Minor Greek who lived in the 4th century AD.

“The bone is mineralized. Despite the fact that it is quite fragile and, unlike the bones of a living person, not so elastic, its strength is generally preserved,” says Professor Franco Introne, who led the study.

However, Turkish scientists doubt the correctness of their colleagues. "They (Italian scientists - editor's note) carried out a DNA test, but did not make its results public. More precise drilling and more precise work were required here. In this case, the important fact is that a room dating back to the 4th century was discovered If no intervention was made there, this indicates that the identity of the remains found in the 11th century has not been proven,” retorts Cemil Karabayram.

At the same time, Turkish archaeologists have no doubt that the remains stored in Italy date back to the 4th century. But don’t they belong to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker? According to Turkish scholars, Bari merchants in the 11th century stole the wrong bones - a truly great oversight. Perhaps the inhabitants of Mira simply misled them.

This version is supported by the story itself about the Venetians who arrived for the relics. Having entered the temple, they searched the saint’s tomb, but found nothing there. Then they began to torture the temple guards and found out that there were relics of two more people there - Uncle Nicholas the Wonderworker and the martyr Fyodor. It was their remains that the Venetians first took, but then, according to the chronicle, they returned and found the relics of St. Nicholas under the temple altar.

"One of a dozen Nikolaev"

It was precisely because of the presence of two more tombs in the temple that the arguments of Turkish scientists were immediately criticized: perhaps they discovered just the grave of the saint’s uncle or the martyr Theodore.

But the historian Alexander Bugaevsky even claims that the saint did not have any uncle. The fact is that St. Nicholas the Wonderworker has a namesake who lived in the same region around the same era. We are talking about Saint Nicholas of Pinar, who was also called the Wonderworker.

“In the description of his life, 17 different Nikolaevs are generally mentioned in one place, at one time (under Emperor Justinian). That is, it was a very common name - like ours Ivan, for example. Of course, there in different time there were different saints. Nikolai could have been among them. It’s all endless confusion,” he notes.

The problem, the historian explains, is that until the 8th century the life of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker existed in small fragments. It was not until around 810 that the Greek Archimandrite Michael collected the fragments into a single text. However, even representatives of the Church drew attention to the fact that it is replete with inconsistencies, including chronological ones. Researchers explain this by the fact that pieces from the life of Nicholas Pinarsky were added to the biography of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.

“That’s why this vinaigrette arose,” explains Bugaevsky.

At the same time, the historian doubts the correctness of Turkish scientists. Firstly, the relics of the saint were not initially buried in the temple, since it was built on the burial site two hundred years after the death of the saint. Secondly, the history of veneration of the tomb of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, as the scientist believes, does not stop until the 12th century.

“The presence of the relics in exactly that place in the temple (which is now worshiped by believers. - Ed.) is undoubtedly. The chronicles describe what a tragedy it was for the laity when the relics were taken away,” says Bugaevsky.

“Or maybe this is one of a dozen other Nikolaevs,” he adds about the tomb now found under the temple.

Lure for pilgrims

Historian Alexander Bugaevsky noted that after the theft of the relics by the Italians, the Greek Church was so offended by them that it still does not have the holiday of transferring the relics of the saint, which is celebrated on May 22 (Nikola Veshny in Russian Orthodox tradition. — Approx. ed.). In addition, the sensational announcement by the Antalya authorities may simply be an attempt to attract tourists.

By the way, they have already poured into the city, which was confirmed by the Antalya administration. And if it turns out that Turkish archaeologists are right, then it could become one of the world's centers of pilgrimage.

“Fortunately, we have all the resources necessary for this. Previously, the number of tourists coming to Demre reached 700 thousand. Now we can again achieve similar figures. The city’s infrastructure will allow us to receive all tourists,” notes the mayor of Demre, Suleiman Topcu.

Perhaps this will be a significant blow to the economy of Italian Bari: more than 70 thousand pilgrims a year come to this city from Russia alone.

However, in Russian Orthodox Church We are confident that the authenticity of the relics in Bari is confirmed by numerous cases of healing.

“Very often, people who have received help from the saint testify to this. I have been regularly performing divine services here for six years, and even during this relatively short period, many people have approached me who have testified to facts of healing from such ailments as, for example, oncology in the final stages,” assures the rector of the Patriarchal Metochion of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in the city of Bari, Archpriest Andrei Boytsov.

Did they stand in Russia in vain?

Already on the first day of my stay in Russia, May 22, there was a line of one and a half kilometers long to see the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. And then many, including church people, began to ask questions about the advisability of waiting in line for many hours. It would seem, why is this necessary, if only in Moscow and the Moscow region there are particles of the saint’s relics in 26 churches.

What if it turns out that the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker never left Turkey? It turns out that they stood in vain?

The Church assures that it is not in vain. The main thing, representatives of the Orthodox clergy emphasize, is that people did something good for the soul - a small pilgrimage. “There may be something good here: people who would never come to the temple or would not do so soon, in this case crossed its threshold. Even if we later discuss how much sincere faith there was there, and so on. But they came, and ", I think this is important in itself. And as for the veneration of saints, you can pray to them in any place, including near the relics," says Archpriest Pavel Khondzinsky.

Of course, for Christianity, he explains, “the historical dimension is important.” But in the case of shrines, the Church does not rely on archaeological data, but “on the manifestation of God’s grace” in the form of numerous miracles. In Orthodoxy, relics are not just a historical artifact, but a “living contact” between a believer and an equally living saint.

“Where his relics are located is probably not the most important thing. The main thing is that they exist and we can pray near them,” the theologian concludes.

Church of St. Nicholas in lower worlds- the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, located in the Turkish province of Antalya, namely in the city of Demre, in ancient times known as the main capital of ancient Lycia-Myra (Myra). In the 4th century, Saint Nicholas was the bishop of the city; Here he was buried in a marble sarcophagus.

In front of the entrance to the temple there is a monument to St. Nicholas - this monument was created by our contemporary - Grigory Pototsky for the 2000th anniversary of the Nativity of Christ.

Saint Nicholas, also known in Rus' as Nikolai the Ugodnik and Nikolai the Wonderworker, is perhaps our most revered Saint. In his honor, starting even before the baptism of Rus' and to this day, many churches have been erected; there is probably not a single city in Russia where there is no St. Nicholas Church. In front of his icons they pray for a prosperous marriage, for travelers, sailors, and for deliverance from slander. It is not for nothing that one third of the icons in Russia are icons of St. Nicholas the Pleasant.

Many in the world do not know where the real homeland of St. Nicholas is. This should not surprise us, because the city where he was born (Patara) completely disappeared from the face of the earth, and the ancient great empire The Lycian world was reduced to the size of a village with a population of several thousand (Demre, Kale). All this happened on the soil of Turkey, which in the name of Allah destroyed ancient Christian churches or, as in the case of Hagia Sophia, covered up ancient frescoes and used the temples as Muslim mosques.

According to legend, St. Nicholas was born in the second half of the 3rd century in the city of Patara in Lycia, but for most of his life he was the bishop of Myra. His life requires enough long description, but now the story is about his temple in Demre.

St. Nicholas died at a ripe old age after a short illness on December 6, 345 or 351 from the Nativity of Christ. He was buried in a small tomb outside Myra. Later, in the 4th century, a chapel was erected on this site.

Later, approximately in the 6th century, on the ruins of the temple of the goddess Artemis, destroyed by an earthquake in the 2nd century AD, a Byzantine church was built, initially with a dome, then replaced with a vault. The temple that opens to our eyes bears traces of repeated reconstructions.

The city of Myra, like all of Lycia, was destroyed as a result of Saracen raids. The ruins of the temple with the tomb of the saint were in disrepair, although they were guarded by monks. Under the Byzantine Emperor Constantine IX and Empress Zoe (11th century), the Church of St. Nicholas was restored and surrounded by walls. The saint’s relics were kept in a sarcophagus with images of seagulls and fish scales, and not for nothing, because he is also the patron saint of sailors!

At the same time, the Seljuk Turks began their attacks on the Greek Empire, including the Second Rome, which at that time was Byzantine Empire, while the shrines of Christians - temples, relics and icons - were desecrated by the Seljuk Turks. According to legend, an attempt was made to desecrate the relics of St. Nicholas, but a terrible storm with thunder and lightning did not allow the Turks to do this.

In 1087, according to church sources, Saint Nicholas appeared in a dream to a priest in the city of Bari and ordered that his relics be transferred from Myra to Bari. The dreamer conveyed the Saint’s desire to his fellow citizens. The merchants equipped three ships and took out the relics of St. Nicholas from Myra in Lycia in an ark. They explained their action by the desire to save the Christian shrine from destruction by the rampaging Muslim Turks. Subsequently, the church was flooded by the waters and mud of the Miros River.

The sarcophagus of St. Nicholas was destroyed, and his remains were stolen and transported to the Italian city of Bari, where first the relics of the Saint were placed in the Church of St. Eustathius (Stephen), and two years later the lower part (crypts) of the new temple was completed and consecrated in the name of St. . Nicholas, built deliberately to store his relics, where they were solemnly transferred by Pope Urban II. This event happened on October 1, 1089, where the relics are kept to this day, although some parts, for example, fragments of the jaws and skull of St. Nicholas, are kept in the Antalya Museum of Archeology.

In 1850, the Russian traveler A.N. Muravyov visited the ruins of the temple and initiated an initiative to raise funds for its restoration (it was planned to subsequently create a new pilgrimage center). As a result, in 1853, the ruins of the church and the adjacent plot of land were purchased on behalf of Princess Anna Galitsina, a French architect was hired to restore the church, but only the chapel was completely restored, since his project did not preserve the historical appearance of the church and the church itself was not reconstructed .

At the beginning of 1858, restoration work began, which caused concern in the Ecumenical Patriarchate (the territory is within its jurisdiction), as well as among the Turkish authorities. At the end of 1874 the Russian Holy Synod the collection of funds for the construction of a monastery here was allowed (the Russian ambassador to Constantinople, Count Ignatiev, de facto transferred the temple to the jurisdiction of the Russian Panteleimon Monastery on Athos); the resulting “Mirlik capital” in the amount of 223,000 rubles in September 1888 was transferred from economic management Synod of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society. Due to the futility of further efforts, on December 7, 1910, the said capital was transferred to the Bargrad Committee for the construction of the Church of St. Nicholas in Bari (Italy).

The entire complex today consists of a domed church in the shape of a cross with an apse and two chapels, two corner rooms and an exoesonarthex. Opposite the western entrance, two columns of the portico can still be seen today. By inside walls, a staircase leads to the upper terrace, behind the terrace, on south side courtyard, there is a burial dating back to 1118.

In front of the entrance to the church there is a courtyard and a double narthex with cross vaults. The walls of the church were decorated with frescoes from the 11th and 12th centuries, fragments of which can still be seen today, and the floor was paved with mosaics with geometric patterns. In the semicircular part of the central nave there was a syntronon with a row of seats for priests, a bishop's pulpit and a lower gallery. The central nave is separated from the side chapels by vaulted galleries. The roof of the church was originally crowned with a dome, which was replaced with a vault during restoration.

The next time the church was found during excavations in 1956, before that it was immersed in the ground. During other excavations carried out in 1989, rooms were found in the northeastern part of the church. Currently, the floor of the church is 7 m below ground level.

There are still mosaics on the floor here and there. These areas are fenced off to prevent it from being erased. Ancient paintings have been preserved in some places on the walls under the ceiling. The altar contains a throne and high place, as well as several columns.

Now in the southern nave of the church, located between two columns behind a destroyed marble partition, there is a damaged sarcophagus in which the saint is believed to have been buried.

Currently, there is a dispute between Turkey and Italy about the return of the relics of St. Nicholas, which in the 19th century were taken from Antalya devastated by the Turks and are still in the Italian city of Baria, back to Demre (former Myra Lycian), since the Turks proclaimed that holy relics are the property of the state.

And now St. Nicholas also helps those who call on him and delivers them from troubles. It is impossible to count his miracles in the same way as it is impossible to describe all of them in detail. This great miracle worker is known to the East and West, and his miracles are known to all ends of the earth.

All information is collected on the Internet.

The relics of Nicholas the Wonderworker were brought to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.

1. Why is this considered a big event?

“There has always been a special attitude towards St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Russia,” explains religious scholar Roman Lunkin, leading researcher at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences. – He is one of the most revered saints.

Initially, Nicholas the Wonderworker was the patron saint of sailors, but in Russia he became the protector of travelers. It is believed that he saves during disasters and helps those who are lost find their way. According to Roman Lunkin, over time, the image of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker became even closer to the people than the image of Christ:

– The lives of the saints were more understandable to the people than the texts of the Bible. Of all the lives, the lives of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker were read most in churches; he was most often depicted on frescoes.

The arrival of the relics is perceived as a great event also because the cult of veneration of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker appeared before Christian church divided into branches - Orthodox and Catholic. Both Orthodox and Catholics are waiting for the saint.

2. They say that the relics of St. Nicholas never left the Italian city of Bari. This is true?

“The relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker did not leave Bari for 930 years,” clarifies priest Andrei Posternak, dean of the history department of the Orthodox St. Tikhon’s Humanitarian University.

At one time, the relics were stolen by Italian sailors from the city of Myra in Lycia, located on the territory of modern Turkey, where St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, at that time the Archbishop of Lycia, lived in the 4th century. Since the kidnappers were in a hurry, they did not take all the relics, but only a part - about 4/5. What was left of the saint’s body was later taken from Myra Lycia by the Venetians and left to be stored on the island of Lido, in the Church of St. Nicholas. The question arises: why, for 930 years, the relics of one of the most revered in Christendom saints never “travelled”?

“When the Barians stole the relics, they treated them very jealously; they never gave or transferred even a particle of the relics to anyone,” says Archpriest Andrei Boytsov, rector of the Patriarchal Metochion of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Bari. “And this is really happening for the first time.” That is why this is a unique event.

Some of the relics were later stolen by the Venetians and are now in a church on the island of Lido. The Venetians, in turn, willingly gave pieces of the relics to other Christians, and they are in other churches, but, according to Andrei Boytsov, there is not always confidence in their authenticity. And in this case, “we have one hundred percent confidence that these are the relics of St. Nicholas."

“There has always been a special attitude towards St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Russia...” / Global Look Press

Priest Andrei Posternak is confident that in our time ancient history I forgot about the kidnapping. It’s just that such “travels” of relics are not accepted among Catholics. There is generally a more restrained attitude towards them there.

“Catholics have a different tradition of venerating relics,” says Father Andrei. – In Orthodoxy, relics are displayed, they are touched, they are kissed. Catholics only pray and look at the relics if they are displayed in transparent vessels.

3. What exactly was brought to Moscow from Italy?

“Relics are the remains of a person whom the church recognizes as a saint,” explains priest Andrei Posternak. – Some people believe that they should be incorruptible, that is, not only the bones should be preserved, but also the skin, etc. But this is not so. It often happens just the opposite, when only the skeleton or its individual parts remain. This is exactly the case with St. Nicholas the Wonderworker - we're talking about about bones.

Archpriest Andrei Boytsov clarifies: the Barians transported 85 percent of the saint’s skeleton to the city, and only the rib on the left side was delivered to Moscow.

“The relics are under a very thick marble slab,” says the clergyman. “No one would deliberately dismantle it.” But there is a hole in it with a diameter of 6 centimeters. It is needed in order to pump out the myrrh that exudes the relics once a year. This happens every year on May 9, the day the remains were transported. Italian specialists used a device to extract one bone from under the slab. This is the eighth rib, under which a person’s heart beats - the center of his spiritual life.

Every year, several tens of thousands of pilgrims with various problems come to Bari to visit the relics of the saint,” says Boytsov. - Miracles happen all the time. Infertile couples then have children, court cases are resolved, and there are people whose vision has been restored. One woman, for example, told me that she had cancer last stage and with the last of her strength she came to Italy. After the service, she got on the bus, and within two or three hours she felt the strength come into her and her appetite appeared. Arriving in Moscow, she did tests and found out that she did not have any cancer. And the doctors left her three to four weeks to live. Since then, she comes at least once every three years and tries to thank the saint.

4. Are there other relics of St. Nicholas in Russia?

“The relics of saints exist not only in the form of a skeleton,” explains priest Andrei Posternak. – There is a tradition of distributing small particles of relics to churches and monasteries, where special reliquaries are made.

According to the expert, there are churches in Russia where the smallest particles of the remains of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker are kept. Let's say, in Moscow this is the Church of St. Nicholas in Kotelniki. But the history of many of them is opaque: it happens that there is no evidence of the authenticity of the relics.

“Particles of relics are often transported unaccounted for; we do not have a central body that would record this somewhere,” says Posternak. – Catholics are much stricter about this. In Russia, in most cases, relics are transferred without a formal background, and it is not always possible to understand how they got into the temple.

Experts say there is no doubt about the authenticity of the relics brought from Bari.

“In 1952, when restoration was carried out in the basilica, the relics were taken out,” says Archpriest Andrei Boytsov. – Scientists compared them with the remains kept by the Venetians, and came to the conclusion that they belong to the same person.

Access to the relics opened on Monday. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims want to see them / Global Look Press

Using the skull, American researchers reconstructed the appearance of the person to whom it belonged, and, as Boytsov says, he turned out to be very similar to the image of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, which we see on icons.

5. What does the arrival of the relics in Russia mean? Can we say that the Orthodox and Catholic churches are moving towards rapprochement?

It can be assumed that the arrival of the relics of the beloved saint in Russia is a consequence of the negotiations between Patriarch Kirill and Pope Francis, which took place on February 12, 2016 in Cuba. During the discussion of that meeting, much was said about the fact that the Orthodox and Catholic churches were taking a step towards each other.

“I don’t think that this (the arrival of the relics. - Author) is seriously something significant,” says Protodeacon Andrei Kuraev. – Moreover, not all of Nicholas’s relics are brought, but only a small part, the left rib. The topic of Nicholas’s relics itself is too minor for a historical meeting. But even if it had been discussed, we would probably have been immediately informed that the relics were the subject of this conversation.

The rector of the Patriarchal Metochion in Bari claims that the relics were delivered to Russia thanks to the personal request of the Patriarch addressed to the Pope.

“This is a PR campaign for the Patriarch,” comments Kuraev. – It is very reminiscent of the story with the Belt of the Virgin Mary: there were long queues for it then, and a hundred meters from the place there is a temple where a piece of the Belt is traditionally located.

Was there a “stone Zoya”?

IN Soviet time a new legend has appeared about St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. Allegedly, in 1954, Zoya Karnaukhova, a resident of Kuibyshev, started dancing with an icon of the saint and was punished for sacrilege: she... was petrified. What really happened then, we asked Samara journalist Viktor EROFEEV, who led the investigation for 20 years big story.

– There was a crowd of people in Samara on Chkalovskaya Street. Zoya does not exist either in documents or in the mentions of eyewitnesses. Such a girl did not live in Samara. It all started when old women came to the yard, told this story and asked to show them the girl. The rumor spread instantly, and people began to come to the yard - first a few, hundreds, then thousands. There was no “stone Zoya” in the house. Experts classify this as a case of mass psychosis.

Name: Saint Nicholas, Nicholas the Wonderworker, Nicholas the Pleasant, Saint Nicholas, Nicholas of the World of Lycia, Santa Claus

Place of Birth: city ​​of Patara (territory of modern Turkey)

Activity: bishop, archbishop, Orthodox saint, miracle worker

Nationality: Greek

Height: 168 cm

Family status: single, never married

A place of death: city ​​of Myra, province of Lycia (city of Demre, modern Türkiye)

Burial place: initially the city of Myra, then in 1087 65% of the relics were transferred to the city of Bari in Italy, in 1098 the other 20% of the relics were transferred to Venice on the island of Lido, the remaining 15% of the relics were distributed around the world

Honored: Orthodox, Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and Ancient Eastern churches

Day of veneration (celebration): August 11 (July 29) - birth, December 19 (6) - death, May 22 (9) - transfer of relics

Patron: sailors, travelers, innocent prisoners, children

This article answers the following questions about St. Nicholas the Wonderworker:

Where are the relics of Nicholas the Wonderworker kept?
Transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas
Establishment of the feast of St. Nicholas
Relics of Saint Nicholas
St. Nicolas day
When does Saint Nicholas come?

Who is Nicholas the Wonderworker?
What does Saint Nicholas bring?
St. Nicholas Day traditions
How does St. Nicholas the Wonderworker help?
Where are the relics of St. Nicholas?
Where do the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker come from?
When is the day of memory of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker?
What date is St. Nicholas the Wonderworker Day?

Biography of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. Biography of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.

There is hardly a person today who has not heard about one of the most revered saints in the Christian world - St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.

His fame is great, his icons are among the most sought after in Orthodox church shops. But despite all this, only a few know the true biography and life of St. Nicholas.

The world knows Saint Nicholas under various names: Nicholas the Wonderworker, Nicholas the Pleasant, St. Nicholas, Nicholas of Myra and even Santa Claus.

Unfortunately, practically no confirmed historical information about the biography, life and work of Nicholas the Wonderworker, and those that have survived raise a lot of questions due to the confusion in them of the lives of two different saints - Nicholas of Myra and Nicholas of Zion of Patara.

The first and only ancient source that gives the life of St. Nicholas is a set of manuscripts written in the 6th century and known as "Acts of the Stratelates".

“The Acts of the Stratilates” are a dozen manuscripts that went through five editions. It is in the very first and oldest manuscript of the “Acts of the Stratilates” that the life of St. Nicholas the Pleasant is first told, and in it, unlike subsequent editions, the most laconic story about St. Nicholas the Wonderworker is given, devoid of any pomp and detail. All subsequent editions are further processing the first, with the addition of all sorts of new facts and miracles from the life of St. Nicholas. The most detailed and pathetic is the third edition, written much later. I wonder what's up today There is no translation of “acts” into Russian.

Thus, to this day, among a dozen different biographies of Nicholas, the most famous of them remain the “Acts of the Stratelates”, as well as the “Life of St. Nicholas”, compiled in the 10th century by Simeon Metaphrastus.

Brief biography of Nicholas the Wonderworker

As the Acts tell, Nicholas lived in the 3rd-4th centuries AD. And this is, perhaps, all that we know today about the time of the saint’s life: exact dates The birth and death (day and year) of Nicholas the Wonderworker are unknown and are still a subject of debate among historians. So, unfortunately, all the dates given in the literature related to the biography of Nicholas are very, very approximate and cannot be documented.

However, based on the “deeds”, it is generally accepted that Nicholas was born around 270 year AD. Nicholas's family lived in the city of Patara, in the territory of modern Turkey (now the city of Demre) on the shore Mediterranean Sea. At that time it was one of the richest Greek colonies of the Roman Empire.

Nikolai's parents were Greek by nationality and had good income. “Acts” names the names of Nicholas’s parents - Feofan (Epiphanius) and Nona. However, historians question this statement, believing that Theophanes and Nona were the parents of another Nicholas, also an archbishop and also a miracle worker - Nicholas of Zion. According to historians, this mistake crept in due to the fact that in the 6th century, in the “acts”, the biographies of two Nicholas the Wonderworkers (Nicholas of Myra and Nicholas of Zion) were simply mixed up. Be that as it may, Saint Nicholas of Myra of Lycia is a Wonderworker, a real historical figure.

Nikolai was born when his parents were already old. WITH early years he received a good education, knew how to write and read, was pious and strived to study the Holy Scriptures.

When Nikolai reached teenage years his uncle, local bishop Nicholas of Patarsky, seeing his nephew’s Christian zeal, first made Nicholas a reader, and after some time elevated him to the rank of priest.

Over time, Nikolai’s uncle began to trust his nephew so much that when he went on trips, he completely left the management of the diocese to him.

After the death of his parents, Nikolai inherited a large fortune, but choosing to serve God, he distributed his inheritance to people in need.

In the bishopric of the city of Patara, Nicholas served as a priest from approximately 280 to 307.

Nicholas was about forty years old when, after the death of the bishop of a neighboring city, he, miraculously, by the decision of the sacred Council, was appointed bishop of the city of Mira. Thanks to this appointment, Nicholas received a prefix to his name and became the Bishop of Myra of Lycia, which is where another name came from - Nicholas of Myra.

For the next 30 years until his death, Nikolai spent his life in this city of Mira, where he died around 340 of the year.

Where is Saint Nicholas buried?

Information about the burial place of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker is not rich in variety and indicates that St. Nicholas was buried in the church of “St. Nicholas” in the city of Demre (formerly Myra).

But for the thoughtful reader of the saint’s life, questions begin to arise here: how did it happen? And before our eyes a whole detective story unfolds with the funeral of the Wonderworker in the Church of St. Nicholas.

Tomb of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker

So, when Nicholas the Wonderworker died around 334, the temple of “St. Nicholas” did not yet exist and the question naturally arises - where was the original burial of Nicholas if the temple did not yet exist?

All sources provide data that the temple of “St. Nicholas” was built only in the 4th century, immediately after the death of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. And this automatically means that first Nicholas the Wonderworker was buried somewhere else, and only then, after the completion of the temple, his relics were transferred to the temple sarcophagus. After all, the builders couldn’t build a temple while trampling over the bishop’s grave.

But it turns out that there is an answer to this question - the body of Bishop Nicholas was buried in a very ordinary grave near the Church of St. Zion, where he served for many years.

It must be said that at the time of the saint’s burial, the custom of burying people within the walls of a church simply did not yet exist in Christianity. This custom was legalized only in 419 at the Council of Carthage. Apparently, around the same time, the decision was made to rebury the remains of Nicholas in the village of the new temple.

The first building over the grave of St. Nicholas was erected in 336 by the stratilates (Roman military leaders) who arrived in Myra to honor Nicholas, whose death they did not know.

“they found the place where his honest body lay... [and] honored Nicholas by building a portico”

Presumably this was a chapel over the grave of the Bishop of Myra in Lycia, Nicholas the Wonderworker.

Church of St. Nicholas

In fact, there are many questions about the Church of St. Nicholas.

Let's start with the fact that when visiting this temple, the guides tell you that the Church of “St. Nicholas” was built on the foundation of the Hellenic (pagan) Temple of Artemis and show the mosaic preserved on the floor that belonged to the ancient temple.

It is interesting that in some works the destruction of this, then still pagan, temple is attributed personally to Nicholas the Pleasant, elevating this action almost to the rank of miracles performed by Nicholas as bishop.

But historians deny that Nicholas could have participated in the destruction of the temple of Artemis at all and point out that the temple of Artemis was destroyed 200 years before the birth of Nicholas by a banal earthquake that occurred in the second century.

History knows how to surprise. And the relics of St. Nicholas were destined to rest in a Christian temple built on the foundation of a pagan temple greek goddess Artemis.

But the temple only dreamed of peace - the temple of “St. Nicholas” was constantly subjected to looting and destruction, and the relics of the saint themselves had no peace.

Already 100 years after the completion of construction and the transfer of the relics of Nicholas in the 5th century, the temple was destroyed by an earthquake.

It was restored in the 6th century. But the restored temple also did not stand untouched for long; in the 7th century it was again destroyed by the Arabs during another raid.

For the next hundred years, the temple stood dilapidated, until a new temple of “St. Nicholas” was rebuilt in the 8th century.

600 years passed, and in the 14th century the temple was destroyed again. A strong earthquake caused a change in the course of the local river Miros and the temple of “St. Nicholas” was buried under tons of silt and dirt and disappeared from human eyes for many centuries until the 19th century. And only in the 19th century an accident made it possible to discover the remains of the temple and begin its excavations.

Excavations of the temple are also replete with detective details and intrigue.

When, during the Crimean War, in 1853, the Russians found themselves in Turkey, they became interested in the Church of St. Nicholas. Soon, on behalf of Princess Anna Golitsyna, the Russians bought this land from the Ottoman Empire and formed a Russian settlement there.

Excavations and restoration began at the site of the temple. Russian settlers flocked to the purchased land for permanent residence. The Turks did not like this, and they decided to terminate the deal, return the lands bought by the Russians, and return the settlers to Russia.

Soon the government of the Ottoman Empire canceled the deal, expelled all Russian settlers from this territory, but forgot to return the money taken for the sale. Today, when asked to return the money spent, Turkey responds that, they say, the land was bought from the Ottoman Empire, so demand a refund from them.

Excavations of the temple by the Russians stopped in 1860 and the next excavations of the Church of St. Nicholas, almost completely located in the sediment, began only 100 years later in 1956 and continued until 1989.

Today, the Church of “St. Nicholas” is not an active temple, but is a paid museum, and only once a year, on December 6, are held here church services in memory of the death of Nicholas the Wonderworker (it is believed that Nicholas died on December 6, 343).

Fortunately, by the time the temple was flooded by the river, the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker were no longer there; by this time the relics of the saint had been transported to Italy almost three centuries ago.

When visiting this temple of “St. Nicholas,” tourists are shown a sarcophagus in which the relics of the saint supposedly rested.

It is interesting that pagan drawings and symbols are clearly visible on the sarcophagus, and it is clear from everything that this sarcophagus was made back in pagan times for the burial of some important pagan.

It turns out that either this pagan sarcophagus was reused, but for the repose of the body of the saint, or simply Nicholas simply could not be buried in an ancient pagan coffin. Riddles, riddles.

Another fact worthy of attention is that after the theft of the relics in 1087, in none of the chronicles of those years there is any mention of any sarcophagus; on the contrary, the Italians boasted of their intention in the Church of St. Nicholas to “break its platform and carry away the sacred body.” As Archimandrite Antonin Kapustin wrote in the 19th century in 1087, “the Barian sailors did not see any tombs in the church.”

Transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker to the Italian city of Baria and to the island of Lido

Meanwhile, the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas to Italy in the 11th century was a banal theft, however, thanks to which the relics of St. Nicholas were preserved for current generations.

And it was like that.

After the death of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, those who venerated the grave began to notice that after visiting the temple of “St. Nicholas” and venerating his relics, they began to receive healing. Naturally, news of the miraculous properties of the relics of Nicholas the Wonderworker spread throughout Byzantium.

The Italians could not pass by such an important shrine and wanted to get it for themselves. And in the 11th century, the grave of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was plundered by Italian merchants. Italian merchants robbed the saint's grave twice - in 1087 and 1099.

Today this abduction is usually called the holiday of the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, which Christians celebrate on May 22 (9).

So, thanks to the banal looting of the grave, in the 11th century most of the relics of Nicholas (almost 85 percent) ended up in two Italian cities - in the city of Bari, and on the island of Lido, where they are located to this day.

Of course, calling a spade a spade, such a transfer of relics can easily be called ordinary theft. But, as they say, every cloud has a silver lining - and most historians agree that if it had not been for this forced transfer of the relics of the saint, then, most likely, subsequently the relics of Nicholas the Wonderworker would have been completely destroyed during one of the later Ottoman raids or flooding of the temple.

Upon death, Nicholas the Wonderworker was buried in his hometown of Mira (now the city of Demre in modern Turkey) and his remains lay peacefully there for more than 700 years, until in 1087 circumstances arose that allowed the Italians to steal the relics of Nicholas and transport them to Italy.

In the 10th century, Christianity in Italy experienced its dawn - faith became firmly established in life, new temples and shrines were built. But there was one problem - all the ancient holy relics were in the East. By this time, the glory of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker thundered throughout Italy.

It was a time of troubles, the Seljuk Turks were seizing more and more territories, and Italian merchants, blessed by the Holy Church, under the pretext of taking “and protecting” the relics of St. Nicholas, went on an expedition.

At this time, the Christian inhabitants of Mir moved to a safer place, located three kilometers from the old city of Mir. Only a few monks remained to serve in the temple itself. According to legend, in 1086 Saint Nicholas:

“appeared in a vision to three people, ordering them to announce to the inhabitants of the city of Myra, who, fearing the Turks, had gone from here to the mountain, so that they would return to live and guard the city, or know that it would move to another place”

Then in 1087, Nicholas the Wonderworker appeared in a dream to one of the priests of the city of Bar and told him:

“Go and tell the people and the entire church council to go and take me from Mir and put me in this city, for I cannot abide there in an empty place. God wants it that way"

In the morning the priest told about his vision and everyone joyfully exclaimed:

“The Lord has now sent His mercy to the people and our city, for He has deigned us to receive the relics of His holy Saint Nicholas.”

To fulfill the will of the Wonderworker, the Italians, under the cover of a trade mission, hastily prepared an expedition of three ships to transfer the relics of the saint. It is interesting that the names of all the participants in this expedition have been preserved to this day, as well as a detailed report on how it took place.

And so on April 20, 1087, three merchant ships moored off the coast of modern Turkey. The sailors landed at the port of the city of Mira. Only two people were sent to investigate the temple of “St. Nicholas”, who returned and reported that there were only four monks in the temple with the relics of the saint. Immediately 47 people, armed, went to the temple. To begin with, the merchants tried to resolve the issue amicably and offered the monks 300 gold coins for taking the relics of the saint. But the monks did not accept the merchants’ offer and were going to notify the city of the danger. But the Italians did not give them this chance; they tied up the monks and hastily plundered the sarcophagus with the relics of the saint. Having wrapped the stolen relics in ordinary clothes, the merchants, without stopping anywhere, quickly reached the port and immediately set sail, heading for Italy. The freed monks raised the alarm, but it was too late; the Italian ship carrying the saint’s relics was already far away.

On May 8, 1087, the ships arrived safely in the city of Barii, and the “joyful” news spread throughout the city. The next day, May 9, the relics of St. Nicholas were solemnly transferred to the Church of St. Stephen. According to eyewitnesses, the solemn transfer of the relics was accompanied by numerous miraculous healings of the sick, which aroused even greater reverence for Nicholas the Wonderworker. Exactly one year later, specifically for storing the relics of St. Nicholas, Pope Urban II consecrated the Church of St. Nicholas, built in honor of the saint.

Meanwhile, residents of the city of Mira, grieving the loss of the shrine, began to transfer small fragments of the relics of St. Nicholas remaining from the looting. But the fact was that during the hasty abduction, the Italian merchants did not take all the relics, but only the largest fragments (about 80%), leaving all the small fragments of the body in the sarcophagus.

But, as it turned out later, this measure did not protect the saint’s relics from final plunder.

Soon, other Italian merchants from Venice, knowing that the relics of the saint continue to be kept in Mira, decide to complete the work of their compatriots. And in 1099 during the first crusade The Venetians stole almost all the remaining relics of the saint, leaving very small fragments of the saint’s body in the sarcophagus.

The stolen relics were also delivered to Italy, but already to Venice, where they were placed on the island of Lido in the Church of St. Nicholas.

In subsequent years, the last of the smallest surviving fragments of holy relics disappeared from Myra and dispersed throughout the world.

So, as a result of the looting of the grave, not a single relic of the saint remained in Nicholas’s native church.

Examinations carried out in 1957 and 1987 showed that the relics located in Bari and Venice belong to one person.

Establishment of the feast of the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas

The feast of the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas was established by Pope Urban II, who in 1088 officially established the liturgical celebration of the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas on May 9. The Greeks and the Byzantine East did not accept this holiday, but in Rus' it became widespread and is celebrated to this day.

Where are the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker kept today?

Today, the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker are kept in various places and this is due to the fact that at one time the tomb with the relics of the saint was plundered several times.

The bulk of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker (about 65%) are kept in the Catholic Basilica of St. Nicholas in the Italian city of Bari, under the altar altar of the crypt, in the floor of which a round hole is made into the tomb with the relics of St. Nicholas. Through this hole, once a year, on the feast of the transfer of relics on May 9, local clergy extract the myrrh released by the relics of St. Nicholas the Pleasant.

The other 20% of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker are kept in a shrine above the altar of the Catholic Church of St. Nicholas on the Lido Island in Venice.

The remaining 15% percent of the parts of the relics of St. Nicholas are distributed throughout the world and are kept in various churches and private collections. All these 15% percent of small fragments of the saint’s relics do not have confirmation of genetic testing for their correspondence to the relics stored in the city of Baria.

In 1992, an anthropological (important: not genetic) examination was carried out, during which visual comparisons were made to determine the correspondence of the relics of St. Nicholas stored in Bari and Venice. After a visual inspection of the relics, scientists concluded that the parts of the skeleton belong to the same person and the Venetian part of the relics complements those parts of the skeleton that are missing in Bari.

According to some information, part of the relics of Nicholas (fragments of jaws and skull) are in the Archaeological Museum of Antalya.

In 2005, British anthropologists tried to reconstruct the skull appearance St. Nicholas. It turned out that Saint Nicholas was of strong build, tall for that time, approximately 168 cm, he had a high forehead, prominent cheekbones and chin.

In 2017, Turkish archaeologists sensationally stated that the remains stored in Italy do not belong to St. Nicholas the Pleasant at all, but to a completely different person, which is allegedly proven by the latest excavations, as a result of which a grave with the remains of the true St. Nicholas was found.

Miracles of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker

A special place in the “acts” is given to the miracles of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker:

- standing as an infant during baptism in the font without anyone's support for three hours;

- accepting milk only from the mother’s right breast;

- taking mother's milk on Wednesdays and Fridays only once and only in the evening, at nine o'clock;

- saving a father and three girls from the fall;

— a visit to Holy Places, during which the doors of all temples opened spontaneously at night before the saint;

- expelling the devil from the ship;

— pacifying the storm with the power of prayer;

- resurrection of a sailor who fell from the mast during a storm;

- saving three innocently convicted townspeople from execution;

- salvation from death without guilt of slandered Roman military leaders;

- saving Mira’s hometown from hunger;

— posthumous miracles include the streaming of myrrh from the relics of a saint.

In addition, it is customary to turn to Nikolai for help with health and healing.

There is an opinion among Christians that Nicholas the Wonderworker is the fastest saint to respond to the requests of those asking for help and intercession.

The Orthodox Church celebrates celebrations in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker three times a year - on August 11, on his birthday, on December 19, on the day of his death, and on May 22, in memory of the transfer of the saint's relics to the city of Bari.

Nicholas the Wonderworker is considered to be the prototype of modern Santa Claus. This happened after Nikolai miraculously saved three girls from the Fall - throughout three nights For each of the girls, he put a bag of gold in a drying sock. This is where the tradition of Christmas gifts came from, which are usually placed in a Christmas stocking.

Santa Claus translated from English sounds nothing more than St. Nicholas.

How does St. Nicholas the Wonderworker help?

Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker is revered as a helper and protector of sailors and travelers, merchants, a protector of the unjustly convicted and a helper of children.

Dates of the holidays of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker

Christians celebrate three holidays in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.

Each of the holidays has its own hymnography.

Orthodox and Catholics celebrate these holidays on different days - this is due to the use of different calendars (Julian and Gregorian, respectively) in services by Orthodox and Catholics.

Holidays in honor of St. Nicholas are immutable, that is, the dates of these holidays are fixed and are celebrated on the same days every year.

The first day of the year is the day of the arrival of the relics of St. Nicholas in the Italian city of Baria - Orthodox celebrate it on May 22, Catholics celebrate it on May 9 - “Nicholas of the Spring.”

Then Christians celebrate the birthday of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker - Orthodox celebrate August 11, Catholics July 29 - “Nicholas the Summer.”

At the end of the year, Christians honor the day of the death of St. Nicholas the Pleasant - Orthodox celebrate December 19, Catholics celebrate December 6 - “Nicholas the Winter.”

In what documents is St. Nicholas the Wonderworker mentioned?

There are only two main documents describing the life and deeds of St. Nicholas, and the second document is based on the events described in the first source.

First written document, testifying to the life and deeds of St. Nicholas, was found in the records of the Constantinople presbyter Eustratius. This document was written 200 years after the death of the miracle worker in the 6th century. Meanwhile, the notes of Eustratius are nothing more than a small fragment of manuscripts called “Acts of the Stratelates” (Praxis de stratelatis).

The time of compilation of the manuscripts called “Acts of the Stratilates” also dates back to the 6th century. Subsequently, these manuscripts were constantly rewritten and supplemented; there are about 10 editions of the “Acts of the Stratilates”.

Thus, today there are no other well-known written monuments about St. Nicholas, except for the “Acts of the Stratelates.”

The “Acts of the Stratilates” in its genre belong to lifetime miracles. it tells us the earliest information about the life and deeds of St. Nicholas of Myra.

The next significant document shedding light on the deeds and life of St. Nicholas appeared only at the beginning of the 10th century, when Blessed Simeon Metaphrastus, by order of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, compiled from sources that preceded him, including manuscripts, the “Acts of the Stratelates”, complete life Saint Nicholas.

But there is one thing. This, however, is due to the fact that some of the life events and deeds described in the biography of Nicholas the Wonderworker have nothing to do with him. Moreover, many of Nicholas’s actions are simply completely at odds with historical dates.

In his writings, Archimandrite Antonin wrote that the ancient hagiographers made an unforgivable mistake in their manuscripts by mixing up the lives of two wonderworkers with the same name Nicholas.

One of the miracle workers lived in Lycia and was the archbishop of Mount Myra in the 4th century (this is our Nicholas the Wonderworker).

Another miracle worker also lived in Lycia and his name was also Nicholas, only he lived already in the 6th century and was the abbot of the Zion Monastery, Archbishop of Pinar.

When studying documents about the life of Nicholas of Pinarsky, it turned out that his parents’ names were Epiphanius and Nona, and he also had an uncle, and also Bishop Nicholas, who built the Zion Monastery.

Also in the life of Nikolai Pinarsky there is a story about his baptism and how during the baptism he stood in the font for two hours.

Here is how the Venerable Archimandrite Antonin (Kapustin) wrote:

“One can marvel at how two faces, both famous, merged in the popular imagination, and then in church memory, and one is a venerable and blessed image, but the fact cannot be denied... And so there were two St. Nicholas of Lycia.”

Miracles of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker... Resurrection of the Sailor

During one of his first sea voyages from Myra to Alexandria, where he went for training, Nicholas the Wonderworker resurrected a sailor who fell from a ship's mast and fell to his death.

Miracles of Nicholas the Pleasant...Dowry for girls

One day Nikolai saved an entire family.

In his hometown there lived a bankrupt merchant who, due to the lack of a dowry, could not marry off his daughters.

Having found nothing better to improve his plight, the merchant decides to send his adult daughters to earn money - to engage in prostitution.

Having learned about this decision, Nikolai decides to save the unfortunate family.

At night, he secretly throws bags of gold through the merchant’s window three times. The merchant, using the gold he receives, not only restores his well-being, but also marries his daughters.

According to legend, one of the bags of gold, thrown by Nicholas at the merchant’s window, ends up directly in a sock left to dry.

It is thanks to this incident that today there is a custom of putting gifts for children in special socks for gifts from Santa Claus, who today is considered St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.

Miracles of St. Nicholas... Travel to Jerusalem

During one of his travels, Saint Nicholas to the holy places in Jerusalem also experienced miracles.

It was like that.

When approaching the sea, Nikolai saw that the devil was boarding the ship preparing to sail, wanting to cause a storm to sink the ship and the sailors.

Then Nicholas began to pray earnestly, and with the power of his prayer he could drive the devil out of the ship, calm the storm and save the sailors from certain death.

Other miracles occurred directly in Jerusalem itself. After Saint Nicholas entered the city, that same night on Mount Zion the locked doors of all churches opened before him by themselves, allowing Nicholas access to all holy places.

After visiting holy places, Nicholas suddenly decides to retire into the desert, but immediately, the Divine voice stops him and orders him to return home to continue his service to the Lord.

After returning home, he unexpectedly decides to join the brotherhood of the monastery of Holy Zion, where he takes a silent lunch. But again the Lord intervenes in the Fate of Saint Nicholas and announces to him a different path:

“Nicholas, this is not the field in which you must bear the fruit I expect; but turn and go into the world, and let My Name be glorified in you.”

Miracles of St. Nicholas...The miraculous establishment of St. Nicholas as bishop of the city of Myra

While Nicholas was serving in his hometown of Patara, Archbishop John dies in the neighboring city of Myra and the question arises of choosing a new bishop for the city of Myra. The day of choosing a new bishop comes. There is no agreement in the camp of those choosing. A miracle occurs again - one of the bishops of the Council receives a vision in a dream, in which the Lord points to Nicholas as the new bishop so that he can continue his service in the rank of bishop. The next morning, the Council unanimously decides to appoint Nicholas as bishop of the city of Mira.

Miracles of St. Nicholas...Miraculous salvation of slandered townspeople by St. Nicholas

Another of the miracles performed by Saint Nicholas was the salvation from death of three unjustly convicted townspeople, who were slandered by the selfish mayor of the city.

During the execution, when the executioner had already raised his sword over the heads of those unjustly convicted, Saint Nicholas ascended the scaffold, held the raised sword with his hand and stopped the execution. The shamed mayor fell on his face before Nicholas, repented and asked Saint Nicholas for his forgiveness.

Miracles of St. Nicholas...The miraculous salvation of three Roman military leaders by St. Nicholas

The next miracle is the miraculous salvation of three Roman military leaders, whom the emperor wanted to execute based on a false denunciation.

When Nicholas saved the slandered townspeople from death, three Roman military leaders watched the failed execution. They, having seen how Nicholas stopped the execution and shamed the deceitful mayor, were imbued with faith and respect for him.

Upon returning home, they had to appear before the emperor with a report. At first, the emperor was very pleased with them, but after envious people slandered them, attributing to them a conspiracy against the emperor, he changed his mercy to anger and ordered their execution.

By order of the emperor, the military leaders are arrested and placed in prison in order to be executed in the morning. Sitting in prison, the military leaders remember Saint Nicholas and the miracle that he showed them, the day before stopping the execution of innocent townspeople. Then they begin to fervently pray to Nicholas, asking him for intercession.

And the miracle was not slow to happen. That same night, Nicholas appears in a dream both before the emperor and before the prefect Ablabia. Nicholas, on pain of death, orders the release of the slandered military leaders.

Waking up in the morning, the emperor orders a new investigation, which confirms the innocence of the slandered military leaders.

Having made sure that the military leaders were slandered, the emperor pardons the condemned and gives them gifts - a golden Gospel, a golden censer decorated with stones, two lamps and orders them to transfer these gifts to St. Nicholas in the temple of the city of Myra.

The military leaders go to the city of Myra and present gifts for the temple, warmly thanking their intercessor Nicholas the Wonderworker.

Miracles of St. Nicholas...Miraculous salvation of the city of Myra from hunger by St. Nicholas

One day, Saint Nicholas had the opportunity to save Myra’s hometown from famine. When there were very few food supplies left in the city and it seemed that there was no way to wait for help, Nikolai created a new miracle that saved the city.

In a dream, he appears to one of the Italian merchants, in a dream he tells him about a city suffering from hunger and asks him to bring food, promising to pay generously.

In the morning, the merchant awakens and finds three gold pieces clutched in his palm, which Saint Nicholas sent him as an advance payment for food.

Responding to the saint’s request, the merchant immediately and without delay equipped a ship with food. This is how Saint Nicholas saved an entire city from hunger.

Icon of St. Nicholas

On icons, Saint Nicholas is usually depicted with a miter on his head, a symbol of his bishopric.

Note

City of Peace - Türkiye, Antalya province, the modern city of Demre.

Arianism is one of the early movements in Christianity that affirmed the non-consubstantiality of God the Father and God the Son. It existed from the 4th to the 6th centuries AD. e.