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Biography, life story of Nicholas the Wonderworker
Nicholas the Wonderworker is an archbishop known as a great saint of God.
Childhood
The saint comes from the city of Patara in the Lycian region. This region is located on the southern coast of the Asia Minor Peninsula. He was born around 270 thanks to the efforts of Theophanes and Nonna. There were no more children in the family of pious parents. The father and mother decided to dedicate their son to the service of God, and made a corresponding vow for this.
The birth of Nicholas was preceded by repeated prayers of unfortunate parents who could not acquire their first children. But when Nicholas appeared in the light of God, people immediately felt his miraculous abilities.
First of all, his mother Nonna, who suffered from a serious illness before the birth of her son. Soon after giving birth, she managed to improve her health. The first miracle happened during baptism: the baby stood on his feet (a hitherto unprecedented fact!). Moreover, he was held in this position for a long time. It was believed that by doing so he gave honor to the Holy Trinity.
Nikolai began fasting at a very early age. His mother did not feed him her milk often. This happened only after evening prayers, in which she took part together with her husband. The baby fed only on Wednesdays and Fridays, but came to his mother's breast only once a day.
Communion with God
Nicholas discovered the mysteries of the Divine Scripture at an early age. He had to study books at night, since he spent daytime hours in the temple. That is why with the onset of darkness there was time for reading. He alternated reading the texts with prayers.
The boy’s uncle, Bishop Nicholas of Patara, could not be happier with his nephew’s diligence. First he made him a reader, then elevated him to the rank of priest. Nicholas' duties included delivering teachings to believers. The congregation was much amazed that the young preacher was strong in spirit and possessed wisdom, like an old man. Confidence in him was limitless.
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Helping others
Saint Nicholas was merciful and always considered himself in the position of ordinary people. He understood that the life of the people was not easy, so some could stumble and succumb to temptation. This almost happened, for example, to one of the previously wealthy townspeople, who went bankrupt and began to eke out a miserable existence. The former rich man was desperately trying to stay afloat and could not come up with anything better than to save his family from hunger by letting his daughters go into fornication.
And what did Nikolai do when he learned about this sad incident? He helped financially, but did it under cover of darkness. He simply came to the house of a sinner standing on the brink of destruction and threw bags of gold at his window. And then he left because he did not want to gain worldly fame in this way. And henceforth the saint tried to help people in need secretly.
Creation of miracles
Saint Nicholas performed many miracles during his lifetime, and many after his departure to another world. It is known that the living saint helped three men who were sentenced to death by the will of one of the rulers to stay alive. The archbishop ascended the scaffold and prevented the murder - he grabbed the blade of the sword and did not allow the executioner to carry out his terrible act.
The highest military officials, whom they intended to take their lives, also received help from Saint Nicholas. Languishing in prison, they appealed to the archbishop, and he interceded for them before Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine. At the same time, Nicholas appeared before this saint in a dream.
Departure
The saint lived a long life and reached a ripe old age. After his death (in the period from 345 to 351), his body became myrrhic.
One of the most revered saints in Rus'. Born in 258 in ancient Lycia, which was part of Asia Minor. At baptism he received the Christian name Nikolai, which means “conqueror of the people.” He was elected bishop of the port city of Mir, which is why it is called Mir-Lycian.
He became famous as a great saint (helper) of God. Mercy for the suffering (mourning for a dying sinner, at night he secretly threw bags of gold into his window and thereby saved him from spiritual destruction), miracles shown by him during his life (he pacified the raging sea waves with prayer, and then, through his prayer, the broken one was restored to health a ship's sailor who fell from the mast, he miraculously saved three husbands from death, unjustly condemned by a selfish boss, miraculously saved the city of Mir from hunger), and now inspire believers to turn to St. Nicholas with prayers for help.
Nikolai Ugodnik worked miracles during his lifetime, but many miracles happened and are happening after his death. He helps sailors, travelers, children and those in prison. He helps everyone who turns to him for help.
They pray to Nicholas the Pleasant for well-being on the journey, from storms and drowning at sea, for healing from various ailments, for the protection of the family hearth, for help in various troubles, from sadness and despondency, for children, to get their daughters married, for help in poverty and need, about intercession for widows and orphans, about compassion for the defenseless, in captivity among enemies.
Saint Nicholas (translated into Dutch as Santa Claus) must, while no one sees him, enter the house and leave a bag of gifts under the tree.
For a long time, Nikolai Ugodnik has been considered the patron saint of children.
In the Netherlands there is a belief that on Christmas night St. Nicholas rides around on a white horse and gives gifts to good children. A similar belief exists in other European countries. All the children on Christmas evening are full of impatient anticipation that “good grandfather St. Nicholas” will give them something.
Saint Nicholas - patron saint of sailors
During the voyage of Saint Nicholas to Palestine to the holy places, a terrible storm broke out, threatening to sink the ship. The sailors were horrified and turned to the holy saint with a prayer. “If you, holy father, do not help us with your prayer to the Lord,” they told him, “then we will perish in the depths of the sea.”
The holy righteous man, kneeling down, turned to God with fervent prayer, and the storm miraculously subsided, the lives of the sailors were saved.
ST. NICHOLAS - PATRON OF THE RUSSIAN MILITARY
Since ancient times, Russian warriors considered the Saint their special heavenly intercessor, along with other holy champions of the Russian land. This is evidenced by the cross-vests that have survived to this day, worn by our warrior-ancestors under their armor, on which there was an image of St. Nicholas.
The Streltsy guard in ancient Moscow, during roll call, proclaimed in the third voice: “St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, pray to God for us!”
The basis of the belief in the patronage of the Wonderworker to Russian weapons is also conveyed by the stanza of the spiritual verse
folk singers:
"Nikola is a famous name,
Victory is the same name,
Hagaryan wins,
Comforts Christians."
When Napoleon left the Kremlin in 1812, he decided to blow up the Nikolsky Gate with a huge amount of gunpowder. The force of the explosion was terrible: stones and logs flew to the sides, walls shook, glass in the windows burst. Only the image of St. Nicholas above the St. Nicholas Gate and even the glass that covered the face of the Pleasant did not suffer any damage. And the candle in front of his face survived.
Nikolai Ugodnik - .
In St. Petersburg, not far from the place where the waters of the Kryukov and Catherine Canals meet, a slender four-tiered bell tower shines with a gilded spire.
Five chapters of the majestic shine behind it. It is not called marine by chance. In the 18th century, here, on the southwestern outskirts of St. Petersburg, the barracks of the so-called Life Guards of the naval crew were built. The sailors who made up the best part of the Russian fleet lived in them. The cathedral, whose construction was completed in 1762, became the main “sea” temple in Russia. Services were held there during the laying of new ships, during the departure of sea expeditions, and during the return of ships from a long voyage.
It was in this cathedral that sailors were commemorated, for whom the waters of the sea became their grave. This is one of the few Russian Orthodox churches that has never been closed. Its traditions are still alive. In 1989, the sailors of the sunken submarine “Komsomolets” were commemorated in the St. Nicholas Cathedral, and in 2000 memorial plaques with the names of the sailors who died on the submarine “Kursk” were installed there. The main shrine of the cathedral is considered to be one of the icons, painted in the 17th century. On it is a handsome old man with the high forehead of a sage and clear eyes. A miter covers his head, and the Holy Scriptures are in his left hand. This Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker. His name has long been firmly associated with the sea.
Life of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker
Nicholas was born around 260 in the south of Asia Minor, in Lycia. At that time it was a distant Roman province. Today, ancient Lycia is part of Turkey. Nikolai's parents lived in the city of Patara and were quite wealthy people. From early childhood, the future saint was fascinated by Christian ideas. He studied spiritual wisdom in the largest city of Lycia - Xanth. After the death of his parents, he distributed all his inherited property to the needy and soon became the archbishop of the city (now it is the Turkish city of Demre). Despite his high rank, Nikolai wore simple clothes and showed concern for people every day.
They said that just from his bright face the soul became joyful and calm. During the time of Nicholas, Christianity was banned in the Roman Empire. Often persecution began against Christians. Nikolai did not escape them either. He spent twenty long years in prison.
The ascetic performed many good deeds. The stories about some of the events of his life seem like real miracles - such is the fate of many legendary personalities. He helped the residents of his city more than once. They say that once during a famine he appeared in a dream to an Italian merchant, asked him to bring bread and gave him three gold coins. When the merchant woke up, he found real gold in his hand. Bread was delivered to the city.
Another time, Nicholas went to Constantinople to ask the emperor to reduce the exorbitant tax that was imposed on the city. To make his request seem more convincing, he threw his robe over the sunbeam, and it hung on him as if on a rope. The emperor was surprised by the miracle and heeded the requests of the righteous man. In an effort to quickly convey the good news to the townspeople, Nicholas put the decree in a piece of reed stalk and threw it into the sea. Miraculously, this message quickly sailed to Lycia, and the journey to it was six days.
The righteous man had a special relationship with the sea element. One day he calmed a strong storm with prayer. Another time he revived a sailor who had fallen onto the deck from the mast and died. For the third time, by the will of Nicholas, the right wind blew into the sails of the ship all the time, which delivered it to the shores of Lycia, contrary to the evil will of the captain. They say that Nicholas more than once appeared to people in distress at sea, pacified the waves and sometimes steered the ship himself.
Nicholas, nicknamed the Wonderworker for many of his deeds (and in the city where he was archbishop, Myra), lived a long life. He died in 343 and was buried in Myra. His fame as the patron saint of sailors spread far beyond the borders of Lycia.
Relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker
The saint died around 345 in the rank of Archbishop of Myra in Lycia. He was originally buried there. Many centuries passed, and Muslims began to rule in Nicholas’s homeland.
Nowadays this abduction (providential, it must be said, because thereby the shrine was saved from possible desecration of it by the Turks) is recorded in the church calendar as the holiday of the Transfer of the venerable relics of St. Nicholas from Myra in Lycia to Bari. For the relics of the saint, the Basilica of San Nicola was built in Bari, in the crypt of which the relics remain to this day. They say that the relics of the Wonderworker constantly exude miraculous oil - myrrh, which does not dry out over time.
At the beginning of the 20th century, a Russian courtyard with a temple and a hotel for pilgrims appeared in Bari. The need for it had been brewing for a long time: pilgrims from Russia faced both everyday and religious difficulties in Italy (there was no Orthodox priest in Bari), and many of our compatriots wanted to venerate the relics of the revered saint. The farmstead was built according to the design of A.V. Shchusev with contributions from both ordinary and eminent donors. In particular, Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna gave 3,000 rubles for a charitable cause, and Nicholas II - 10,000.
The Barians were not the only sailors who wanted to make St. Nicholas their personal patron. Soon after them, the Venetians sailed to the city of Myra. They also raided the church where the relics of Nicholas were once kept, and took with them everything that was left after the visit of the Barians. The inhabitants of the Venetian Republic placed their part of the relics in a church specially built on the narrow sandy island of Lido. Today, hundreds of tourists sail past it every day on their way to Venice.
Saint Nicholas in Rus'
Saint Nicholas is the most revered Saint in the thousand-year tradition of Russian folk life, for which our ordinary people for centuries nicknamed him “Nicholas - the Russian God.”
The veneration of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Rus' is approaching the veneration of the Most Holy Theotokos and even our Lord Jesus Christ himself, which is reflected in the iconography. Expressing the idea of intercession for the Christian race, mediation between man and the Lord, Saint Nicholas was depicted in the Deisis instead of Saint John the Baptist along with the Most Holy Theotokos. In Rus' in the 16th-17th centuries, the name Nikolai was avoided during holy baptism, just as it is impossible to baptize in honor of Jesus Christ.
They say that Nicholas was known to the Russians even before the baptism of Rus', under Princess Olga. Saint Nicholas in Rus' was called differently: Intercessor, Savior and even Wet.
The last nickname appeared during the times of Kievan Rus. People told how one day respectable parents were sailing home with their little son in a boat along the Dnieper from Vyshgorod. The boy's mother had a dream and dropped the child into the water. Her grief was immeasurable, and in her prayers she turned to Saint Nicholas for consolation. The next day, the sexton of St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv found a crying baby in the choir in the morning. He was all wet, as if taken out of water. The parents who came running to the temple recognized him as their miraculously saved child. In subsequent centuries, many churches were built in Rus' in honor of St. Nicholas the Mokroy...
One of the Ryazan monasteries was named after St. Nicholas Lapotny. A local legend told how an old peasant made a vow to build a temple and collected money for it by weaving and selling bast shoes. Having learned about the ascetic, Peter I ordered the entire supply of woven bast shoes to be bought from him at once. A church was built with the money raised, and later a small monastery arose around it.
Nicholas of Myra has become such a beloved saint in Rus' that he is even venerated twice a year: once on December 19, on the day of the death of the righteous man, and the other on May 22, on the day when his relics were delivered to the city of Bari. The first day is called “Winter St. Nicholas”, and the second – “Spring St. Nicholas”.
In Muscovite Rus', the number of churches and painted icons dedicated to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was slightly inferior to the churches of the Most Holy Mother of God. In the Kiev St. Sophia Cathedral (mid-11th century) there is a mosaic image of St. Nicholas. About forty different works of ancient Russian literature are associated with St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. The saint was prayed for help by “those sailing on the sea,” which is why Nicholas is one of the patrons of the Russian Navy.
In the Novgorod epic, of all the saints, only Saint Nicholas came to the aid of Sadko’s dying soul, for the Novgorod merchant Sadko was in distress at sea, and Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker was an ambulance to seafarers.
Nikola-Ugodnik is a “protector from the invasion of the “adversary,” which is why Russian soldiers prayed to him for help in feats of arms; it was customary to wear icons with his image on the chest.
Pagans also turn to Saint Nicholas in prayer, for he certainly helps everyone who prays to him, encouraging him to repent and correct their path in life.
Miracles with Icons of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker:
Many miraculous stories happened with icons depicting the face of the saint, and many of them were associated with waters. One of them happened in the 12th century with the Novgorod prince Mstislav Svyatoslavich. As the chronicles said, he once fell “into a severe illness.”
The sick prince prayed for recovery to the Savior himself, the Most Holy Theotokos, and many saints known to him, but all in vain. The disease did not recede. One night, Mstislav, restless in the heat, saw the image of St. Nicholas. He appeared to him “as if written on the icon” and ordered to send messengers to Kyiv to get an icon with his image. The next morning the prince sent messengers to Kyiv, but their boat was stopped by a storm on Lake Ilmen. For three days and three nights they were buried from the bad weather on a small island, “waiting for time” for the wind to subside. On the fourth day, one of the messengers saw a round board floating in the lake. Having taken it out of the water, he recognized it as the icon of St. Nicholas! When she was brought to Novgorod to Mstislav Svyatoslavich, he took her to the church and sprinkled her with water from the washed icon. The disease immediately subsided. To commemorate the miracle, the prince “erected a beautiful stone church... and placed a wonderful icon in it.”
That church - the five-domed St. Nicholas Cathedral - still stands in Veliky Novgorod and remains the oldest stone structure on the Torgovaya side of the city. The miraculous icon stood there until the beginning of the 16th century. In 1502, two years before his death, Ivan III took her to Moscow. In the capital of the young Moscow state, the icon was placed in the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. During the Kremlin fire that happened in 1626, she died. A copy was made for Novgorod, which has survived to this day.
Legends about the icons of St. Nicholas the Pleasant
A great many icons depicting St. Nicholas the Wonderworker were painted in Rus'. Some of them are considered miraculous; amazing stories have happened to them. Here are just two of them.
They say that in the 17th century, an icon of St. Nicholas was found on a stump in one of the forests of the Chernigov province. Three times she was carried to the nearest church, but each time she miraculously found herself in the same place. Then a wooden church was erected right above the stump, which, of course, was called Nikolskaya.
In 1794, a stone building was erected in its place. It was not for nothing that the magical icon in it was reputed to be miraculous. Many people prayed in front of her. Among them was Maria Ivanovna Gogol. Her two newborn children died in infancy, and she asked the saint to intercede for the life of her child, who was about to be born. When Maria Ivanovna was safely delivered of her pregnancy, she named her son Nikolai.
He became a famous Russian writer. In his first book, “Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka,” Nikolai Vasilyevich narrates the story on behalf of the sexton of the St. Nicholas Church - the very one in which his mother once prayed.
Nikolai Ugodnik, patron saint of travelers
Nikolai Ugodnik Nikolai Ugodnik was considered the patron saint of not only sailors, but also travelers. It is no coincidence that in many ancient Russian cities one of the passing fortress towers was called Nikolskaya and its arch was decorated with an icon. There was such an icon above the Nikolsky Gates of the Kremlin. When Napoleon's troops left Moscow in 1812, the emperor ordered the gates to be blown up. Powder charges were placed in the old masonry. There was an explosion. Its strength was such that glass broke in the houses surrounding Red Square. All that remained intact was the glass that covered the face of the Pleasant. The icon was not damaged and even the candle in front of it miraculously survived.
Saint Nicholas in Dutch is Santa Claus.
This is the western brother of our Santa Claus. One of the legends about St. Nicholas tells how he helped a merchant who fell into poverty. He was completely ruined and was about to send his three daughters out of the house to earn a piece of bread with their beauty. To save the beauties from dishonor, Nikolai crept up to their house at night and threw three gold coins into the chimney. By amazing chance, they fell right into the girl’s shoes, which were drying by the fireplace. The happy father bought a dowry for his daughters with this money and successfully married them off. This amazing story gave rise to the custom in Europe of putting gifts in children's socks and shoes at Christmas. Our gifts under the tree are distant greetings from St. Nicholas.
A. Voznesensky Nicholas the Wonderworker: the complete story of life, miracles and holiness
“Bless me, brethren, to speak of a miracle,
about the miracle of St. Mykola,
about St. Nicholas the Wonderworker"
Preface
The greatness of the miraculous phenomena and signs of the Pleasant of God Nicholas was the reason that from the earliest times (from the 5th century) biographies of him appeared, the number of which increased over time. Since the 11th century, “The Lives of St. Nicholas" come to us in Russia and appear mainly in two editions: in handwritten copies and collections. Recently, in our hagiographic literature, experiments have appeared with a critical attitude towards existing accounts of the life of St. Nicholas.
Offered to readers is the “Life of St. Nicholas of Christ, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia, miracle worker,” following his “Life” as presented by St. Demetrius of Rostov, verified and supplemented with all possible information that could be collected from church writers. In addition, his life is presented here in connection with the great events during which St. Nicholas lived and acted. These events necessarily influenced the life and work of the Pleasant of God and were reflected on it more or less noticeably, and therefore modern writings about them not only verify and explain, but partly also supplement the meager information about this or that time in the life of the great Wonderworker.
The blessed death of Saint Nicholas took place in Myra in Lycia. But his honest relics remained here only until the end of the 11th century, when, by the will of God, they were transferred to the Italian city of Bari. The transfer of the venerable relics of St. Nicholas to Bar-grad with the events immediately preceding and following it is therefore the subject of the second section of the “Life”.
In view of the undoubted interest that the Myra Church, where the relics of St. were originally buried, is of Christian interest. Nicholas, and the Bargrad Church, in which they are currently located, we have posted stories about these attractions dear to Christians and our Russian travelers to holy places.
By the grace of God, the pastoral activity of St. Nicholas did not end with his righteous dormition in the Lycian Worlds, but miraculously became famous throughout almost all subsequent centuries in the space of the Orthodox Church.
O. Gusev
Instead of a preface to the second part of this work, as its compiler, I consider it necessary to note the following for my part.
The need for such a detailed collection of information about St. Nicholas, which we have undertaken, has long been ripe in our society and requires satisfaction. From different sides, requests have long been heard for a complete and complete study of the Pleasant of God, from time immemorial so glorious and revered in our fatherland. Therefore, when I saw that I already had a fairly extensive supply of information about the Wonderworker, although not yet completely complete, I decided to stop for a while and finish my work, albeit from the incomplete one that I had. I was supported in my decision by the thought that even in what my work would provide in its present form, it was extremely timely, useful and even necessary. I thought that even if my research turns out to be one-sidedly processed, then - firstly - this does not deprive me of the opportunity to continue my research further and subsequently supplement and completely process my work. Secondly, Orthodox readers, to whom this study is mainly dedicated, will easily extract from it in this form everything they need for their soul, mind and heart. The religious consciousness of the Russian people and from what is proposed will see all the great national, historical significance of the glorious Wonderworker for our fatherland, and the heart of every reverent Russian person will be enough to be filled with feelings of surprise, delight, gratitude and love for the Saint. At the same time, I hoped that in this form my work would present in its entirety, if not the entire essence, then the entire scope and path of research about the great Pleasant in relation to his greatest significance for our land. I dare to believe that, in combination with the first half of the work of my colleague, my part in this form will provide the admirers of the Saint, if not the entire permanent completed building of the literary temple named after the Wonderworker, then at least the entire plan of this monument, broadly outlined, and a lot of material.
So, based on all of the above, I ask my future readers to kindly forgive me the many shortcomings of my work, all the sometimes so obvious discrepancy in it between the greatness of the task undertaken and the imperfection of its execution.
In conclusion, I consider it my duty to express my sincere gratitude to all the people who sympathetically responded to my requests about their local shrines named after the Pleasant and helped me with artistic and literary material in my work, and especially to the deeply revered Professor N.V. Pokrovsky.
A. Voznesensky
The Life and Miracles of St. Nicholas
THE LIFE OF CHRIST NICHOLAS, ARCHBISHOP OF MYRA, WONDERWORKER
Persecution of Christians by Valerian. Birth of Saint Nicholas before entering public service
About 16 centuries have passed since Saint Nicholas, the great wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra, lived on earth, whom the entire Christian world now honors and glorifies for his zeal for the faith, virtuous life and countless miracles that he performs to this day. to all who resort to him with faith in his help and God’s mercy.
It pleased God's providence to send St. Nicholas to earth at one of the most difficult times for Christianity. The third century after the Nativity of Christ, in the second half of which he was born, was a time of decisive struggle between Christianity and paganism, when the question had to be finally resolved - will the faith of Christ replace paganism, or will the latter remain indestructible and suppress Christianity forever? Christianity undoubtedly surpassed the already decaying paganism with its inner strength, based on the divine teaching of Jesus Christ and His holy apostles. But at that time there was an external force on the side of paganism, which tried to suppress Christianity, which it hated, by all means available to it. Thus, a Christian was considered a criminal of the laws, an enemy of the Roman gods and Caesar, an ulcer of society, which they tried in every possible way to exterminate. Zealous pagans - the Roman emperors - considering Christianity the death of the Roman Empire, and Christians as its most dangerous enemies, carried out severe persecutions against them, during which they forced them to renounce Christ and worship idols and images of Caesar. If Christians did not agree to this, they were thrown into prison and subjected to the most painful tortures - they were tortured with hunger and thirst, beaten with rods, ropes and iron rods, and burned on fire. If, after all this, they remained unshakable in the Christian faith, then they were put to an equally painful death - drowned in rivers, given over to be torn to pieces by wild animals, burned in ovens or on fires. It is impossible to list all the cruel torments that irritated pagans subjected innocent Christians to! One of the most severe persecutions of Christians was that undertaken by the Roman Emperor Valerian. In 258 A.D. he issued an edict that prescribed terrible measures against Christians. According to this edict, bishops, presbyters and deacons were killed with swords; senators and judges were deprived of their property, and if they remained Christians even then, they were also executed; noble women, after their property was taken away, were sent into exile; all other Christians, chained, were condemned to hard labor. This persecution fell with particular force on the pastors of the Church, and many of them sealed their faith with martyrdom. (Then Saint Cyprian in Carthage fell under the ax, Saint Lawrence in Rome was baked on an iron grate.)
On December 19, the Orthodox Church celebrates the day of St. Nicholas of Myra. We have collected some facts about the holy wonderworker.
1. Born around 260 in the city of Patara, Lycian region. He was the only son of the pious Theophanes and Nonna, who vowed to dedicate the child to God. After giving birth, the mother was healed of her illnesses. During the baptism, the newborn baby stood on his feet for three hours. He began fasting immediately, taking his mother's milk on Wednesdays and Fridays, only once.
2. Became a bishop at the age of 35-40. Before this, his uncle, Bishop Nicholas of Patara, ordained him as a reader, then elevated him to the rank of priest. Lived in the territory of modern Turkey.
3. He was a strong man, approximately 1 m 68 cm tall, with a high forehead, prominent cheekbones and chin, an aquiline nose, brown eyes and dark skin (According to the University of Manchester, whose scientists in 2009 reconstructed his appearance from the relics ).
4. In Patara, the father of three daughters, need led to a terrible thought - to sacrifice their honor so that money would appear and the girls could be married off. Saint Nicholas threw three bags of gold through the window and freed the family from spiritual death. And according to other versions, he poured money into shoes or into a pipe, from where it fell into three hanging socks. 
6. While making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, he calmed the raging sea. Through his prayer, a sailor who had fallen from the mast and died was resurrected.
7. Slapped the bishop in front of Emperor Constantine. Because Arius bore heresy and rejected the Divinity and the pre-eternal birth from God the Father of the Son of God and taught that Christ is only the highest creation. The First Ecumenical Council was attended by 318 bishops, among whom was St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.
8. One thief lit candles for the saint and asked for help in stealing. He attributed his luck to the help of Nicholas. But one day his luck ran out and, running away from people, he saw the corpse of a horse on which worms were crawling and from which pus was flowing. In fear, the thief climbed into the rotting belly. The pursuers left. And Saint Nicholas appeared to the thief: “How do you like it here?” “I’m barely alive from the stench!” - answered the unfortunate man. To which the saint said: “That’s how your candles stink to me.”
9. He held the executioner’s sword and saved three innocent prisoners from death.
10. In the 4th century, Lycia was brought to ruin and famine. At the request of the saint, the emperor reduced the tax by 100 times and signed the corresponding letter. Immediately, miraculously, the letter ended up in Myra and was made public. The next day, when the emperor tried to change the decree, the saint said that it had already entered into force. From Lycia from Constantinople it was 6 days' journey. Two weeks later, envoys confirmed that the emperor's letter was in Lycia on the day it was signed. 
11. He departed to God at the age of 70-80 and was buried in the cathedral church of the city of Myra. In 1087, Italian sailors stole the relics of St. Nicholas. This is how the holiday of St. Nicholas of the Summer appeared. This event is called the transfer to the city of Bar (Bari), celebrated on May 9 (22). The relics are incorruptible and exude myrrh, from which many people were healed. Venice contains that part of the holy remains that Bari lacks.
12. He became famous as a quick helper and a great saint of God, which is why people call him Nicholas the Pleasant. Patron of travelers and sailors. Protector of ordinary people, merchants, guardian of the poor, orphans and small children.
13. The first miracle of St. Nicholas in Rus' is associated with the image of St. Nicholas the Wet - the saint’s rescue of a drowned baby. The great miracle worker heard the sorrowful prayers of parents who had lost their only heir. The baby was found alive and unharmed in the morning in the choir of the Church of St. Sophia in front of the miraculous image of St. Nicholas. The ancient icon was located in Kyiv in the Nikolsky chapel. In 1943 she disappeared. The image of St. Nicholas Mokroy came to America through Poland and is located in Trinity Church in Brooklyn. 
14. In imitation of the help of the three girls whom St. Nicholas helped to marry, the tradition of giving Christmas gifts to children arose in the 16th century in Northern Germany and the Netherlands. It was believed that they were thrown by St. Nicholas, called Santa Claus in the West.
15. The icons of St. Nicholas “winter” and “spring” are different. Nicholas I noticed that his heavenly patron is depicted in the icon without a headdress. Since then, on some icons, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker is depicted wearing an episcopal miter - this is St. Nicholas the Winter. 
16. In the Poltava region in the 17th century, on a stump in the forest, an icon of St. Nicholas appeared. The holy find was transferred to the church three times, but it returned again. In the 70s of the 17th century, the St. Nicholas Church was erected on the site of its discovery, and in 1794 - a stone one. The ancient stump on which the Dikan miraculous icon was found is still under the throne today. And the image is kept in the collections of the Poltava Museum of Local Lore.
17. The Chumaks considered Saint Nicholas their patron. In the spring they set off on their journey, and tried to return before December 6, before St. Nicholas Day according to the old style.
18. In Kyiv, during the German occupation, the mother of one family died. There were three children left and they put their mother on the table. They don’t know what to do next. The children knew that psalms should be read for the dead. There was no psalter, they took an akathist to St. Nicholas, stood at my mother’s feet and read. “Rejoice, release from bonds of the innocent. Rejoice, and revive the dead...” At these words the woman opened her eyes and came to life.
19. A miracle called “Zoya’s Standing” is widely known. On New Year's Day, young Zoya, left without a partner, decided to dance with the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and seemed petrified. She remained alive, her heart was beating. Zoya stood with the icon until Easter - four months. An old man came to the house and asked: “Are you tired of standing?” and disappeared. Obviously it was Nikolai Ugodnik himself.
