http://www.goarch.org/chapel/saints_view?contentid=325
http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsLife.asp?FSID=103484
http://orthodoxwiki.org/Nicholas_of_Myra
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11063b.htm
Posted on 12/06/2011 4:10:30 AM PST by Biggirl
December 5, 2011. (Romereports.com) December 6 is the feast day of St. Nicholas of Bari, otherwise known as Santa Claus. He was bishop of the city of Myra, in present day Turkey, where he died in the fourth century. When the city was conquered by Muslims, his remains were moved to the Italian city of Bari.
When his parents died, he divided his fortune among the poor. Because of his generosity, tradition remembers him as Santa Claus, who every year would deliver gifts to everyone.
He is also the patron saint of Russia, Greece and Turkey.
In Rome, a temple was built in his honor by the year 550. There are currently over 2,000 churches in the world that carry his name.
I took a photo of the tomb in Bari, Italy just to mess with the kids.
http://www.goarch.org/chapel/saints_view?contentid=325
http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsLife.asp?FSID=103484
http://orthodoxwiki.org/Nicholas_of_Myra
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11063b.htm
You really want to mess with them, tell ‘em Santa Claus has been known to punch people in the nose when they really get out of line.
Nicholas of Myra punched out the heretic Arius at the First Ecumenical Council at Nicea in the year 325.
A great defender of the doctrine of the Ever-Virginity of the Blessed Mother, Mary Most Holy.
I encountered a story once that had it that when a man came upon him and denounced this doctrine with blasphemies, St. Nicholas thumped the ground with his crozier and it opened up and swallowed the blasphemer.
and the Church of St. Mikołaj in Myra, Turkey
At the Council of Nicea in A.D. 325, when Arian doctrine was rejected he got into a heated debate with Arius himself about whether there was a time when the Word did not exist. Nicholas strongly disagreed.
The debate ended suddenly when Nicholas punched out Arius then and there on the floor of the council
Yes Virginia.... there was a Santa Claus...but remember to CELEBRATE the real REASON of CHRISTMAS... Jesus’ Birth....
AMEN to that!
I have a Christmas tree decoration with the book story about it, on the knelling Santa at the Christ manger.
Better than Santa Claus, Meet St. Nicholas the Wonder-Worker [Catholic/Orthodox Caucus]
The Real St. Nicholas – How Did a Cantankerous but Holy Bishop Become Jolly Ole St. Nick?
The "Claus" Clause [in honor of St. Nick's feast day]
The Santa Question
The "Claus" Clause
Celebrating Nikolaus in Germany
Church celebrates feast of St. Nicholas, the 'original' Santa Claus
Who is St. Nicholas?
Finally a mass in the church of Saint Nicholas in Myra (+ life of St. Nicholas)
An "Anglican World" Christmas Special: St. Nicholas, a Saint For Today
Saint Nicholas of Myra, By Ilya Repin
How St. Nicholas Became Santa Claus: One Theory
An Orthodox priest at Bari; the story of St. Nicholas' bones
Turkish Town Exchanges St. Nick for Santa (Former Myra, hometown of St. Nicholas)
The Real St. Nicholas
St. Nicholas belongs in any reclamation of Christmas
Don't forget: St. Nicholas' Day is tomorrow [today] (get your shoes out!)
The Russian legend of St. Nicolas and St. Cassian(Soloviev's Application)
Life of Saint Nicholas the Bishop, from The Golden Legend compiled by Jacobus de Voragine
Yes, There Really is a St. Nicholas !
One of the chief defenders of the Faith.
Saw this October a write-up with a illustration on what the new St. Nicholas near Ground Zero will look like new building wise.
The debate ended suddenly when Nicholas punched out Arius then and there on the floor of the council
My favorite story about jolly old St Nick.
Offical website of the church of St. Nicholas at Ground Zero, the one that will be rebuilt.
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