Posted on 12/06/2020 11:36:54 AM PST by CheshireTheCat
Today is the feast day of Santa Claus himself, St. Nicholas.
Nicholas was a real-life bishop in fourth century Asia Minor. He’s among the prelates to sign off on the Nicene Creed, Christianity’s official profession of orthodox doctrine hammered out at the emperor Constantine’s epochal Council of Nicaea.
Living as he did amid the triumph of his once-persecuted faith, Saint Nick was not called upon to offer God his own martyrdom. Our death penalty context comes from one of the stories in his hagiography — that on one occasion, returning to the seat of his diocese at Myra, Nicholas discovered that three innocent men had been condemned to imminent execution by a wicked magistrate. Hastening to the scene, he dramatically averted their beheading by seizing the executioner’s sword.
The great Russian artist Ilya Repin depicted the scene....
(Excerpt) Read more at executedtoday.com ...
Saint Nicolas was quite famous during his life, his story is a lot longer than just saving three guys. He save there sisters from slavery, made many miracles, etc.
Saint Nicholas it the Santa Klaus of the Christmas. I many countries, the feast of Saint Nicolas (Dec 6) is celebrated with Saint accompanied by angel and devil, giving presents and coal to the bad kids. Singing carrols.
In the US and slowly around the world, the commercial interests hijacked this nice, giving Saint to be the patron of the Christmas. The Saint Nicolas day festivities has been merged with old Christmas festivities and Saint Nicolas became good old Santa.
During the Christmas Santa Klaus frenzy, remember the real bishop Saint Nicolas, whose holiday falls on Dec 6 and so it is past during Christmas. Christmas is not feast of Santa, but feast of the newborn Christ, Santa is kind of covering that fact.
BTw, Soviet Communists did not like even Santa, so Santa became Grandpa Frost.
Thanks. Learning fast...no mask.
No kiddin'? I didn't know that Saint Nicholas did THAT!
What a cool guy and venerable Saint, to have lived the life that he lived and to have done the things that he did. Somebody oughta do a Christmas collage or something, celebrating all the cool and saintly things that Nicholas did in his time. Although, Nicholas would certainly be the first to agree that Christmas was not about himself.
Just sayin'.
Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia (Orthodox)
Pray to St. Nicholas that the theft of our election may be reversed!!!!
What an excellent Christmas story, the real Saint Nicholas saving some guys from execution. The article of course speaks more to the life and times of the Russian artist Repin than it does Nicholas.
The painting its own self tells a story, though... the sight of the emaciated, effeminate looking guy on the left suggests that maybe the boss man might have been having them executed for a particular reason...
Nicholas says "No, you gotta have some other good enough reason than that."
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