Great Beard of Santa

Today is the feast of Saint Nicholas, for all you Catholics and curious people out there.  At supper today, my brilliant husband suggested the Catholic channel would increase its viewers if they did a 30 minute daily segment about the life of saints, with a new one each day.  I thought I would do a little informing for the two followers of my rantings and ramblings (yes, I am one of those two).  I went ahead and bolded the big stuff for those not wanting to dedicate nine hours of reading my blog post.

Patron Saint of bakers, children, sailors

Born in Turkey during the fourth century, he was chosen as bishop to a falling church in Myra.  It is here he shared his zeal and love for the Lord, as well as home of miracles and his burial place.  Persecutions were all the rage, and as chief priest of the Christians of Myra, he was seized, tortured and imprisoned along with numerous other Christians.  When Constantine heard, the prisoners were released, and Nicholas returned to Myra.

He was present at the Council of Nicaea (kind of a big deal for those unfamiliar).  It is responsible for: deciding the Trinitarian issue (relationship and nature of God the Father and the Son), writing the first part of the Nicean Creed, calculation of the date of Easter and proclaim cannon law.  

The holy Nicholas lost his parents young, inheriting wealth - which he donated to charity, specifically a man who had three daughters with no suitors due to their poverty and lack of dowry.  When Nicholas heard the father was to surrender them to prostitution, he threw a bag of gold into the open window of the man's home that night.  Soon the eldest daughter was married off, and the tradition continued for the other two.  Sorry, no chimney shimmying, but you see where the connection is with his sneaky gift-giving.

The most famous miracle of Saint Nicholas is as follows:  three men were imprisoned on false charges by a jealous man, and their deaths were ordered.  Remembering the love and justice of the Bishop of Myra, they prayed to God that through Nicholas' merits and means, the men be saved.  That night, Constantine and the bad guy who had imprisoned them (Ablavius) had a dream where Saint Nicholas instructed them to release the men or else.  The next day, Constantine called for the prisoners who told him their prayers.  They were promptly released, and Constantine sent them to Nicholas with a letter asking him not to threaten him any more and to pray for world peace.

Another fascinating miracle involves sailors carrying a load of wheat, which Myra desperately needed during a famine.  Nicholas convinced the sailors to give him enough for 2 years, assuring him the weight of the load would no change/the men would not be in trouble.  Sure enough, his word was kept!

If you kept reading, you should feel proud of yourself.  Baby brain and A.D.D. made this a doosey to write.