Bishop of Myra, Defender of Orthodoxy, Miracle Worker, Holy Hierarch
Born: 3rd century in Patara
Died: 6 December 343 in Myra
Venerated in: All Christianity
Major shrine: St. Nicholas’ relics are held in a crypt in Bari, Italy, but his great work was done in Myra.
Feast: December 6
Attributes: St Nicholas is usually portrayed as a Bishop, in whatever manner is appropriate for a Bishop in that particular Church’s practices.
Patronage: In the West, St. Nicholas is a patron of sailors and thieves, because his relics were stolen by sailors from his tomb and transported to Bari, Italy. In the East, he is more remembered for his defense against the Arian heresy.
Galileo Galilei
Fresco of a female figure holding a chalice at an early Christian Agape feast. Catacomb of Saints Marcellinus and Peter, Via Labicana, Rome
A medieval fresco depicting St Nicholas from the Boyana Church, near Sofia, Bulgaria
