Feast of St. Nicholas Summer (Transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker). Feast of St. Nicholas the Summer (Transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker) May 22 St. Nicholas the Wonderworker
Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia, became famous as a great saint of God. You will learn everything about this revered saint from this article!
What holiday is today: May 22, 2018 marks the church holiday St. Nicholas the Wonderworker Day
Today, May 22, is the Day of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. The night before, a particle of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was delivered to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow from Bari, Italy.
On May 22, 2018, people venerate St. Nicholas. According to the folk calendar, there are two holidays in the year dedicated to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker - winter St. Nicholas on December 19 and spring (summer) St. Nicholas on May 22.
Nicholas the Wonderworker is also revered in the West, and in Russia even people far from the Church know Nicholas the Wonderworker 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. Saint Nicholas is often remembered at 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 people and children.
Day of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker May 22: veneration in Rus'
In Rus', many churches and monasteries are dedicated to Nicholas the Pleasant; in honor of his name, Saint Patriarch Photius baptized the Kyiv Prince Askold, the very first Russian Christian prince, in 866, and over the grave of Askold in Kiev, Saint Olga, Equal-to-the-Apostles, built the first church of St. Nicholas on Russian soil.
Folk traditions
In Rus', Nicholas the Pleasant was considered the “eldest” among the saints. He was called “merciful”, temples were built in his honor and children were named.
On St. Nicholas the Winter, people had festive meals - they baked pies with fish, brewed mash and beer, and on St. Nicholas the Summer, or the Spring, the peasants held processions of the cross - they went to the fields with icons and banners, performed prayer services at wells - asking for rain.
Who is the patron of this amazing and famous saint?
Nicholas the Wonderworker is recognized as the patron saint of children, and in Europe is even called the prototype of Santa Claus. He is also favorable to travelers, all sailors, merchants and those who need a real miracle for healing.
Why is St. Nicholas called the Pleasant?
The saint received this name for his pleasing service to God. Nicholas the Pleasant prayed with such strength and faith that even after death his relics remained untouched by decay. They streamed myrrh, and hundreds of believers were healed from this grace.
How to celebrate May 22?
May 22 - St. Nicholas Day - the Wonderworker is glorified and honored in a variety of churches and parishes. Believers on this holiday try to give up meat and eggs, setting tables with fish dishes.
Previously, when agriculture was more developed, Christians organized mass processions with strings of icons and images on St. Nicholas of the Spring. Believers participated in a prayer service, asking for mercy and rain. Usually, religious processions ended in fields or near water wells. It was believed that the merciful Nicholas could help in the fight against drought and bad weather.
Today on this day you can visit the temple, where a service will definitely be held. You can also pray at home, asking Nicholas the Ugodnik for help in some matter.
In the evening, you need to gather the whole family at the festive table and pray a common prayer of thanks to the saint for his intercession. This Christian celebration is not associated with tragic events, so you can celebrate easily and cheerfully.
On the day of memory of Nikola Veshny, there is no need to do anything for yourself personally. Since the saint gave everything to people, believers on such a day should give something to charity, give alms or money for the construction of a church. Help for orphans and orphanages, as well as poor families, is welcomed.
The legend of the holiday
St. Nicholas is glorified on May 22 and December 19. On St. Nicholas of the Winter, it is customary to give each other gifts. And during the spring celebration, you can limit yourself to beautiful greeting cards and verbal wishes of happiness, goodness and peace.
Saint Nicholas is revered by all Christians. He is very often remembered during daily services and given a special place in the Christian hierarchy of saints.
There is a legend that when one peasant got stuck with his cart in the mud, he asked St. Kasyan passing by for help. (37.112.220.246) . But he refused, citing the fact that he was in a hurry to the Lord. When Saint Nicholas passed next to the peasant, he helped him pull the cart out of the ditch and appeared to the Lord covered in mud. There the saint was asked why he got so dirty and delayed, to which he replied that he was helping a man, according to information at 23:05:17. Since then, Nicholas the Pleasant has been praised twice a year, and the Christian Saint Kasyan once every four years.
The winter holiday dedicated to St. Nicholas the Pleasant also has its own legend. During his lifetime, the saint learned that in his city there was a poor man who had decided to commit a terrible sin. To get out of poverty and marry off his two daughters, a man decided to send the third girl to a brothel. Then Nicholas the Wonderworker snuck into the poor man’s house at night and threw him a bag of gold. The poor man could not believe his luck and married off his eldest daughter. Then Nikolai Ugodnik snuck into the poor man's house with a bag of gold for the second time, and the man played a wedding for his middle daughter. The poor man was wondering who his benefactor was? Therefore, for the third time he tracked down the bishop and rushed after him to thank him for his unprecedented generosity. And then he married off his third daughter, Ros-Register learned. Since then, on December 19, the custom of giving gifts and small souvenirs has been established, which are secretly placed at night near the fireplace or Christmas tree.
During his earthly years, this saint performed many incredible miracles and accomplished a huge number of good deeds. He did not refuse to help either believers or pagans, prompting them to repent and instructing them on the true path.
Believers know that May 22 is St. Nicholas Day. They go to services with joy, remembering the intercession of the archbishop. And they believe that even after death the saint protects them from heaven, gives them protection and hope for the healing of ailments. An amazing person and popular saint among the people, he is equally known both in Russia and abroad. Many temples and churches were erected in his honor. He is known not only by Christians, but also by people of other faiths. The saint is remembered and glorified in their prayers by all Orthodox and Catholic believers.
When is the memory of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker celebrated?
More than one holiday is dedicated to St. Nicholas in the Orthodox church calendar. On December 19, according to the new style, the day of the saint’s death is remembered, and on August 11, his birth. People called these two holidays St. Nicholas Winter and St. Nicholas Autumn. On May 22, believers remember the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas from Myra in Lycia to Bari, which took place in 1087. In Rus', this day was called Nikola Veshny (that is, spring), or Nikola Summer.
All these holidays are permanent, that is, their dates are fixed.
How does St. Nicholas the Wonderworker help?
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 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 - St Nicholas). Santa Claus gives children gifts for Christmas.
Life (biography) 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 a ripe old age and died around 345-351 - the exact date is unknown.
Relics of St. Nicholas
Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker reposed in the Lord in the years 345-351 - the exact date is unknown. His relics were incorruptible. At first they 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, and a small particle remained in Myra.
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.
Veneration of St. Nicholas in Rus'
There are many churches and monasteries dedicated to St. Nicholas the Pleasant in Rus'. In his name, the holy Patriarch Photius baptized in 866 the Kyiv prince Askold, the very first Russian Christian prince. Over the grave of Askold in Kyiv, Saint Olga, Equal-to-the-Apostles, built the first church of St. Nicholas on Russian soil.
In many Russian cities, the main cathedrals were named after the Archbishop of Myra in Lycia. Novgorod the Great, Zaraysk, Kyiv, Smolensk, Pskov, Galich, Arkhangelsk, Tobolsk and many others. Three Nikolsky monasteries were built in the Moscow province - Nikolo-Grechesky (Old) - in Kitai-Gorod, Nikolo-Perervinsky and Nikolo-Ugreshsky. In addition, one of the main towers of the capital's Kremlin is named Nikolskaya.
Iconography of St. Nicholas
The iconography of St. Nicholas developed in the 10th-11th centuries. Moreover, 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 life-size 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 half-length 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 Rus', 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 the Pleasant, that is, depicting various scenes from the life of the saint - sometimes up to twenty different subjects. The most ancient of such icons in Rus' are the Novgorod one from the Lyuboni churchyard (XIV century) and the Kolomna icon (now kept in the Tretyakov Gallery).
TroparionSaint Nicholas the Wonderworker
voice 4
The rule of faith and the image of meekness and abstinence as a teacher show you to your flock as the truth of things: for this reason you have acquired high humility, rich in poverty. Father Hierarch Nicholas, pray to Christ God to save our souls.
Translation:
The teacher showed you the rule of faith, the example of meekness and abstinence, to your flock. And therefore, through humility you acquired greatness, through poverty - wealth: Father Hierarch Nicholas, pray to Christ God for the salvation of our souls.
Kontakion to Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker
voice 3
In Mireh, the holy, the priest appeared: For Christ, O Reverend, having fulfilled the Gospel, you laid down your soul for your people, and saved the innocent from death; For this reason you have been sanctified, as the great hidden place of God’s grace.
Translation:
In the Worlds, you, saint, appeared as the performer of sacred rites: having fulfilled the Gospel teaching of Christ, you, reverend, laid down your soul for your people and delivered the innocent from death. That is why he was sanctified as a great minister of the sacraments of God’s grace.
First prayer to Nicholas the Ugodnik
Oh, all-holy Nicholas, exceedingly saintly servant of the Lord, our warm intercessor, and everywhere in sorrow a quick helper!
Help me, a sinner and sad person in this present life, beg the Lord God to grant me forgiveness of all my sins, which I have sinned greatly from my youth, in all my life, in deed, word, thought and all my feelings; and at the end of my soul, help me the accursed, beg the Lord God, the Creator of all creation, to deliver me from airy 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 unto ages of ages.
Second prayer to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker
O all-praised, great wonderworker, saint of Christ, Father Nicholas!
We pray to you, awaken the hope of all Christians, protector of the faithful, feeder of the hungry, joy of the weeping, doctor of the sick, steward of those floating on the sea, feeder of the poor and orphans, and quick helper and patron of all, may we live a peaceful life here and may we be worthy to see the glory of God’s elect in heaven , and with them unceasingly sing the praises of the one worshiped God in the Trinity forever and ever. Amen.
Third prayer to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker
O all-praised and all-pious bishop, great Wonderworker, Saint of Christ, Father Nicholas, man of God and faithful servant, man of desires, chosen vessel, strong pillar of the church, bright lamp, shining star and illuminating the whole universe: you are a righteous man, like a blossoming date planted in the courts of your Lord, living in Myra, you were fragrant with the world, and the myrrh flowed with the ever-flowing grace of God.
By your procession, holy father, the sea was illuminated, when your many-wonderful relics marched into the city of Barsky, from east to west praise the name of the Lord.
O most graceful and wondrous Wonderworker, quick helper, warm intercessor, kind shepherd, saving the verbal flock from all troubles, we glorify and magnify you, as the hope of all Christians, the source of miracles, the protector of the faithful, the wise teacher, those who hunger for a feeder, those who cry are joy, the naked are clothed , the sick physician, the sea-floating steward, the liberator of captives, the nourisher and protector of widows and orphans, the guardian of chastity, the meek chastiser of infants, the old fortification, the fasting mentor, the toiling rapture, the poor and wretched abundant wealth.
Hear us praying to you and running under your roof, show your intercession for us to the Most High, and intercede with your God-pleasing prayers, everything useful for the salvation of our souls and bodies: preserve this holy monastery (or this temple), every city and all, and every Christian country, and people living from all bitterness with your help:
We know, we know, how the prayer of the righteous can do much to hasten for good: for you, the righteous, according to the most blessed Virgin Mary, imams, intercessor to the All-Merciful God, and to yours, most kind father, warm intercession and intercession we humbly flow: you keep us as you are vigorous 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, since we are unworthy to see the heights of heaven, from many of our iniquities are bound by the bonds of sin, and we have not done the will of our Creator nor have we preserved his commandments.
In the same way, we bow our contrite and humble hearts to our Creator, and we ask for your fatherly intercession to Him:
Help us, O Pleasant of God, so that we do not perish with our iniquities, deliver us from all evil and from all things that are resistant, guide our minds and strengthen our hearts in the right faith, in it through your intercession and intercession, neither with wounds, nor rebuke, nor pestilence, he will give me no wrath to live in this age, and he will deliver me from this place, and he will make me worthy to join all the saints. Amen.
Prayer four to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker
O our good shepherd and God-wise mentor, Saint Nicholas of Christ! Hear us sinners, praying to you and calling for your speedy intercession for help; see us weak, caught from everywhere, deprived of every good and darkened in mind from cowardice; Try, O servant of God, not to leave us in the captivity of sin, so that we may not joyfully become our enemies and not die in our evil deeds.
Pray for us, unworthy, to our Creator and Master, to whom you stand with disembodied faces: make our God merciful to us in this life and in the future, so that He will not reward us according to our deeds and the impurity of our hearts, but according to His goodness He will reward us .
We trust in your intercession, we boast of your intercession, we call on your intercession for help, and falling to your most holy image, we ask for help: deliver us, servant of Christ, from the evils that come upon us, and tame the waves of passions and troubles that rise up against us, and for the sake of Your holy prayers will not overwhelm us and we will not wallow in the abyss of sin and in the mud of our passions. Pray to Saint Nicholas of Christ, Christ our God, that he may grant us a peaceful life and remission of sins, salvation and great mercy for our souls, now and ever and unto ages of ages.
Fifth prayer to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker
O great intercessor, the bishop of God, the Most Blessed Nicholas, who shone miracles under the sun, appearing as a quick hearer to those who call upon you, who always precede them and save them, and deliver them, and take them away from all sorts of troubles, from these God-given miracles and gifts of grace!
Hear me, unworthy, calling you with faith and bringing you prayer songs; I offer you an intercessor to plead with Christ.
Oh, renowned for miracles, saint of heights! as if you have the boldness, soon stand before the Lady, and reverently stretch out your hands in prayer to Him for me, a sinner, and grant me the bounty of goodness from Him, and accept me into your intercession, and deliver me from all troubles and evils, from the invasion of enemies visible and invisible freeing, and destroying all those slander and malice, and reflecting those who fight me throughout my life; for my sins, ask for forgiveness, and present me to Christ, save me, and be vouchsafed to receive the Kingdom of Heaven for the abundance of that love for mankind, to which belongs all glory, honor and worship, with his beginningless Father, and with the Most Holy, Good and Life-Giving Spirit, now and ever and unto ages centuries.
Prayer six to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker
Oh, all-good Father Nicholas, shepherd and teacher of all who flow by faith to your intercession, and who call on you with warm prayer, quickly strive and deliver the flock of Christ from the wolves that destroy it, that is, from the invasion of the evil Latins who are rising against us.
Protect and preserve our country, and every country existing in Orthodoxy, with your holy prayers from worldly rebellion, the sword, the invasion of foreigners, from internecine and bloody warfare.
And just as you had mercy on three men imprisoned, and you delivered them from the king’s wrath and the beating of the sword, so have mercy and delivered the Orthodox people of Great, Little and White Rus' from the destructive heresy of the Latin.
For through your intercession and help, and through His mercy and grace, may Christ God look with His merciful eye on people who exist in ignorance, even though they have not known their right hand, especially young people, by whom the Latin seductions are spoken to turn away from the Orthodox faith, may he enlighten the minds of His people, may they not be tempted and fall away from the faith of their fathers, may their conscience, lulled by vain wisdom and ignorance, awaken and turn their will to the preservation of the holy Orthodox faith, may they remember the faith and humility of our fathers, may they live for the Orthodox faith who have laid down and accepted the warm prayers of His holy saints, who have shone in our land, keeping us from the delusion and heresy of the Latin, so that, having preserved us in holy Orthodoxy, He will grant us at His terrible Judgment to stand on the right hand 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 Rozhdestvensky, or Filippov, as it is also called, fast. On this day you can eat fish, but you cannot eat meat, eggs and other animal products.
Miracles of St. Nicholas
Nicholas the Wonderworker is considered the patron, intercessor and prayer book for sailors and, in general, 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 from the mast of a ship and fell to the deck, falling to his death.
Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh. Word, said at the all-night 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 this is: holiday about death... Usually, when death overtakes someone, we grieve and cry about it; and when a saint dies, we rejoice over it. How is this possible?
Perhaps this is only because when a sinner dies, those who remain have a heavy feeling on their hearts that the time has come for separation, at least temporarily. No matter how strong our faith is, no matter how much hope inspires us, no matter how confident we are that the God of love will never completely separate from each other those who love each other, even with imperfect, earthly love, it still remains sadness and longing that for many years we will not see the face, the expression of the eyes, shining at us with affection, we will not touch a dear person with a reverent hand, we will not hear his voice, bringing his affection and love to our hearts...
But our attitude towards the holy is not quite like that. Even those who were contemporaries of the saints, already during their lifetime, managed to realize that, living the fullness of heavenly life, the saint did not separate from the earth during his lifetime, and that when he rests in body, he will still remain in this mystery of the Church, uniting the living and the departed into one body, into one spirit, into one secret of eternal, Divine, conquering all life.
When they died, the saints could say, as Paul said: I have fought the good fight, I have kept the faith; now an eternal reward is prepared for me, now I myself am being made a sacrifice...
And this consciousness is not the head, but the consciousness of the heart, a living feeling of the heart that a saint cannot be absent from us (just as the risen Christ, who has become invisible to us, is not absent from 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, man born into eternal life. He did not die - but was born, entered into eternity, into all the space, into all the fullness of life. He is in anticipation of the new victory of life, which we all expect: the resurrection of the dead on the last day, when all the barriers of separation will fall, and when we will rejoice not only about the victory of eternity, but that God has returned the temporal to life - but in glory, new shining glory.
One of the ancient fathers of the Church, Saint Irenaeus of Lyons, says: the glory of God is a person who has become completely A person... The saints are such a glory to God; looking at them, we are amazed at what God can do to a person.
And so, we rejoice on the day of the death of the one who was on earth heavenly man and having entered eternity, he became a representative and prayer book for us, without 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 reaped St. Nicholas like a ripe ear of corn. Now he triumphs with God in heaven; and just as he loved the land and people, knew how to have pity, compassion, knew how to surround everyone and meet everyone with amazing affectionate, thoughtful care, so now he prays for us all, carefully, thoughtfully.
When you read his life, you are amazed that he not only cared about the spiritual; he took care of every human need, the most humble human needs. 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 Mirlikian flock loved 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 works: illness, and poverty, and deprivation, and disgrace, and fear, and sin, and joy, and hope, and love - everything found a living response in his deep heart. human heart. And he left us the image of a man who is the radiance of God’s beauty; he left us within himself, as it were, a living, active icon a genuine person.
But he left it to us not only so that we would rejoice, admire, and be amazed; He left his image for us 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, joyfully giving Him your soul, as if returning to your father’s house. When I was a young man, my father once told me: learn during your life to expect death as a young man anxiously awaits the arrival of his bride... This is how Saint Nicholas waited for the hour of death, when the death gates open, when all bonds fall, when the soul flutters him to freedom when he is given the opportunity to see 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, for that meeting with God, which will unite us not only with our Living God, with Christ who became man, but 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 there is judgment, and after judgment what? Unknown. Hell? Forgiveness?.. But that’s not about it fear of death the fathers said. The fathers said that if we remembered that in a moment we could die, how we would rush to do all the good that we can still do! If we constantly thought, anxiously, that the person standing next to us, to whom we can now do good or evil, might die - how quickly we would rush to take care of him! There would then be no need, neither great nor small, that would exceed our ability to devote our lives to a person who is about to die.
I have already said something about my father; Sorry - I'll say one more personal thing. My mother had been dying for three years; she knew it because I told her so. And when death entered our lives, it transformed life in 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 existed between us. And for three years there were no little things and there were no big things, but there was only a triumph of reverent, reverent love, where everything merged into the great, because all love can be contained in one word, and all love can be expressed in one movement; and that's how it should be.
The saints understood this not only in relation to one person, whom they loved especially affectionately and for some short years for which they had the courage. The saints knew how to live like this throughout their entire lives, day after day, hour after hour, in relation to every person, because in everyone they saw the image of God, a living icon, but - God! - sometimes such a desecrated, such a mutilated icon, which they contemplated with special pain and with special love, as we would contemplate an icon trampled into the dirt before our eyes. And each of us, through our sin, tramples the image of God in ourselves into the dirt.
Think about it. Think about how glorious, how wondrous death can be if only we live our lives like saints. They are people similar to us, differing from us only in courage and fire of spirit. If only we lived like them! And how rich mortal memory could be for us if, instead of being called, in our language, the fear of death, it were 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 a place where paradise is revealed, a place where God lives, a place where we are united in love, a place where everything the bad, the dead, the dark, the dirty was defeated, transformed, became light, became purity, became Divine.
May the Lord grant us to think about these images of saints, and not to each other, not even to ask ourselves about what to do, but to turn directly to them, to these saints, some of whom were at first robbers, sinners, people terrible for others, but who were able to perceive God with the greatness of their souls and grow into measure of the age of Christ. Let's ask them... What happened to you, Father Nicholas? What have you done, how have you revealed 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 vocation of a Christian.
A word spoken at the liturgy on the day of remembrance 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, we become especially reverent in serving and standing before the Divine Liturgy; because before he became the secret man of the apostles, Saint Nicholas was a genuine, true layman. The Lord Himself revealed that it was he who had to be 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 not a word in him, but was flesh. In our troparion we sing to him that he was rule of faith, image of meekness, teacher of abstinence; all this appeared to his flock as a matter of fact, as the radiance of his life, and not just as a verbal sermon. And he was still such a layman. And with such a feat, such love, such purity, such meekness, he acquired for himself the highest calling of the Church - to be appointed a 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 destiny), to stand among the Orthodox people like a living icon; so that, looking at him, one can see in his eyes the light of Christ’s love, in his actions one can see and experience with one’s own eyes Christ’s divine mercy.
We are all called to follow the same path. There are no two paths for a person: there is the path of holiness; the other path is the path 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 hearts, our thoughts, our lives, our flesh, that we can be, as it were, the embodied 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 over to God that each of us becomes, as it were, a temple where the Holy Spirit lives and works - both in us and through us.
We are called to be daughters and sons of our Heavenly Father; but not allegorically, not only because He treats us as a father treats his children. In Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit we are called to truly become His children, like Christ, sharing His sonship, receiving the Spirit of sonship, the Spirit of God, so that our lives are hidden with Christ in God.
We cannot achieve this without difficulty. The Fathers of the Church tell us: shed blood and you will receive the Spirit... We cannot ask God to dwell in us when we ourselves do not work to prepare for Him a holy, purified, 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 upon us, when He seeks us out 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 fight to overcome everything in oneself that is death, sin, untruth, impurity; in a word - to overcome, to defeat everything because of which Christ was crucified and killed on the Cross. Human sin killed Him - mine, and yours, and our common one; and if we do not overcome and overcome sin, then we commune either with those who, through negligence, coldness, indifference, frivolity, gave Christ up to be crucified, or with those who maliciously wanted to destroy Him, to erase Him from the face of the earth, because His appearance, His preaching , His personality was their condemnation.
To be a Christian is to be an ascetic; and yet it is impossible for us to be saved 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 wells up in us, so that we are His body, so that we are His presence, so that our word is 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 material temple. The material temple contains the presence of God, but is not permeated by it; and man is called to unite with God in the same way, as, according to the word of Saint Maximus the Confessor, fire penetrates, iron penetrates, one thing becomes with it, and one can (says Maxim) cut with fire and burn with iron, because it is no longer possible to distinguish where the combustion 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 ask and pray for it; we must be accepted by the Father, adopted, we must become, through God’s love for Christ, what Christ is for the Father: sons, daughters. How can we achieve this? The Gospel gives us the answer to this. Peter asks: Who can he be saved? - And Christ answers: What is impossible for man is possible for God...
By feat 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 for it with a sincere heart, if we want it, then God, Who wants salvation for us 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 dull spirit, with all the hope of our heart yearning for fullness, with all our faith, which 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 for Him to come. But at the same time, with all the strength of our soul, with all the strength of our body, we will prepare for Him a temple worthy of His coming: cleansed, dedicated to Him, protected from all untruth, malice and impurity. And then the Lord will come; and will perform, 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 children gifts on St. Nicholas Day, but more often on Christmas Day.
The origins of the tradition of giving gifts on behalf of Santa Claus is the story of the miracle that St. Nicholas the Pleasant performed. 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 need forced him to think something terrible - he wanted to send the girls into prostitution. The local archbishop, and Nicholas the Wonderworker served them, received a revelation from the Lord about what his parishioner was up to in despair. And he decided to save the family, secretly from everyone. One night he tied the gold coins that he inherited from his parents into a bundle and threw the bag to the poor man through the window. The daughters' father discovered the gift only in the morning and thought that it was Christ himself who had sent him the gift. With these funds, he married his eldest daughter to a good man.
Saint Nicholas rejoiced that his help brought good fruit, and also, secretly, he threw a second bag of gold out the window of the poor man. He used these funds to celebrate his middle daughter’s wedding.
The poor man was eager to find out who his benefactor was. He did not sleep at night and waited to see if he would come to help his third daughter? Saint Nicholas did not have to wait long. Hearing the ringing of a bundle of coins, the poor man caught up with the archbishop and recognized him as the saint. He 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 year, these holidays received popular names - Nikola Winter and Nikola Autumn.
St. Nicholas of the Spring (that is, spring), or St. Nicholas of the Summer, was the name given to the feast of the transfer of the relics of Saint and Wonderworker Nicholas from Myra in Lycia to Bari, which is celebrated on May 22 in the new style.
The phrase “Nicholas the Wet” comes from the fact that this saint in all centuries was considered the patron saint of sailors and, in general, all travelers. When the temple in the name of St. Nicholas the Pleasant was built by sailors (often in gratitude for the miraculous salvation on the waters), people called it “Nikola the Wet.”
Folk traditions of celebrating the day of memory of Nikolai Ugodnik
In Rus', Nicholas the Ugodnik was revered as the “elder” among the saints. Nikola was called “merciful”; Temples were built in his honor and children were named - from ancient times until the beginning of the 20th century, the name Kolya was the most popular among Russian boys.
About St. Nicholas the Winter (December 19), festive meals were held in the huts in honor of the holiday - fish pies were baked, mash and beer were brewed. The holiday was considered “old people’s”; the most respected people of the village pooled a rich table and had long conversations. And the youth indulged in winter entertainment - sledding, dancing in circles, singing songs, preparing for Christmas gatherings.
On St. Nicholas of the Summer, or Spring (May 22), peasants organized religious processions - they went to the fields with icons and banners, performed prayer services at wells - asked for rain.
In the folk calendar this holiday is called Nikola Veshny
Today we celebrate St. Nicholas, the Spring holiday of the folk calendar of the Eastern and some Southern Slavs, named after the Christian saint Nicholas the Wonderworker. Many different traditions were associated with this day in Russia.
Saint Nicholas, also known as Nicholas the Wonderworker, Nicholas the Pleasant and St. Nicholas, is revered in Christianity as a miracle worker. In the East he is considered the patron saint of travelers, prisoners and orphans, and in the West - primarily of children. Nicholas the Pleasant was one of the most revered, and according to many versions, the most revered Christian saint among the Eastern Slavs.
It is interesting that in the folk Christian calendar of the Eastern Slavs there are two holidays, each of which is sometimes called “St. Nicholas Day”. One of them, St. Nicholas the Winter, is celebrated on December 19, the day of the saint’s death and corresponds to the Day of St. Nicholas celebrated by all Christians. The second holiday is called Nikola Veshny or Nikola Summer. It is celebrated in memory of the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas from Myra in Lycia to Bari in 1087.
It is believed that in the minds of the Slavs, Nikolai the Wonderworker was associated with the epic hero, the bogatyr-plowman Mikula Selyaninovich, and Nikolai Veshny goes back, among other things, to the pre-Christian holiday of the Mother of the Raw Earth. This assumption is supported by another “folk” name for the holiday, “Mikula with food.” The name Mikula is a folk form of the name Nikolai.
On St. Nicholas the Great, it was customary to present Nicholas the Pleasant with eggs painted red, yellow, greenish, or scrambled eggs. In order to avoid drought and hail in the summer, on St. Nicholas Day it was customary for the eastern and southern Slavs to organize religious processions in the fields and prayer services at wells, accompanied by petitions for rain. It was customary for horse owners and livestock owners in general to carry out various protective rituals on St. Nicholas Day to protect animals from predators and other harms. In some places, so-called “Nikolshchina” were held - men’s gatherings at which shepherds and drovers were honored. Since Nikolai Ugodnik was revered as the patron of fertility, the so-called “walks to life” were timed to coincide with his holiday.
Folk omens say that if an alder tree blooms on St. Nicholas Veshny, then you can sow buckwheat, and if you can clearly hear frogs croaking in the swamps, then oats will be born.
May is rich in church festivities. This month marks the day of remembrance of one of the most revered saints - St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. Scarce information about the life of St. Nicholas has reached us. It is known that he was born around 250 into a wealthy Christian family living in the Lycian city of Patras. From infancy, Nicholas performed various miracles. They testify that during his baptism, as an infant, he stood on his feet for several hours. And in his adolescence, Nikolai decided to devote himself to serving God. During a pilgrimage to Palestine, Nicholas the Wonderworker managed to tame a terrible sea storm, save the ship and resurrect one of the dead sailors, and also bring back to life 3 little boys killed during a famine by the owner of the inn.
The day of the funeral of Nicholas of Myra on December 19 is also the day of his memory. This day is popularly called Winter Nikolai.
Upon returning to his homeland, thanks to his devoted service to the Christian faith, Nicholas received the rank of archbishop and entered the history of Christianity under the name of Nicholas of Myra, that is, Nicholas of Myra in Lycia. He lived to an old age and died in Myra around 350.
Transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas to Bari
In 1087, the Saracens raided the eastern regions of the Roman Empire. They devastated Lycia, the homeland of Nicholas the Pleasant, and the city of Myra, where his episcopal see was located, and where St. Nicholas was buried.
The city of Bari was located in the south of Italy, in Apulia, which had long been inhabited by Greeks. In the 11th century, power in Apulia belonged to the Normans, who did not interfere in the religious life of the local population. One of the clergy of the city of Bari had a vision in which Saint Nicholas appeared to him and ordered him to be reburied in Bari.
Nicholas the Pleasant should pray for a successful marriage, happiness of children, deliverance from material need and illness, as well as for the performance of a miracle.
Immediately, the city residents equipped 3 ships, which delivered the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker from Myra in Lycia to the city of Bari. On May 9, 1087, old style (or May 22, new style), the relics in a richly decorated shrine were solemnly placed in the Church of John the Baptist in Bari. And after 3 years, a temple of St. Nicholas was erected in the city, where the relics of the saint were transferred.
May St. Nicholas Day was considered a good and cheerful holiday in Rus'. People used to say: “Call your friend and foe to Nikola - all will be friends.” There are many signs associated with this day. For example, rain on Nikola is considered great
Twice a year in the Christian world the holiday of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker takes place (May 22 and December 19). There are many signs, rituals and traditions associated with this holiday. Nicholas is revered as a great miracle worker who is able to cure diseases. Most often, poor, homeless and sick people ask him for help, because only he is able to help them. People have long believed that on May 22, warm and pleasant spring weather comes to the Feast of the Wonderworker.
Story
Saint Nicholas is a great saint of God, a saint and a miracle worker. He died in the middle of the 4th century. His name is known in all corners of the globe. Temples, cathedrals, and monasteries were and continue to be named in honor of the saint. It is difficult to find a city in Russia that does not have St. Nicholas Church or the Church of St. Nicholas.
The relics of the saint were kept in the Lycian Cathedral until difficult times came in Greece at the end of the 8th century. The Turks constantly ravaged its territories, plundered and burned cities, and desecrated holy places. They sought to destroy the remains of St. Nicholas, whom all Christian people deeply revered. In 1087, residents of the city of Bar came to Myra specifically to take the relics of the saint. To do this, they had to tie up the monk guards. On May 8, the ship arrived in the city, and the next day the saint’s relics were solemnly brought into the Church of St. Stephen, where they remain to this day.
What cannot be done on the church holiday of May 22, and what should be done?
On the church holiday of St. Nicholas the Pleasant on May 22, under no circumstances should you do everything just for yourself. A person who rejects a request for help on this day will be haunted by failure and losses for seven years. It is believed that on this holiday you need to do at least five good deeds, and then the year will be successful. The benefits of May 22 are simple, but needed by those who are poor and hungry, writes the Ros-Registr website. Give toys and sweets to children in need.
Bake delicious cookies and give the treats to the children in the yard. Sprinkle the corners of your home with holy water, and the year will be happy and rich. After praying, ask Nikolai for something good and good, and your wish will come true, although not immediately. Help an orphan or a beggar with clothes, food and money, and your action will please St. Nicholas the Pleasant. In the evening, have fun, dance, set a festive table, invite your children and their friends to visit you. On May 22, you need to have fun and help other people in every possible way.
May 22: signs and beliefs
- Rain on Nikola Veshniy means a good harvest.
- If the frogs croak at Nikola, then the oats will be good.
- Before St. Nicholas, don’t shear sheep, don’t drink buckwheat, don’t swim in ponds.
- A dream from May 21 to May 22 will come true for people born on this day. A dream seen on the day of May 22 will come true in 5 years, when you will already have forgotten about it.
Prayer to Nicholas the Wonderworker
Oh, all-holy Nicholas, exceedingly saintly servant of the Lord, our warm intercessor, and everywhere in sorrow a quick helper!
Help me, a sinner and sad person in this present life, beg the Lord God to grant me forgiveness of all my sins, which I have sinned greatly from my youth, in all my life, in deed, word, thought and all my feelings; and at the end of my soul, help me the accursed, beg the Lord God, the Creator of all creation, to deliver me from airy 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 unto ages of ages.
Amen.
Commemoration of the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, also known as St. Nicholas the Pleasant.
Nicholas the Wonderworker (Nikolai Ugodnik) is known for a huge number of miraculous deeds and healings. There is an icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in every church. Nicholas in the icon is depicted as an old man in a church vestment with gray hair and a beard, a stern, but at the same time merciful look. The saint holds the Gospel in his hands, calling for light, peace and faith.
The story of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker
Nikolai Ugodnik was born in 270 in the city of Patara, which was a Greek colony. His parents were wealthy people and happily helped the poor. Since childhood, Nikolai strove to go to church and was preparing to become a priest. After the death of his parents, he gave away his entire fortune and became a clergyman.
When Nicholas the Wonderworker was ordained archbishop, he tried to help absolutely everyone, for which ordinary people loved him very much. Nicholas the Wonderworker died in the middle of the fourth century, having lived to about 80 years of age.
Prayer to Nicholas the Wonderworker
The meaning of the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker
The icon of St. Nicholas acts differently for all people. It depends on the situation and what the person is asking for. The icon serves as a symbol or talisman of protection. There are several prayers to the Saint; all that remains is for a person to choose the one he needs. The icon helps: in marriage, in fulfilling desires, in getting rid of illnesses or troubles.
The captured image of the Saint with sincere prayer will help get rid of mental suffering, support in case of unlawful conviction, mortal danger, problems at work, and you can also get an answer to your questions. We can say that the image of St. Nicholas the Pleasant comes first and is not inferior in importance to the icon of the Mother of God.
Where should the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker stand?
Since ancient times, icons have been placed in the red corner, where there is more sun. This place was beautiful and elegant. It is recommended to keep icons of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, the Mother of God and the Guardian Angel, whose name the person bears, indoors. Very often, parents place an icon of the Saint in the children's room.