Celebration of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker on May 22. Feast of Nicholas Summer (Transfer of the relics of Nicholas the Wonderworker). When the memory of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker is celebrated
Today, May 22, according to Orthodox traditions, the feast of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker is celebrated, popularly called Nicholas Letny.
Saint Nicholas is one of the most beloved saints; many churches have been erected in his honor. In every house there was necessarily an icon of the saint, in front of it inextinguishable lamps were lit, in front of it they prayed for a successful marriage, for travelers, seafarers, for deliverance from slander. The Orthodox Church commemorates St. Nicholas every week: on Thursdays every week along with the apostles.
Day of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker May 22, 2018: customs, traditions, folk signs
According to legend, St. Nicholas was born in the second half of the 3rd century in the city of Patara in Lycia (a historical region in Asia Minor) into a family of pious parents. Until a ripe old age, they did not have children and in unceasing prayer they asked the Almighty to give them a son, promising to devote him to serving God. Their prayer was heard: a son was born, who at baptism received the name Nicholas, which means in Greek "conquering people".
The young man was brought up under the guidance of his uncle, a local bishop. As a calling, Nicholas chose to serve God. Having worked his way up from a junior church minister to a bishop, he became archbishop of the city of Myra in Lycia. Nikolai was distinguished by his love and compassion for people, he helped the poor and disadvantaged, giving away almost all the money he received. For himself, he kept only the essentials.
Once Nicholas secretly threw three bundles of gold into the house of a man who was in an extremely difficult situation and had to marry his three daughters to unloved suitors. The man fell into despair and decided to sacrifice the honor of his daughters and from their beauty to extract the funds necessary for a dowry. Saint Nicholas, vigilantly following the needs of his flock, received a revelation from God about his father's criminal intent and decided to deliver him from poverty and spiritual destruction. At midnight he threw gold through the window, and hurriedly returned home. The father thanked God and was soon able to marry his eldest daughter. The second time St. Nicholas was a good deed, and for the third time the father decided at all costs to recognize his secret benefactor and to thank him: when the saint threw the third bundle, his father caught up with him and fell at his feet, but the saint, out of deep humility, ordered not to tell anyone about what happened.
For his meekness and kindness, Saint Nicholas won the great love of the people.
As stated in the life of Saint Nicholas, he made a journey to Jerusalem. Having reached the ancient city, the saint, having ascended to Golgotha, gave thanks to the Savior of the human race and went around all the holy places, worshiping and saying prayer. There is a legend that while visiting the holy places of Palestine, Saint Nicholas wished to pray one night in the church; went to the doors that were locked, and the doors opened themselves so that the Chosen One of God could enter the temple.
Returning to Lycia, the saint wanted to leave the world for the Zion monastery, but the Lord announced a different path awaiting him: "Nikolai, this field is not here where you must bear the fruit that I expect; go from here and go into the world, to people, that my name may be glorified in you! "
Obeying, Saint Nicholas withdrew from the monastery and chose as his place of residence not his own city of Patara, where everyone knew him and honored him, but the big city of Myra, the capital and metropolis of the Lycian land, where, unknown to anyone, he could rather escape worldly glory. He lived like a beggar, had no place to lay his head, but inevitably attended all church services. After the death of Archbishop John, he was elected bishop of Myra in Lycia, after one of the bishops of the Council, who was deciding the question of election, was indicated in a vision the chosen one of God - Saint Nicholas.
Having become an archbishop, Nicholas remained the same great ascetic, showing the flock the image of meekness and love for people. This was especially dear for the Lycian Church during the persecution of Christians under the emperor Diocletian (284-305). Bishop Nicholas, imprisoned along with other Christians, supported them and exhorted them to firmly endure bonds, torture and torment. When Equal to the Apostles Constantine came to power, Saint Nicholas returned to his flock.
Another significant event in the life of St. Nicholas became the I Ecumenical Council, convened by Emperor Constantine in 325, when the heresy of Aria was spreading. (He rejected the deity of Christ and did not recognize Him as Consubstantial with the Father.) There is a legend that during one of the council meetings, unable to endure the blasphemy of Arius, Saint Nicholas struck this heretic on the cheek. The Fathers of the Council considered such an act unseemly and deprived Saint Nicholas of his episcopal rank and imprisoned him in a prison tower. But soon many of them had a vision, when before their eyes our Lord Jesus Christ gave Saint Nicholas the Gospel, and Holy Mother of God put an omophorion on him. Then St. Nikolai was released, he was returned to his rank.
Even the Muslim Turks have deep respect for the saint: in the tower they still carefully keep the prison where this great man was imprisoned.
Having reached a ripe old age, in 345 Saint Nicholas died peacefully.
According to legend, his relics were kept incorrupt in the local cathedral church and exuded a healing ointment. In the 11th century, the Turks began their attacks on the Greek Empire, during which the shrines of Christians - temples, relics and icons - were desecrated. There was an attempt to desecrate and the relics of St. Nicholas, but a terrible storm with thunder and lightning did not allow this to be done.
In 1087, the merchants of the Italian city of Bari removed the relics of St. Nicholas from Myra in Lycia. They explained their act by the desire to save the Christian shrine from destruction by the Muslim Turks, who at that time were rampaging in the possessions of the Greek Empire in Asia Minor. There is also a legend that Nicholas appeared in a dream to one priest from the city of Bari and ordered to transfer his relics to this city.
Three ships were equipped to carry the relics. Elders and noble townspeople disguised as merchants went to Myra. Simultaneously with the inhabitants of Bari, the Venetians also went to Myra, who also wanted to transport the relics of Nicholas to themselves.
The inhabitants of Bari arrived in Lycian land by roundabout routes, through Egypt and Palestine. At first, they tried to bribe the monks and take the relics. But the monks began to resist, and then the gentlemen used force. The tomb was opened and the relics were transported to Bari. The journey lasted 20 days and ended on May 9 (May 22, new style).
The celebration of the transfer of the relics of Nicholas the Pleasant to the Church of St. Stephen in Bari was accompanied by numerous healings of the sick. A year later, a church was specially built in the city in the name of St. Nicholas, which was consecrated by Pope Urban II.
The Monk Nestor the Chronicler testifies that the first church in the name of Saint Nicholas in Russia was built in Kiev as early as 882 - before the official adoption of Christianity.
Church tradition keeps testimonies of the many miracles performed through the prayers of Nicholas. The legend about how Nikolai Mirlikisky saved three innocent convicts from death inspired Ilya Repin to paint a picture. The hallmarks of the saint's icon depict the miracles that entered his biography.
But it is not only in books and chronicles that one can read about the miracles of the saint: even today the saint, as always, helps those who turn to him with prayer, and the miracles of the saint today occur no less frequently than in former times..
Based on the facts of Saint Nicholas' lifetime help to all the poor and needy, people turn to him in difficult material circumstances, and help comes unexpectedly soon.
Maidens and married women pray to St. Nicholas about how to get married safely and live with your spouse in love and harmony.
Drivers, sailors and travelers alike pray to avoid hazards on the road.
There are many known cases when St. Nikolai rescued drowning people.
Often they resort to the saint as a defender of the unjustly offended and slandered.
Traditions and customs on the day of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker
The Feast of St. Nicholas Veshny is celebrated in all parishes: prayers are held in his honor and religious processions... Earlier, parishioners asked the saint for help in fighting the drought: processions of the cross often ended at wells and in the fields.
Believers on the day of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker prefer fish dishes and try to give up meat and eggs. In the evening, it is recommended that the whole family read a prayer of thanksgiving for intercession.
The holiday is timed to coincide with the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas from Mira to Italian Bari and is not associated with any tragic events, therefore it is recommended to celebrate it joyfully and cheerfully.
The text of the prayer to Nicholas the Wonderworker.
O all-holy Nicholas, the most splendid saint of the Lord, our warm intercessor and everywhere in sorrow, fast helper! Help me, sinful and sad, in the present life, Pray the Lord God for the granting of me the forgiveness of all my sins, Eliko who sinned from my youth, in all my life, in deed, word, thought and all my feelings; And at the end of my soul, help me, to the accursed one, Pray the Lord God, all the creatures of the Souderer, Deliver me airy ordeals and eternal torment; Yes, I always glorify the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, And your merciful intercession, Now and ever, and forever and ever. Amen!
Folk traditions and signs
Most of all, this holiday is known by the people as Nikola Veshniy. Due to the fact that the transfer was made in the spring. Saint Nicholas is an image of meekness, an intercessor for the unjustly persecuted, an assistant to the poor, a liberator of all people who have fallen into "sorrowful circumstances": the patron saint of seafarers and travelers. He is especially loved and revered. His image hangs in each temple.
This is one of the most revered holidays. Nikola the Wonderworker is the protector and patron of the people. Two holidays a year are dedicated to the good miracle worker Nicholas: Veshniy and Winter (December 19). "One is herbal, the other is frosty."
Nicola is considered the closest saint to God. He is the mediator between God and people. They pray to him, calling on him for help. “Saint Nicholas the Pleasant! Help me, Holy Wonderworker! Cover me with your miracle and save me from all misfortunes! "
During storms on the waters, sailors carried the miraculous image of St. Nicholas to the deck and prayed to him for their salvation. "Nikola will save the sea, Nikola lifts the cart for the peasant."
Day of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker May 22, 2018: what can be done, what cannot be done
Nikola's Day is considered a men's holiday. This is a ceremonial holiday. Nikola is revered as the patron saint of horses. On this day, "the guys go to the night for the first time." Prayers were ordered to preserve the herds.
They say among the people: "from Nikola there are 12 cold matinees, which can be in the spring, or even until September 14". "From Nikola Veshny plant potatoes." "Since Nikola, the average sowing time for spring crops" (these data correspond to the old style, ie May 9). "Until saint. Nikola not this buckwheat, do not shear the sheep. " "Alder has blossomed - this buckwheat."
The end of spring. The beginning of the Prelet (from May 22 to June 10). There may be thunderstorms, rains. "The rain in May raises bread." Lilacs are blooming. Yellow acacia and bare elm bloom. The orchards are in bloom of cherry, apple, plum, pear, irgi, writes C-ib. Lilies of the valley, dandelions, forget-me-nots are blooming. Time of collecting dandelions for medicinal purposes, cooking medicinal jam.
What are the signs associated with this day
Saint Nicholas is a very revered saint among Christians all over the world. People have long believed that he takes care of and helps all wanderers, those who are far from home, sailors and travelers, and, of course, children.
In the year, there are two big holidays dedicated to St. Nicholas, in winter, December 19 - the favorite of both adults and children, St. Nicholas Day, and in summer - May 22.
The spring holiday dedicated to the saint has long had many names: Nicholas the Wonderworker, Nicholas the Summer, Nicholas Veshniy, Nicholas with Warmth, Grassy Day, Nicholas the Merciful, the Sea ...
What not to do
It is believed that on St. Nicholas Day nothing can be done for yourself - only for those who need your help.
Nicholas should not be denied to anyone who asks you for help, otherwise you will endure poverty, disaster and losses for seven years for refusal.
What to do, especially for women
Any work is encouraged on this day: around the house, around the house, in the garden and in the garden.
The hostesses on this day tried to put things in order in the house, from the very morning they began to do general cleaning, since the saint does not like disorder.
Pay off all debts, otherwise poverty and misery
By the day of St. Nicholas, they tried to pay off all debts, otherwise it was believed that there would be no financial success all year.
It's a good omen if it's raining on Nikolai.
Morning dew on Nikolai is considered curative, they try to wash with it for beauty and health, walk barefoot on the grass.
It has long been believed that Saint Nicholas patronizes lovers, so newlyweds and those who were going to play a wedding asked for protection and help from the saint.
Unmarried girls wondered about the betrothed on this holiday and asked the Pleasant to send them a good groom, a kind and faithful husband, a happy family life and children.
On this day, there was a ban on picking up scissors, and now there is a sign not to have a haircut for Nikolai.
There is no fasting on this day. However, it was on Nicholas Letny, or Veshny (May 22) that the Orthodox organized processions of the cross - with icons and banners they went into the fields, performed prayers at the wells (asked for rain).
Traditionally, it is customary to give gifts to "winter" Nicholas, that is, on December 19. In the spring, on May 22, you can congratulate in words or send a postcard to a dear person.
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May is rich in church festivities. This month marks the commemoration day of one of the most revered saints - Nicholas the Wonderworker. Scant information about the life of St. Nicholas has reached us. It is known that he was born about 250 in a wealthy Christian family who lived in the Lycian city of Patras. From infancy, Nicholas performed various miracles. They testify that during baptism, as an infant, he stood for several hours on his feet. And in adolescence, Nicholas 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 innkeeper.
The day of the funeral of Nikolai Mirlikisky on December 19 is also the day of his memory. This day is popularly called Winter Nicholas.
Upon returning to his homeland, thanks to his devoted service to the Christian faith, Nicholas received an archbishop's rank and entered the history of Christianity under the name of Nicholas of Mirlikia, that is, Nicholas of Myra of Lycia. He lived to a ripe old age and died in Mira 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 both Lycia, the homeland of Nicholas the Pleasant, and the city of Myra, where his episcopal see was, and where Saint Nicholas was buried.
The city of Bari was located in the south of Italy, in Apulia, which has 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 priests 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, the happiness of children, deliverance from material needs and diseases, as well as for a miracle.
Immediately, the inhabitants of the city equipped 3 ships that delivered the relics of Nicholas the Wonderworker from Myra of Lycia to the city of Bari. On May 9, 1087 according to the old style (or on May 22, according to the new), the relics in a richly decorated shrine were solemnly placed in the Church of John the Baptist in Bari. And after 3 years, the church of St. Nicholas was erected in the city, where the relics of the saint were transferred.
May Nikolin day was considered a kind and cheerful holiday in Russia. The people said: "Call your friend and your foe to Nicholas - all friends will be." Many signs are associated with this day. For example, the rain on Nikola is considered great
In the folk calendar, this holiday is called Nikola Veshniy
Today Nikola is celebrated. The vernal holiday of the folk calendar of the Eastern and some southern Slavs, named in honor of the Christian Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker. Many different traditions were associated with this day on the territory of Russia.
Saint Nicholas, also known as Nicholas the Wonderworker, Nicholas the Pleasant and Saint Nicholas, is revered in Christianity he is revered as a miracle worker. In the East, he is considered the patron saint of travelers, prisoners and orphans, and in the West - primarily 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, Nicholas 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 Veshniy 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, Nicholas the Wonderworker was associated with the epic hero, heroic plowman Mikula Selyaninovich, and Nikola Veshny goes back, among other things, to the pre-Christian holiday of the Mother of the Raw Earth. This assumption is supported by another "popular" name of the holiday, "Mikula with food". The name Mikula is the folk form of the name Nikolai.
On Nikolay Veshny it was customary to present to Nikolai the Pleasant eggs painted red, yellow, greenish, or scrambled eggs. In order to avoid drought and hail in summer, on Nikolin day, it was customary for the Eastern and Southern Slavs to arrange processions of the cross to the fields and prayers at the wells, accompanied by petitions for rain. It was customary for horsemen and livestock owners in general to conduct various protective rituals on Nikolin's day to protect animals from predators and other troubles. In some places, the so-called "nikolshchina" were held - men's gatherings, at which the shepherds and drovers were honored. Since Nicholas the Pleasure was revered as the patron saint of fertility, the so-called "walks to the zhito" were timed to his holiday.
Folk signs say that if alder has bloomed on Nikola Veshny, then you can sow buckwheat, and if you can hear the frogs croaking in the swamps, then oats will be born.
One of the most revered saints in Orthodoxy. He is considered a protector common people, patron saint of navigation, trade and agriculture. The memory of Nicholas the Wonderworker is honored with two major holidays, one of which falls on May 22 and is associated with the transfer in 1087 of the relics of the saint from Myra in Lycia to the city of Bar (Italy), and the second - December 19 - is the Day of the death of Nicholas and is celebrated as the day of finding Church of the new heavenly patron.
Saint Nicholas the Pleasant was called the miracle worker for the innumerable number of miraculous healings and resurrection from the dead, for the ability to tame and subjugate the sea element, for other miracles that occurred even when he was prayed to him. The love of the people and the immense authority of Saint Archbishop Nicholas are inextricably linked with his bright faith, as well as with sensitivity to the requests of people, with his prompt and merciful help.
On Saint Nicholas Day
I want to wish well
To help and support
It was from the Saint to you.
He will hear all the prayers
In difficult times it will strengthen you
Believe, sincerely love,
He will reward you with happiness.
Today is Saint Nicholas Day,
Let the holiday bring you only light!
I wish you good, health,
Let the soul sing for joy!
May Nikolai make his dreams come true
So that your life seems like magic!
Let happiness shine in your eyes
Congratulations on Nikolin's day, on the beginning of summer! We wish the warmth of this bright holiday to warm the soul, so that the mercy of God does not leave you and your home, and our intercessor, Nicholas the Wonderworker, will help you in all your endeavors.
Today, on St. Nicholas Day,
Wishing you health, wishing you joy,
I also want to wish you happiness
So that you never know grief and misfortune!
May May rage in the heart and soul
Love and tenderness flow over the edge
Saint Nicholas may help in life,
And let him inspire you for good deeds!
Nikolin the day goes with warmth
And the bell sings in the church.
Pray to the Wonderworker
Let him take care of you all your life.
On Nikolin day to you with kindness
Let happiness enter the house
May faith in the Lord Christ
It will be pure in your soul.
Lord bless you
Nikola will protect you from troubles.
On the day of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker
We wish you great miracles
May wishes come true
May happiness grow to heaven
May Nicholas the Holy Pleasure
Will bring great joy
And to everyone who piously believes in a miracle,
Let you be lucky!
On Saint Nicholas Day,
I wish you happiness.
May May bring joy
Nikolay will be nearby.
May the Saint always help
Let the sadness not gnaw at you
Let him help with advice,
Let him give all the answers.
Turn to him with prayer
With a pure and open heart,
He will always hear you
And he will send help from above.
Nikolin day, the day of the Wonderworker,
Spring gives us miracles
The door is open to us today -
God hears our voices.
Let's be a little kinder
Love God with your heart with all -
And the world will become a little nicer to us,
And we will live without problems!
Nikolin's day has come
Congratulations on that.
Let your sorrow be away
Warm wind blows.
Let there be grace
You and loved ones.
To make the heart beat to the beat
Fluttering leaves.
Quickly leave your business
Let the body rest.
For barbecue, wine and songs,
Take it boldly!
I wish on St. Nicholas Day
Spring warmth and inspiration,
So that life is forever more beautiful than May,
So that the mood is always bright!
Let all dreams come true
And every moment will be filled with good!
I wish you a radiant smile
As if the sun is in the blue sky!
Nikolin spring day
Meet joyfully
May hearts love
May will fill us.
May our prayers
Heaven will hear
Saint Nicholas to us
Will give miracles.
Let him give healing
He is soul and body,
Will give love, hope
Will strengthen our faith.
You are on Nikolin's day
I wish you happiness
Let the good deeds
The saint blesses.
Congratulations: 46 in verse, 6 in prose.
AdvertisingToday, May 22 is the Day of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. The night before, a particle of the relics of Nicholas the Wonderworker was delivered from Bari, Italy, to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow.
On May 22, 2017, St. Nicholas is popularly worshiped. According to the national calendar, there are two holidays in the year dedicated to Nicholas the Wonderworker - Nicholas winter on December 19 and Nicholas spring (summer) - May 22.
Nicholas the Wonderworker is also revered in the West, and in Russia even people far from the Church know Nicholas the Pleasant as the saint most revered by the Russian people. In addition to special holidays dedicated to him, the Church celebrates the memory of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker every Thursday. Saint Nicholas is often commemorated at divine services and on other days of the week.
Nicholas the Wonderworker: what helps
Saint Nicholas is especially revered for the miracles that occur through prayers to them. Nicholas the Wonderworker was revered as a quick assistant to sailors and other travelers, merchants, unjustly convicted and children.
Many churches and monasteries are dedicated to Nicholas the Benefactor in Russia, in honor of his name, Saint Patriarch Photius baptized the Kiev 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 Saint Nicholas on Russian soil.
Folk traditions
In Russia, Nicholas the Pleasant was considered the "senior" among the saints. He was called "merciful", temples were built in his honor and children were named.
On Nicholas the Winter, people arranged festive meals - they baked pies with fish, brewed home brew and beer, and on Nicholas Letniy, or Veshny, the peasants organized religious processions - they went to the fields with icons and banners, performed prayers at the wells - asked for rain.
When the memory of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker is celebrated
Saint Nicholas in the Orthodox church calendar not one holiday is dedicated. On December 19, in a new style, the day of the saint's death is remembered, August 11 - his birth. The people called these two holidays Nikola Winter and Nikola Autumn. On May 22, believers remember the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker from Myra in Lycia to Bari, which took place in 1087. In Russia, this day was named Nikola Veshniy (that is, spring), or Nikola Letny.
All these holidays are intransient, that is, their dates are fixed.
How does Nikolai 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 has been revered as a quick assistant to sailors and other travelers, merchants, unjustly convicted children 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 claustranslated from English. - St Nicholas). Santa Claus gives children gifts for Christmas.
Life (biography) of Nicholas the Wonderworker
Nicholas the Pleasant was born in 270 in the town of Patara, which was located in the Lycia region in Asia Minor and was a Greek colony. The parents of the future archbishop were very wealthy people, but at the same time they believed in Christ and actively helped the poor.
As the life says, the saint completely devoted himself to the faith from childhood, spent a lot of time in the church. Having matured, he became a reader, and then a priest in the church, where his uncle, Bishop Nicholas of Patarsky, served as the rector.
After the death of his parents, Nicholas the Wonderworker distributed all his inheritance to the poor and continued his church ministry. In the years when the attitude of the Roman emperors towards Christians became more tolerant, but the persecution nevertheless continued, he ascended the episcopal throne in Mir. Now this town is called Demre, it is located in the province of Antalya in Turkey.
People loved the new archbishop very much: he was kind, meek, fair, responsive - not a single request to him remained unanswered. With all this, Nicholas was remembered by his contemporaries as an implacable fighter against paganism - he destroyed idols and temples, and the defender of Christianity - denounced heretics.
During his lifetime, the saint became famous for many miracles. He saved the city of Mira from a terrible famine - with his fervent prayer to Christ. He prayed and thus helped drowning sailors on ships, led unjustly convicted people out of captivity in prisons.
Nikolai the Pleasant lived to a ripe old age and died around 345-351 - the exact date is unknown.
The relics of St. Nicholas
Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker departed to the Lord in 345-351 - the exact date is unknown. His relics were incorruptible. At first, they rested in the cathedral church of the city of Myra in Lycia, where he served as archbishop. They streamed myrrh, and 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 salvation 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 kept in this basilica to this day. A few years later, the rest of the relics were transported to Venice, and a small particle remained in Mira.
In honor of the transfer of the relics of Nicholas the Ugodnik, a special holiday was established, which in Russian Orthodox Church celebrated on May 22 in a new style.
Veneration of St. Nicholas in Russia
Many churches and monasteries are dedicated to Nicholas the Benefactor in Russia. In his name, Saint Patriarch Photius baptized in 866 the Kiev prince Askold, the very first Russian Christian prince. Over the grave of Askold in Kiev, St. 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 Mir of Lycia. Veliky Novgorod, Zaraysk, Kiev, Smolensk, Pskov, Galich, Arkhangelsk, Tobolsk and many others. In the Moscow province, three Nikolsky monasteries were built - Nikolo-Greek (Old) - in Kitay-gorod, Nikolo-Perervinsky and Nikolo-Ugreshsky. In addition, Nikolskaya is named one of the main towers of the Moscow Kremlin.
Iconography of St. Nicholas
The iconography of St. Nicholas took shape in the X-XI centuries. The most ancient 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 - height and waist. One of the classic examples of a full-length icon is a fresco from the Mikhailovsky Golden-Domed Monastery in Kiev, 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.
The 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 on Sinai dates back to the 11th century. In Russia, the earliest surviving such image belongs to the end of the 12th century. Ivan the Terrible brought him from Novgorod the Great and laid him in the Smolensk Cathedral of the Novodevichy Convent. Now this icon can be seen in the Tretyakov Gallery.
Icon painters also created the hagiographic icons of Nicholas the Ugodnik, that is, depicting various scenes from the life of the saint - sometimes up to twenty different subjects. The oldest such icons in Russia are the Novgorod one from the Luboni churchyard (XIV century) and the Kolomna one (now kept in the Tretyakov Gallery).
Troparionsaint Nicholas the Wonderworker
voice 4
The rule of faith and the image of meekness, abstinence of the teacher reveal the truth to your flock even more than things: for this, you have acquired a high humility, rich in poverty. Father Superior Nicholas, pray to Christ God for our souls to be saved.
Transfer:
By the rule of faith, an example of meekness, abstinence as a teacher, your life has shown you to your flock. And therefore you have acquired greatness by humility, wealth - by poverty: Father Nicholas, the hierarch, pray to Christ God for the salvation of our souls.
Kontakion to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker
voice 3
In Mirekh, the holy one, the priest appeared to be: Christ's more, venerable, having fulfilled the Gospel, you laid down your soul about your people, and you saved the innocent from death; For this reason, thou art sanctified, as the great mystery of God's grace.
Transfer:
In Worlds you, saint, became the performer of sacred rites: having fulfilled the gospel teaching of Christ, you laid down, saint, your soul for your people and innocent, delivered from death. Therefore, he was sanctified as a great minister of the mysteries of God's grace.
First Prayer to Nicholas the Pleasant
Oh, all-holy Nicholas, the most splendid Lord, our warm intercessor, and everywhere in sorrow a quick helper!
Help me sinful and sad in this present life, pray to the Lord God for granting me the forgiveness of all my sins, greatly sinned from my youth, in all my life, in deed, word, thought and all my feelings; and at the end of my soul, help the accursed one, pray to the Lord God, all creatures of the Souteur, to save 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 forever and forever.
Second Prayer to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker
O all valiant, great miracle worker, Saint of Christ, Father Nicholas!
We pray to you, wake up the hope of all Christians, the faithful protector, the hungry for the feeder, the weeping joy, the sick doctor, the ruler floating on the sea, the poor and the orphaned the feeder and the fast helper and patron of everyone, may we live our life in a peaceful place, and may we be able to see the glory of God's chosen ones in heaven , and with them ceaselessly sing the praises of the one God who is being thundered in the Trinity for ever and ever. Amen.
Third Prayer to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker
O all-honorable and all-pious bishop, great Miracle-worker, Holy Hierarch of Christ, Father Nicholas, the man of God and faithful servant, the husband of desires, the chosen vessel, the strong pillar of the church, the bright lamp, the star shining and illuminating the entire universe: you are a righteous man, like a prosperous fig. in the courtyards of his Lord, living in the Worlds, thou art fragrant with peace, and exuding the ever-flowing peace of God's grace.
With your procession, holy father, the sea will be illuminated, when your many miraculous relics will march to the city of Barsky, praise the name of the Lord from east to west.
O graceful and delightful Miracle-worker, quick helper, warm intercessor, kindhearted shepherd, saving the verbal flock from all troubles, we glorify you and we magnify you, as the hope of all Christians, the source of miracles, the protector of the faithful, the wise teacher, hungry for the feeder, crying joy, naked clothes , the sick doctor, the steward floating on the sea, the captives of the liberator, the widows and orphans of the feeder and intercessor, the chastity of the keeper, the infants of the meek punisher, the old fortification, the fasting mentor, the laborers of rapture, the poor and the poor, abundant wealth.
Hear us, praying to you, and running under your roof, show your intercession for us to the Most High, and pursue your God-pleasing prayers, all useful to the salvation of our souls and bodies: save this holy abode (or this temple), every city and all, and every Christian country, and people living from every bitterness with your help:
We are, we are, as the prayer of the righteous can do a lot, advancing towards the good: for you, the righteous, according to the blessed Virgin Mary, the representative to the All-Merciful God of the Imams, and to yours, gracious father, warm intercession and intercession we humbly flow: you observe us kindly as cheerful and Shepherd, from all enemies, destruction, cowardice, hail, gladness, 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, you are unworthy to see the height of heaven, from many of our unrighteousness, bound by sinful bonds, and neither the will of our Creator was created nor the preservation of his commands.
In the same way, we bow the broken and humble knee of our heart to our Creator, and we ask your fatherly intercession to Him:
Help us, the Servant of God, so that we do not perish with our iniquities, deliver us from all evil, and from every thing that resists, control our mind and strengthen our heart in the right faith, in it by your intercession and intercession, neither by wounds, nor by rebuke, nor by pestilence, no anger will let me live in this age, and will save me from standing, and will vouch for the desnago with all the saints. Amen.
Fourth Prayer 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 your quick intercession for help; see us weak, caught up everywhere, deprived of all good, and darkened in mind from cowardice; begging, please, God's saint, do not leave us in sinful captivity to be, may we not be our enemy for joy and not die in our crafty deeds.
Pray for us unworthy of our Sister and the Lord, to him you stand before with incorporeal faces: mercifully create our God in our present life and in the future, may he not reward us according to our deeds and according to the uncleanness of our hearts, but according to his goodness he will reward us ...
We rely on your intercession, we boast of your intercession, we call on your intercession for help, and we ask for help to your holy image: deliver us, pleaser of Christ, from the evils that come upon us, and tame the waves of passions and troubles that rise up against us, but for the sake of your holy prayers will not embrace us to attack and will not get bogged down in the abyss of sin and in the mud of our passions. Pray, to Saint Nicholas of Christ, Christ our God, may he give us a peaceful life and the remission of sins, but to our souls salvation and great mercy, now and ever and forever and ever.
Fifth Prayer to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker
O great intercessor, the Bishop of God, Blessed Nicholas, who shines like a sunflower miracles, appearing to the earliest hearer, they always anticipate and save them, and deliver them, and take away all kinds of troubles, from God this miracles and gifts of grace!
Hear me unworthy, with faith calling you and offering you prayer of prayer singing; I offer you an intercessor for prayer to Christ.
O notorious in miracles, saint heights! as if you have boldness, soon present yourself to the Lord, and venerate your hands with prayer to Him, stretch out for me a sinner, and from Him give me bounty of goodness, and accept me in your intercession, and save me from all troubles and evils, from the invasion of visible and invisible enemies freeing, and destroying all those slander and evil deception, and reflecting those who fight me in all my life; by my sin, ask for forgiveness, and be saved to Christ, present me and vouch for the Kingdom of Heaven for the multitude of that love of mankind, for him all glory, honor and worship, with his beginningless Father, and with the Most Holy and Good and Life-giving Spirit, now and ever and forever centuries.
Sixth Prayer to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker
Oh, all-blessed Father Nicholas, pastor and teacher of all those who come to your intercession by faith, and call you with warm prayer, soon sweep and deliver the flock of Christ from the wolves that destroy e, that is, from the invasion of the crafty Latins who rise up against us.
Protect and preserve our country, and every country in Orthodoxy, with your holy prayers from worldly rebellion, the sword, the invasion of foreigners, from internecine and bloody warfare.
And as if you had mercy on the three men in the dungeon sitting down, and you delivered them from the tsar's anger and the beating of the sword, so have mercy and deliver the Orthodox people of Great, Little and White Russia from the pernicious Latin heresy.
As if by your intercession and help, by His own mercy and grace, Christ God, may His merciful eye look at people in the ignorance of existence, who have not known their own right hands, much more than a young one, Latin seductions are spoken in a hedgehog to turn away from the faith may the mind of His people be enlightened, may not be tempted and will not fall away from the faith of the fatherland, conscience, lulled by vain wisdom and ignorance, may it awaken, will turn it to the preservation of the holy Orthodox faith, may it remember the faith and humility of our fathers, your belly for the Orthodox faith who laid, accepting the prayers of the warm saints of His saints, who shone in our land, who keep us from the delusion and heresy of Latin, and who preserved us in holy Orthodoxy will vouch for us at the terrible Judgment of His hand standing with all the saints. Amen.
What you can eat on the day of memory of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker
December 19, according to the new style, falls on the Christmas, or Filippov, as it is also called, 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 saint, intercessor and prayer book for sailors and, in general, for all who travel. For example, as the life of the saint says, in his youth, traveling from Mira to Alexandria, he resurrected a sailor who, during a fierce storm, fell from the mast of the ship and, falling to the deck, crashed to death.
Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh. Word,pronounced at the all-night vigil on the feast of St. Nicholas, December 18, 1973, in the church named after him, in Kuznets (Moscow)
We celebrate today the day of the death of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. What a strange combination of words is this: a holiday about death ... Usually, when someone is overtaken by death, we grieve and cry about it; and when the saint dies, we rejoice about it. How is this possible?
Perhaps this is only because when a sinner dies, those who remain have a heavy heart feeling that the time has come for parting, 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 with an imperfect, earthly love - it still remains sadness and longing that for many years we will not see the face, the expression of the eyes glowing at us with caress, 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 saint is not quite like that. Even those who were contemporary to the saints, already during their lifetime managed to realize that, while living in the fullness of heavenly life, the saint did not separate from the earth during his lifetime, and that when he rests in his body, he will still remain in this mystery of the Church, which unites the living and the dead. into one body, into one spirit, into one secret, eternal, Divine, conquering all life.
As they died, the saints could say as Paul said: i have fought a good fight, I have kept the faith; now an eternal reward is being prepared for me, now I myself become a sacrifice ...
And this consciousness is not the head, but the consciousness of the heart, the living feeling of the heart that the saint cannot be separated from us (just as the risen Christ who has become invisible to us does not leave us, just as God is not absent from us), this consciousness allows us to rejoice on the day when, as the ancient Christians said, a person was born in eternal life. He did not die - he was born, entered into eternity, into all the space, into the fullness of life. He is in anticipation of a new victory in life, which we all hope for: the resurrection of the dead on the last day, when all the barriers of separation have already fallen, and when we will rejoice not only about the victory of eternity, but about the fact that God also brought the temporal back 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 man who has completely become Human ... The saints are such a glory to God; looking at them, we are amazed at what God can do to man.
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 a prayer-book for us, not leaving us, remaining not only the same close, becoming even closer, because we become close to each other as we become close, dear, our own to the Living God, God of love. Our joy is so deep today! The Lord on earth shook St. Nicholas like a ripe ear of corn. Now he is triumphant with God in heaven; and just as he loved the land and people, knew how to pity, sympathize, knew how to surround everyone and meet everyone with amazing affectionate, thoughtful care, so now he prays for all of us, caringly, thoughtfully.
When you read his life, you are amazed that he not only cared about the spiritual; he cared about every human need, about 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 comfort and support those who needed consolation and support. And that is why the people, the Mirlikian flock loved him so much, and why the entire Christian people honors him so: there is nothing too insignificant that he would not pay attention to his creative love. There is nothing on earth that would seem unworthy of his prayers and unworthy of his labors: illness, and the poor, and deprivation, and disgrace, and fear, and sin, and joy, and hope, and love - everything found a lively response in his deep human heart. And he left us the image of a man who is the radiance of God's beauty, he left us in himself, as it were, a living, acting icon a real person.
But he left it to us not only so that we would rejoice, admire, amaze; he left us his image so that we could learn from him how to live, what love to love, how to forget ourselves and remember fearlessly, sacrificially, joyfully every need of another person.
He left us an image of how to die, how to mature, how to stand before God at the last hour, giving Him his soul joyfully, as if returning to his father's house. When I was a young man, my father once told me: learn to expect death during your life as a young man anxiously awaits the arrival of his bride ... This is how St. Nicholas waited for the hour of death, when the mortal gates will open, when all bonds fall, when the soul flies up him to freedom, when it will be given to him to contemplate that God, Whom he worshiped with faith and love. So it is given to us to wait - to wait creatively, not to wait numb, in fear of death, but to wait with joy for that time, that meeting with God, which will make us akin not only with our Living God, with Christ who has become a man, but also with every person because only in God are we made one ...
Church Fathers Call Us to Live fear of mortals. From century to century we hear these words, and from century to century we misunderstand them. How many people live with the fear that death is about to come, and after death - judgment, and after judgment - what? Unknown. Hell? Forgiveness? .. But not about that mortal fear the fathers said. The fathers said that if we remembered that in a moment we could die, how would we hasten to do all the good that we can still do! If we thought constantly, anxiously about the fact that the person standing next to us, to whom we can now do good or evil, could die - how would we hasten to take care of him! Then there would be no need, no big or 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; excuse me - I will say one more personal. My mother died for three years; she knew it because I told her it. And when death entered our life, it transformed life by the fact that every moment, every word, every action - because it could be the last - had to be the perfect expression of all the love, all the affection, all the reverence that was between us. And for three years there were no trifles and no big things, but there was only a triumph of quivering, reverent love, where everything merged into the great, because in one word all love can be enclosed, and in one movement all love can be expressed; and it should be like that.
The saints understood this not only in relation to one person whom they loved especially affectionately and for some small years, for which they had enough spirit. The saints knew how to live like this for a whole life, from day to day, from hour to hour, in relation to each person, because in everyone they saw the image of God, a living icon, but - God! - sometimes such a desecrated, so disfigured icon, which they contemplated with special pain and with special love, as we would contemplate an icon trampled into the mud before our eyes. And each of us, by his sin, tramples the image of God in himself into the mud.
Think about it. Think about how glorious, how wondrous death can be, if only we live life like saints. They are people like us, differing from us only in their courage and burning spirit. If we lived like them! And how rich could a mortal memory be for us if instead of being called, in our language, fear of death, it would be a constant reminder that every moment is and can become a door to eternal life. Each moment, filled with all love, all humility, all delight and strength of the soul, can open up time to eternity and make our land a place where paradise is manifested, a place where God lives, a place where we are united in love, a place where everything the bad, the dead, the dark, the filthy have been defeated, transformed, become light, become purity, become Divine.
May the Lord let us ponder these images of saints, and not each other, not even ask ourselves what to do, but 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 by the greatness of their souls and grow into the measure of the age of Christ. Let us ask them ... What happened to you, Father Nicholas? What did you do, how did you reveal yourself to the power of Divine love and grace? .. And he will answer us; with his life and his prayer, he will make possible for us what seems impossible to us, because the power of God in weakness is perfected, and everything is available to us, everything is possible for us in the Lord Jesus Christ who strengthens us.
Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh. About the calling of a Christian.
The word spoken at the liturgy on the feast day of St. Nicholas on December 19, 1973, in the church named after him in Kuznets (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 has perceived as one of the most perfect images of the priesthood, it is done with particular trepidation to serve the Divine Liturgy and stand before it; because before he became the fellow of the apostles, Saint Nicholas was a genuine, true layman. The Lord Himself revealed that it was him 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 flesh. In the troparion we sing to him that he was rule of faith, image of meekness, teacher of abstinence; all this to his flock was the deed itself, the radiance of his life, and not just a verbal sermon. And so he was still a layman. And by such a deed, such love, such purity, such meekness, he acquired for himself the highest calling of the Church - to be made a bishop, a 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 it would be possible, looking at him, in his eyes to see the light of Christ's love, to see in his actions, to personally experience Christ's divine mercy.
We are all called to follow the same path. There are no two ways for a person: there is a way of holiness; the other is the path of renouncing your Christian vocation. 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, in our thoughts, in our lives, in our flesh, so that we can be, as it were, an 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 surrendered to God that each of us becomes, as it were, a temple where the Holy Spirit lives and acts - both in us and through us.
We are called to be daughters and sons of our Heavenly Father; but not allegorically only, not only because He treats us as a father treats children. In Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit, we are called to truly become His children, like Christ, having partaken of His sonship, having received the Spirit of sonship, the Spirit of God, so that our life may be hidden with Christ in God.
We cannot achieve this without difficulty. The Church Fathers tell us: spill blood and you will receive the Spirit ...We cannot ask God to dwell in us when we ourselves are not working to prepare for Him a holy, cleansed, God-consecrated temple. We cannot call Him into the depths of our sin again and again, if we do not have a firm, fiery intention, if we are not ready, when He will descend upon us, when He will seek 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 embrace.
To be a Christian is to be an ascetic; to be a Christian is to fight to overcome in oneself everything that is death, sin, untruth, impurity; in one word - to overcome, to conquer all that because of which Christ was crucified, killed on the Cross. Human sin killed Him - mine, yours, and our common; and if we do not get rid of and do not get rid of sin, then we partake either by those who, with negligence, coldness, indifference, frivolity, gave Christ to be crucified, or by those who viciously wanted to destroy Him, wipe it off 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 we ourselves cannot be saved. Our vocation is so high, so great that a person on his own cannot fulfill it. I have already said that we are called to be, as it were, grafted into the humanity of Christ, like a twig is grafted into a life-giving tree - so that the life of Christ springs in us, so that we are His body, that we are His presence, that our word is His in a word, our love is by His love, and our action is by His action.
I said that we must become the 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, as, according to the word of St. Maximus the Confessor, fire penetrates, penetrates iron, one thing is done with him, and one can (says Maxim) cut with fire and burn with iron, because it is no longer possible to discern where the burning is and where is the fuel 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 because we ask and pray for it; we must be accepted by the Father, adopted, must become, by the love of God for Christ, what Christ is for the Father: sons, daughters, the site reports. How can we achieve this? The Gospel gives us the answer to this. Peter asks: Who can it be saved? - And Christ answers: The impossible for man is possible for God...
Through exploit we can open our heart; 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 clean for the communion of the Body and Blood of Christ; we can open up to God and say: Come and dwell in us… And we can know that if we sincerely ask for this, we want this, then God, Who wants us to be saved more than we know how to want it ourselves, is his good friend. He Himself in the Gospel tells us: If you, being wicked, 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, all the burning of our dull spirit, all the hope of our heart, yearning for fullness, all our faith, which cries out to God: Lord, I believe - but help my unbelief!, with all the hunger, all the thirst of our soul and body, we will ask God to come. But at the same time, with all the forces of our soul, with all the forces of our body, we will prepare a temple for Him worthy of His coming: purified, dedicated to Him, protected from all unrighteousness, malice and impurity. And then the Lord will come; and he will accomplish, as He promised us, with the Father and the Spirit, the Last Supper in our hearts, in our life, in our temple, in our community, and the Lord will reign forever, our God to generation and generation.
Santa Claus
In Western Christianity, the image of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker merged with the image of a folklore character - "Christmas grandfather" - and was transformed into Santa Claus ( Santa claustranslated from English. - St Nicholas). Santa Claus gives children gifts for St. Nicholas Day, but more often for Christmas.
At the origins of the tradition of giving gifts on behalf of Santa Claus is the story of a miracle performed by Nicholas the Pleasure. As the life of the saint says, he saved the family of a poor man who lived in Patara from sin.
The poor man had three lovely daughters, and the need made him think of a terrible thing - he wanted to send the girls to prostitution. The local archbishop, and Nicholas the Wonderworker was serving them, received a revelation from the Lord about what his parishioner had planned in despair. And he decided to save the family, and secretly from everyone. One night, he tied the gold coins he inherited from his parents in a bundle and threw the sack to the poor man through the window. The father of the daughters discovered the gift only in the morning and thought that it was Christ himself who sent him the gift. With these funds, he married his eldest daughter to a good man.
Saint Nicholas rejoiced that his help had borne good fruit, and in the same way, secretly, threw the second bag of gold out the window of the poor man. With these funds, he played the wedding of the middle daughter.
The poor man was eager to find out who his benefactor was. He did not sleep at night and waited for him to come to help his third daughter? Saint Nicholas was not long in coming. Hearing the ringing of a bundle of coins, the poor man caught up with the archbishop and recognized him as a saint. He fell at his feet and warmly thanked him for saving his family from a terrible sin.
Nikola Zimny, Nikola Osenny, Nikola Veshny, "Nikola Wet"
On December 19 and August 11, according to the new style, Orthodox Christians remember, respectively, the death and birth of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. According to the time of the year, these holidays were given popular names - Nikola Winter and Nikola Osenny.
Nicholas Veshnim (that is, the spring), or Nicholas the Summer, was the name given to the feast of the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas and the wonderworker from Myra in Lycia to Bari, which is celebrated on May 22 in a new style.
The phrase "Nikola the Wet" comes from the fact that this saint in all ages was considered the patron saint of sailors and, in general, all travelers. When the church in the name of Nicholas the Pleasant was built by sailors (often in gratitude for the miraculous salvation on the waters), the people called it "Nikola the Wet".
Folk traditions of celebrating the day of memory of Nikolai the Ugodnik
In Russia, Nicholas the Pleasant was revered as the "senior" among the saints. Nicola was called "merciful"; churches were built in honor of him and children were named - from antiquity to the beginning of the 20th century, the name Kolya was the most popular among Russian boys.
About Nicholas Winter (December 19), in the huts in honor of the holiday, festive meals were organized - they baked pies with fish, brewed mash and beer. The holiday was considered "old man's", the most respected people of the village gathered together a rich table and had long conversations. And the young people indulged in winter entertainments - sledding, dances, sang songs, getting ready for Christmas gatherings.
On Nicholas Letny, or Veshny (May 22), the peasants staged processions of the cross - with icons and banners they went to the fields, performed prayers at the wells - they asked for rain.
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