Who is St. Nicholas? Around the World How to Celebrate Events For Kids
St. Nicholas Center - Discovering the truth about Santa Claus
E-CardsShop
GazetteerGallery
About UsSite Map
 
  Quién es Nicolás?
  BISHOP OF MYRA
  SAINT IN BARI
  GIFT GIVER
  PATRON SAINT
  WONDERWORKER
    Donetsk Weeping Icon
    St. Nicholas Comes to Juneau
    Hempstead Weeping Icon
  Origin of Santa
  Timeline
  Geography
  Compare Santa & St. Nicholas
  Stories & Legends
  A Real Person?
  A Real Saint?
  St. Nicholas Symbols
  Real Face
  Relics
  Museum & Art Gallery Images
  Nicholas of Myra
—the Movie


Share


Wonderworker print version

19th Century Russian Icon - St. Nicholas Center Collection
19th Century Russian Icon
St Nicholas Center Collection

St. Nicholas ~ Wonderworker
December 6 or 19 on the Julian Calendar

In Myra you proved yourself to be a priest,
a servant of divine things, O Saint,
for you fulfilled the Gospel of Christ, O holy one.
You gave up your life for your people
and saved the innocent from death.
You have been sanctified
for you were a great guide
towards the things of God.

—Kontakion of St. Nicholas

St. Nicholas followed the words of our Lord, to "lay up treasure for yourself in Heaven," by praying every day, by fasting, and by performing good deeds. God was so pleased that he worked many miracles through Nicholas. People began to call him a "wonderworker" (a person who works wonders or performs miracles). They were so inspired by his life of service to others that many of them, too, began to lead holy lives, filled with good deeds.

In Russia St. Nicholas the Wonderworker is often shown as Holy Hierarch Nicholas of Mozhaisk. These icons show a full-length Nicholas with a sword in his right hand and a city in his left because the prayers of St. Nicholas saved the city of Mozhaisk from enemy attack. 18th Century Russian icon with the angels Gabriel and Michael at the top with the Vernicle (Holy Face). —St. Nicholas Center Collection
In Russia St. Nicholas the Wonderworker is often shown as Holy Hierarch Nicholas of Mozhaisk. These icons show a full-length Nicholas with a sword in his right hand and a city in his left because the prayers of St. Nicholas saved the city of Mozhaisk from enemy attack. 18th Century Russian icon with the angels Gabriel and Michael at the top with the Vernicle (Holy Face).
St Nicholas Center Collection

As a faithful bishop/shepherd, St. Nicholas was revered as a saint even before his death because of his great holiness and tender care of his flock. After the Blessed Mother and St. John the Forerunner (Baptist), Nicholas was the most revered saint in the early church. He is most honored in the East, especially in Russia. Throughout the world many churches are named for him—more than for any other saint. His ministry continues to this day as a powerful intercessor for the protection and advancement of the Church.

In the weekly liturgical cycle of the Orthodox Church, Thursday is dedicated to the Holy Apostles and to Saint Nicholas, who stands as a model for all the great hierarchs, the successors to the Apostles and teachers of the Church. To be given a place in the weekly cycle indicates the great veneration the Church accords him.*

Traditional Miracles

Modern Miracles

Writing a Saint Nicholas Icon
Reflections on the process, with pictures

LINK
Russian site devoted to Saint Nicholas with beautiful pictures of 105 Saint Nicholas icons (the thumbnails click up to large images)

* The quite exceptional veneration of St.Nicholas is well known. In the liturgic weekly cycle of the Orthodox Church, among the days of the week dedicated to the Saviour and to different orders of heavenly and earthly sanctity, only three persons are singled out by name: the Mother of God, John the Forerunner and St.Nicholas. The reason for this special veneration of this bishop, who left neither theological works nor other writings, is evidently that the Church sees in him a personification of a shepherd, of its defender and intercessor. "Having fulfilled the Gospel of Christ . . . thou hast appeared in truth as a most hallowed shepherd to the world. According to his Life, when St.Nicholas was raised to the dignity of bishop he said: ". . . This dignity and this office demand different usage, in order that one should live no longer for oneself but for others." This "life for others" is his characteristic feature and is manifested by the great variety of forms of his solicitude for [people]—his care for their preservation, their protection from the elements, from human injustice, from heresies and so forth. This solicitude was accompanied by numerous miracles both during his life and after his death. Indefatigable intercessor, steadfast, uncompromising fighter for Orthodoxy, "he was meek and gentle in his disposition and humble in spirit".
Léonide Ouspensky & Vladimir Lossky, The Meaning of Icons, 2nd edition, St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1982.

Adapted from:
Orthodox America and
St. Therese Byzantine Catholic Church, St. Petersburg, Florida

back to top

print version

Look for
NEW 
items and articles
 added in 2010

Search for
NEW
pages & items!


NEW
NICHOLAS of MYRA
the MOVIE
Now in production!


The icons of St. Nicholas are usually full-face views in which we glimpse his kindness, his attentiveness, and his strength of faith—qualities of the ideal pastor.

—Jim Forest
Praying with Icons
Orbis Books

Icons show St. Nicholas with a high, cerebral forehead and curly hair.


Three Gold Balls
Gold Balls
Learn about symbols for St. Nicholas

St. Nicholas Liturgical Resources
HYMNS
ORDERS OF WORSHIP
 PRAYERS
SCRIPTURE
SERMONS

 St Nicholas Churches
around the world
World Globe
Church Gazetteer


HOME | SITE MAP
WHO IS ST. NICHOLAS | AROUND THE WORLD | HOW TO CELEBRATE | EVENTS | FOR KIDS
SHOP | GALLERY | CHURCH GAZETTEER | ABOUT ST. NICHOLAS CENTER
Content Usage & Copyright | Privacy Policy | Contact Us
Copyright © 2002-2010 St. Nicholas Center
All rights reserved

Content copyright protected by Copyscape website plagiarism search