When his parents reposed, he distributed his inheritance to the needy, the orphan and the widow, and asked his congregation to pray for the repose of his parents. St. Nicholas would not allow anyone to witness the good deeds he performed for men and once, there was a formerly rich father who had three maiden daughters who lost all of his wealth. When the saint heard the father was about to sell his daughters into harlotry to repay his losses, he took pity on the three innocent maidens. One night, St. Nicholas took a sack of gold and while the father and the three maidens were asleep, he came to the house and threw the sack of gold into the house. The next morning, the father discovered the sack of gold on the floor of the house and opened the sack to find 300 gold coins inside. He used it to purchase a dowry for his oldest and marry her off. St. Nicholas, seeing the money was put to good use, rewarded the man for his decision. Once again, he came to the house at night and threw another sack into the house. The man, seeing the gold coins, purchased a dowry for his second daughter and married her off. He desired to find out who this benefactor was but could never see him. He had no idea it was St. Nicholas as Nicholas did not reveal what he was doing. The man hid behind the window with his third daughter to see if his benefactor would return. This time, as St. Nicholas threw the gold coins in through the window, the man was prepared and ran outside to discover who his benefactor was. Finding it was none other than the Presbyter, he eagerly thanked him for this generous gift. St. Nicholas ordered him to tell no one. "For the sake of the kindness shown thee, do me the favor of saying nothing regarding it for as long as I live; otherwise, I shall hold thee responsible before God." The man purchased a dowry for his third daughter and married her off.
Traveling to the Holy Land, a storm rocked the boat that St. Nicholas was on. This was the Devil trying to drown all of those aboard. The mariners begged St. Nicholas to intercede on their behalf and upon his intercession, the storm subsided. A mariner, going up to fix the mast which had broken during the storm, fell to his death. Not wanting this moment of peace to turn into a moment of mourning, St. Nicholas called upon the mercy of God to raise the man back to life and the man arose as if he had only been asleep. St. Nicholas was drawn ever-so to the Holy Land and wanted to remain there but an angel ordered him to return to his homeland of Patara for he was not to remain in the Holy Land. As he was traveling back to Patara, he came through Myra, a city whose Archbishop had just reposed. The bishops were disputing as to who should be appointed to fulfill the Archiepiscopal See when it was revealed to one that there had been a priest walking through the land and that was who was to be consecrated to the See. As St. Nicholas came through the church in Myra, the bishop found him and declared that this was the one to become the Archbishop of Myra. St. Nicholas was consecrated such.
During reign as the Archbishop of Myra, the Devil inspired Maximian and Diocletian to war against the Christians. Many Christians fled to Myra and the Archbishop was seized and imprisoned with them where he continued to encourage them, preaching the Faith. When Constantine legalized Christianity in the Roman Empire, the hierarch was released from his cell. He sought to banish the idols in the Temple of Artemis who were deceiving many of the Pagans as they perceived as her the Moon goddess. He interceded and prayed for the banishment of the demons from that Temple of idolatry and by his prayers, the Temple was destroyed. Asking him where they should run to, St. Nicholas told them, "Go to the fire, the everlasting fire, which has been prepared for the devil and his angels!"
It was at this time that a certain presbyter named Arius was spreading a blasphemy throughout the land that the Son was not co-eternal with the Father but was actually created by the Father. St. Nicholas, as the Archbishop of Myra took part in the First Ecumenical Council which was convened by the Emperor Constantine as he saw a growing division amongst Christians and was concerned by this. As the bishops gathered to condemn the Arian heresy, Arius was hoping that the Emperor would be sympathetic to his position. This First Ecumenical Council, convened in Nicaea, would banish the Arian heresy and also establish the dating of Easter which was also a position of dispute in both the Eastern and Western Churches. St. Nicholas, who had defended Myra from the stain of the heresy of Arius, grew so irate at the blasphemies of this heretical presbyter that he would slap Arius all the way across the face. Arius questioned the Emperor if such behavior was acceptable and the Emperor explained that such an action would require the hand of St. Nicholas to be cut off. Not wanting him to lose his hand, the bishops gathered and stated that they would discipline the Archbishop. St. Nicholas was defrocked and thrown in prison. There, the Theotokos would appear to St. Nicholas with the omophorion in approval of the act. Seeing that his denunciation of Arius was approved by Our Lady, the bishops restored him to his episcopal see.
When the rebellious Taiphalions were threatening secession from the Empire, Constantine sent his Colonels Nepotion, Ursos, and Erpylion to quell the resistance. They stopped by Myra and their soldiers began robbing the marketplace. St. Nicholas ran out to rebuke them for they were disrupting the peace as it was their men who were robbing the marketplace and looting. Made aware of the unholy acts of their soldiers, the three Colonels rebuked their men and gave harsh penalties to them for their acts of robbery. After this incident, St. Nicholas received the three Colonels in great hospitality in the holy Church.
There was an incident in which the Governor Efstathios, having been bribed, was about to put to death three innocent men who had been slandered. St. Nicholas, hearing the lamentations of the families of these three innocent men, rushed to the Governor to stop him from this act. Just as the Governor was about to behead the first man, the saint grabbed the sword out of the Governor's hand rebuking him for the lack of rule of law that was followed in this incident. He rebuked the Governor for having taken bribes and he threatened to turn the Governor over to the Emperor if he went through with his deed. The Governor, frightened, and having seen the holy man of God grab his own sword directly from his hand, relented and let the innocent men go.
When Nepotion, Ursos, and Erpylion were made Generals by the Emperor Constantine, they served the Emperor ever faithfully and directly at his side. But men who were envious of their disposition petitioned Avavlios that these three men were guilty of conspiring with the Taiphalions to bring down the Emperor. The three men were not even told what they were being accused of, but Avavlios had them locked away. The men who had slandered the Generals begged that they needed to be executed at once before they made do with their treasonous actions. This was really nothing more than a plight to get rid of them for their own dispositions. The Generals, seeing they would soon be executed, remembered how St. Nicholas had saved three innocent men from death already and begged for the intercession of the saint. The saint showed up to both Constantine and Avavlios in a dream saying, "Quickly art thou to have them released, because otherwise I shall make petition against thee when I pray to God that He take thee from this life." The Emperor and Avavlios met together, both having received this vision of St. Nicholas and questioned the three Generals who explained of St. Nicholas's actions in freeing three innocent men from death. The Emperor, understanding that the men were innocent, released them. The three Generals would soon enter into monastic life.
One last act he did before his repose was that when certain mariners were being rocked by a violent storm, they called upon his intercession and his figure appeared in a boat to intercede for their deliverance. When the mariners met St. Nicholas, stopping by Myra, they thanked him for his deliverance. Sensing their heated physical passions, St. Nicholas warned them against the sin of fornication so that he could save them from both the storm and the Hellfire. St. Nicholas thus performed many miracles in his earthly life as well as after his repose. It is not necessary to discuss all of his miracles in full detail though I will certainly highlight a few on my other blog this coming week and will add them to this post.
Before he reposed, St. Nicholas fell ill. After his repose, many of the faithful mourned having lost such an illustrious teacher and shepherd but the Heavens rejoiced upon receiving the saint into eternal glory. In 1088, during the reign of the Emperor Alexios Komnenos and the Patriarch Nicholas III of Constantinople, his relics were translated from the Saracen ravaged Myra to Bari. Patriarch John II of Kyiv declared May 9 to celebrate the translation of the relics though in the Greek Churches, the celebration of the translation of the relics is May 20. Pope Urban II erected a church in Bari and when liturgy was being said there, myrrh would gush forth from the relics. The chanting was slowed on the saint's Feast Day to allow for the collection of myrrh by parishioners. However, this day, according to St. Nicodemos the Hagiorite, the exact location of the relics of the saint remain unknown as certain of the relics were sold to Prince Gikas of Wallachia and then later to the Russians. The Pope also gifted to the Greek Archdiocese of America in 1972 other relics. St. Nicholas is considered the Patron Saint of Russia and of All the Eastern Churches. As such, his Feast Day often surpasses that of the Feast Day of the Conception of Our Lady in the East, though she is consistently venerated all throughout the festal season of the Philip's Fast. He continues to perform miracles to this day. For those who follow my Facebook page, we have already mentioned St. Stephen Uros III's healing of blindness. St. Nicholas of Myra, pray for our church!
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