Nicholas the Wonderworker of Mirliki is one of the most popular and beloved Christian saints among the people. Many miracles are associated with his name, which he performed both during his life and after death. Thousands of believers come to worship the relics of St. Nicholas.
Nicholas the Wonderworker of Mirliki
Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker was the bishop of the cities of Myra in Lycia. According to the Lives of the Saints, he was born into a wealthy Christian family in 260 in the Lycian city of Patras, and died in 343 in the city of Myra, where he lived most of his life. Saint Nicholas became famous during his lifetime. Thrown into prison during the Diocletian persecution, he gave a sack of gold each as a dowry to three beggars who were forced to earn a living by selling their own bodies. After that, they got married and became good Christians.
Nicholas the Pleasant entered the history of Christianity under the name of Nicholas of Mirlikisky, that is, from Myra of Lycia.
Nikolai also brought back to life three little boys killed during the famine by the innkeeper. And when he made a pilgrimage to Palestine, during a terrible storm, he saved the ship from destruction.
Nicholas of Mirlikisky lived to a ripe old age and after his death was buried in the Lycian Worlds. Literally at once the relics of St. Nicholas began to stream myrrh. However, they began to venerate him as a saint only 800 years later.
The relics of Nicholas the Pleasure
In 1087, the Saracens raided the eastern regions of the Roman Empire. Lycia was also devastated. At the same time, Saint Nicholas appeared in a dream to a priest in the city of Bari and ordered to transfer his relics from the city of Myra to Bari. This city was located in the south of Italy, in Puglia, which has long been inhabited by the Greeks. However, in the 11th century, power there belonged to the Normans, who were completely uninterested in the religious life of the local population.
An embassy was sent to Lycia in 3 ships. They safely delivered the relics of St. Nicholas to Bari. On May 9 (old style), 1087, the entire population of the city came out to greet the sacred relics. Initially, they were placed in the Church of John the Baptist, which was located near the sea. According to legend, this event was accompanied by many miracles. At the same time, the miracle of the resurrection of a drowned baby took place in Kiev.
On the day of the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas on May 9/22 to the city of Bari, the Russian Orthodox Church remembers Nicholas the Ugodnik. People call this holiday Nicholas of Spring.
Three years later, the church of St. Nicholas was erected in the city of Bari. There they carried the relics of the saint in a richly decorated reliquary. They are there today.
Nikolai the Pleasant is considered the patron saint of Russia, Sicily, Greece and the Scottish city of Aberdin. Clerks, bankers, usurers, merchants, perfumers, sailors and travelers, whom he also patronizes, come to bow to his relics.
