Saint Nicholas of Myra
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- Also known as
-
Klaus
Mikulas
Nicholas of Bari
Nicolaas
Nicolas
Niklas
Santa Claus
- Memorial
- 6 December
- Profile
- Priest.
Abbot.
Bishop of Myra, Lycia (modern Turkey).
Generous to the poor, and special protector of the innocent and wronged.
Many stories grew up around him prior to his becoming Santa Claus.
Some examples
- Upon hearing that a local man had fallen on such hard times that he was planning to sell his daughters into prostitution, Nicholas went by night to the house and threw three bags of gold in through the window, saving the girls from an evil life.
These three bags, gold generously given in time of trouble, became the three golden balls that indicate a pawn broker's shop.
- He raised to life three young boys who had been murdered and pickled in a barrel of brine to hide the crime.
These stories led to his patronage of children in general, and of barrel-makers besides.
- Induced some thieves to return their plunder.
This explains his protection against theft and robbery, and his patronage of them - he's not helping them steal, but to repent and change.
In the past, thieves have been known as Saint Nicholas' clerks or Knights of Saint Nicholas
.
- During a voyage to the Holy Lands, a fierce storm blew up, threatening the ship.
He prayed over it, and the storm calmed - hence the patronage of sailors and those like dockworkers who work on the sea.
- Died
- c.346 at Myra, Lycia (in modern Turkey) of natural causes;
relics believed to be at Bari, Italy
- Canonized
- Pre-Congregation
- Patronage
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against imprisonment
against robberies
against robbers
apothecaries
Apulia, Italy
Avolasca, Italy
bakers
Bardolino, Italy
Bari, Italy
barrel makers
boatmen
boot blacks
boys
brewers
brides
Cammarata, Sicily, Italy
captives
Cardinale, Italy
Cas Concos, Spain
children
coopers
Creazzo, Italy
dock workers
druggists
Duronia, Italy
fishermen
Fossalto, Italy
Gagliato, Italy
Greece
Greek Catholic Church in America
Greek Catholic Union
grooms
judges
La Thuile, Italy
lawsuits lost unjustly
Lecco, Italy
Limerick, Ireland
Liptovský Mikulás, Slovakia
longshoremen
Lorraine
maidens
mariners
Mazzano Romano, Italy
Mentana, Italy
merchants
Miklav na Dravskem polju, Slovenia
murderers
Naples, Italy
newlyweds
old maids
parish clerks
paupers
pawnbrokers
perfumeries
perfumers
pharmacists
pilgrims
poor people
Portsmouth, England
prisoners
Russia
sailors
Sassari, Italy
scholars
schoolchildren
shoe shiners
Sicily
Is-Siggiewi, Malta
spinsters
students
thieves
travellers
University of Paris
unmarried girls
watermen
- Representation
-
anchor
bishop calming a storm
bishop holding three bags of gold
bishop holding three balls
bishop with three children
bishop with three children in a tub at his feet
purse
ship
three bags of gold
three balls
three golden balls on a book
- Images
- Gallery of images of Saint Nicholas
- Storefront
- Commercial Links related to Saint Nicholas
- Additional Information
-
Catholic Encyclopedia, by Michael Ott
Catholic Online
Columbia Encyclopedia
Domestic Church, by Catherine Fournier
Ecole Glossary, by Karen Rae Keck
Encyclopedia Britannica
Golden Legend, by Jacobus de Voragine
Google Directory
In God's Garden, by Amy Steedman
Lives of the Saints, by John J Crawley
Lives of the Saints, by Father Alban Butler
New Catholic Dictionary
Saint Nicholas Center
Translation of Saint Nicholas
Vikipedio esperanto
The Book of Saints, by the Monks of Ramsgate
Our Sunday Visitor's Encyclopedia of Saints, by Matthew Brunson
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